Princeton: Global Warming
With eye on global warming, students analyze campus emissions - 02/08/07
Princeton students concerned about global warming are taking a close look at how the University can contribute to solving the problem.
Participants in a student-initiated environmental studies seminar spent the fall semester combing the campus for ideas on how to enhance the University's efforts to mitigate its emissions of carbon dioxide, the major culprit behind global warming.
The students worked to develop various scenarios for environmentally friendly strategies, ranging from upgrading to more energy-efficient windows and lights to broader ideas such as expanding the use of geothermal or solar heat around campus.
The seminar, "Toward an Ethical Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trajectory for Princeton University," was led by Tom Kreutz, an energy systems modeler at the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI). The 21 students pursued research projects in several areas related to greenhouse gas emissions, including windows, lighting, laboratories, heating and cooling systems, water, transportation, renewable energy, future construction projects, production of food purchased by the University and opportunities to invest in off-campus carbon mitigation projects to offset emissions made on campus.
The students analyzed projected costs and returns on investment for emission-control options, while considering the University's ethical obligations in protecting the environment.
