The University of Connecticut has set an ambitious goal for its campus community. In a letter on Tuesday, University President Radenka Maric announced that UConn would be going carbon neutral within the next eight years.
“We are putting our university on an accelerated path to net zero emissions for buildings and our energy supply as well as significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions to become carbon neutral by 2030,” said President Maric in the letter.
Carbon neutrality requires businesses and organizations to utilize emission-free energy sources and to offset anything that emits carbon with practices that reduce or capture carbon, like tree planting.
So far, the specifics of how the university will achieve this goal remain under wraps and administrators plan to release a Sustainability Action Plan in the spring.
But there is a broad outline. Green efforts will include changing how buildings and vehicles receive energy from sustainable sources and will likely expand on previous fuel cell innovations, including the use of hydrogen fuel.
Plans also include a university-wide education initiative for students. The school will also be applying for state and federal funding to develop green technologies.
“Those technologies include science-based solutions for managing the risks of climate change, community-level communication, and developing engagement strategies to ensure long-term sustainability and equity in clean energy transition,” said University officials in a recent news release.
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