The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized AU for the first time this year as a winner of the College and University Green Power Challenge, which involved 44 colleges in 22 conferences nationwide.
AU bought the most green power out of all universities in the Patriot League and 20th out of all of the universities in the Challenge, according to this year's rankings on the EPA Web site.
The Patriot League tied with the Sun Belt Conference as 17th out of all of the conferences, with a total of 15 million green-power kwh purchased, according to the Web site. The conference rankings listed Bucknell's green power purchases at four million kwh, the second-most in the Patriot League under AU.
The Challenge began in 2006, and it measured the amount of kilowatt-hours of green power bought by universities across the country, according to the EPA's press release.
"The general idea is that the EPA is promoting and encouraging people to purchase green power because of two reasons: using green power limits air emissions, and colleges often lead by example," EPA Spokesperson Bonnie Smith said.
Eligible resources for green power purchases include solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, eligible biomass and certain low-impact hydroelectric sources, according to the EPA's Green Power Partnership Web site.
This year, AU bought 11 million kwh of green power, equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of 1,000 passenger cars, according to the press release.
AU's recognition from the EPA serves as testimony to the commitment of EcoSense, according to Drew Veysey, the Fall 2009 president-elect of student group EcoSense and a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Public Affairs.
"EcoSense in 2006 pushed a campaign for 50 percent renewable energy by 2012," Veysey said, "so that could be indirectly involved."
EcoSense is continuing its efforts to make AU more environmentally friendly, according to Veysey.
"EcoSense is trying to keep up its current campaign to make offices green and make available more green transportation on campus like bike racks and biodiesel for buses," he said.
"There are still ideas for plans or campaigns but we are still trying to get AU off of mountain-top coal power," Veysey said.
Twenty-five percent of AU's energy now is generated by wind energy, but the university still gets 75 percent of its power from a coal power plant, he said.
Colleges and universities are participating extensively in the effort to make their energy more environmental, Smith said.
"Our country's higher education institutions are among the earliest and strongest champions of voluntary green power purchasing and are driving today's market," she said.
All of the universities in the EPA's Green Power Challenge bought a total of over one billion kwh, approximately equal to the carbon-dioxide emissions of over 136,000 vehicles, according to the press release.
"A green power purchase is one of the easiest ways for universities and other organizations to reduce its carbon footprint ... I'm thrilled that AU has signed on to purchase EPA green energy power," Smith said.
AU could become the most environmentally-friendly university in the beltway, Veysey said.
"We are being beat by Catholic University, and they have a terrible environmental reputation," he said.
According to the EPA press release, Catholic bought 13 million kwh of green power, two million more than AU's purchase.
"The AU dream is green, and with the efforts of the administration, faculty, and students, we can do much better in the future," Veysey said.
You can reach this staff writer at mfowler@theeagleonline.com.
