Environment, Pictures, Positive Change, Renewable Energy

New Jersey College Switches To 100% Wind Power

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Georgian Court University has announced that it is the first higher education institution in New Jersey to purchase all of its electricity from renewable resources. The university has purchased approximately 6,122,000 KWh of wind power, an amount equivalent to the university’s annual electrical power usage, in the form of Green-e certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). The energy is created from a national blend of wind energy sources supplied by Constellation NewEnergy and was procured with assistance from the Loyalton Group, a utilities consulting firm based in Hastings, Minnesota. The decision to purchase wind power supports the mission of the university and is a part of the university’s commitment to sustainability.

“One of the five Mercy critical concerns is ‘to reverence earth and work more effectively toward the sustainability of life and toward universal recognition of the fundamental right to water.’ It is our obligation to continue to look for ways to be good stewards of the Earth,” says Andrew P. Christ, PE, Georgian Court’s assistant vice president for operations.

Georgian Court has already adopted a sustainable mindset. As a signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, President Rosemarie E. Jeffries, RSM, Ph.D., is committed to a systematic and comprehensive approach to becoming carbon-neutral and more environmentally sensitive, including migration to green cleaning chemicals; purchasing a hybrid vehicle for college use; incorporating sustainable building design on the campus; enhancing recycling and waste minimization; adding shuttle service to provide better student access to mass transit; and, in the future, using solar panels for onsite renewable power generation.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, an energy purchase of this magnitude will eliminate approximately 5,247 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. That is the equivalent of eliminating the pollution from

  • the use of 872 cars on the road for one year
  • the consumption of 540,249 gallons of gasoline or 11,069 barrels of oil
  • the use of 198,316 propane cylinders to fuel home barbeques
  • burning 24.9 railcars worth of coal
  • the average annual electricity consumption of 630 American homes