Newswise — A student-run group called Green Campus Enterprise has determined that their campus community at Michigan Technological University produces greenhouse gases equal to about 73,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year. That's about 10 tons for every student and employee on campus, nearly half of it produced by power generation.
Now the group is exploring strategies for reducing the university’s carbon footprint, among them wind turbines to generate electricity on campus.
They also plan an energy-saving competition in which residence halls will compete to see who can save the most energy.
Enterprise, a signature program at Michigan Tech, brings students from many disciplines together in a business-model organization to tackle a real-world problem. Industry often sponsors Enterprise team efforts.
Green Enterprise advisor Chris Wojick called the carbon footprint study "an important first step."
"Many universities are still striving to do this," said Wojick, a senior research engineer in the civil and environmental engineering department. "Getting a handle on your greenhouse gas emissions is essential. If you don't, you can't really know what impact your reduction measures will have."
Wojick and student leaders Jessica Banda and Charles Workman are available for interviews.
RSS