Rowan University, NJ Wind Energy Purchases
Type: Policy
Status: Ongoing
Source File: http://www.rowan.edu/rugreen/files/Rowan%20a%20NJ%20Leader%20in%20Clean%20Energy.pdf
Description:
Background
Rowan University – as a leading member of the New Jersey
Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (NJHEPS), and
a member of the U.S. Green Building Council – feels a strong
commitment to implementing sustainable practices. The
University’s president was the first New Jersey university president
to sign the American College President’s Climate Change
Challenge, and Rowan is represented on NJHEPS, a consortium
of higher education institutions in New Jersey whose mission is
to promote the implementation and integration of sustainability
into higher education in New Jersey and beyond. The University
has also been instrumental in organizing the New Jersey Wind
Working Group for Terrestrial and Small Wind Systems.
Challenge
Rowan University has an internal Energy Review Panel comprised
of students, faculty, and staff to assess its energy programs and
establish goals. One such goal is the reduction of the University’s
CO2 emissions by 3.5%. As the first educational institution to
purchase emission-free wind energy from the Jersey-Atlantic
Wind Farm – the nation’s first coastal wind farm – Rowan
University was committed to the benefits of using clean,
renewable energy and saw a way to further reduce CO2
emissions by significantly increasing their wind energy purchase.
Solution
For the year 2007, Rowan will purchase 10,250,000 kWh of
national wind, and 183,673 kWh of New Jersey wind from New
Jersey’s CleanPower Choice ProgramSM – a statewide program
that makes renewable energy accessible to all New Jersey
electric utility customers. Rowan’s commitment to wind power is
equivalent to 25% of the University’s total energy use and
accounts for 50% of their CO2 reduction goal.
Besides the wind power purchase, Rowan University has implemented other energy conservation measures. With support from New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program, the University has incorporated boiler upgrades, a new chilled water plant, and a Combined Heat & Power (CHP) project. With a $1 million incentive for its CHP project, and close to $400,000 from New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program for energy efficiency measures, Rowan was able to construct an on-site cogeneration facility to supplement their energy use. The cogeneration plant sports 2 industrial turbines with a 4,700 kW capacity.
Benefits
The University’s wind purchase will avoid the release of 14 million pounds of carbon dioxide
emissions per year, which is like removing 1,347 cars from the road each year. The CHP
project will aid in cutting emissions, and offer a reliable power source for the campus and its
expansion. The cogeneration plant will decrease dependence on grid-supplied electricity by
35,317 MWh/year. This equates to an annual reduction of CO2 emissions by roughly 42
million lbs. and 307,964 lbs. of sulfur dioxide emissions.
Recognized as the 2007 Clean Energy School by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program, Rowan University had already assumed a leadership role in the sustainability area with a myriad of educational and outreach efforts in place to promote sustainability and conservation to their student body, the local community, and other institutions and universities. The University provides energy conservation checklists to their students to promote responsible energy usage; works extensively with students to spread environmental awareness; and has opened its doors to sharing information with the professional community, as well as the general community.