Northwestern announced Thursday it will buy wind power to meet 20 percent of its electricity needs over the next four years.
The purchase of 40,000 megawatt-hours each year puts NU behind only the University of Pennsylvania among U.S. academic institutions using renewable energy, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
NU will fund the alternative energy by purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates. The shift is equivalent to taking more than 7,000 cars off the road for a year or planting more than 9,500 acres of trees, said Laura McIlvain, marketing manager at the San Francisco-based 3 Phases Energy, the company running NU’s certificate program.
The 40,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy will replace the same amount of non-renewable sources on the power grid. Wind farms in the Midwest will produce the energy.
Because wind energy is more expensive than non-renewable forms, NU is essentially “paying that premium,” McIlvain said.
The purchase is part of the university’s effort towards an environmentally-friendly campus, said Ron Nayler, vice president of facilities management.
Environmental concerns have been prominent in the planning of several buildings, such as the Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center and the Proteomics and Nanobiotechnology Building, which is still being designed, he said.
Students for Ecological and Environmental Development, an NU student group, has been working with the administration to publicize the program.
“(The administration) has been really generous in letting us work with them,” said SEED co-chairwoman Rachel Patten, a SESP sophomore.
SEED will host an information session to inform students about how renewable-energy programs work. The session is scheduled for April 20 at noon in Norris University Center.
“We saw this as a great opportunity for working with student groups and giving them a platform to speak from,” Nayler said.
Patten said the wind-energy program is a good step toward “creating a culture of conservation” on campus.
Students can do their part by watching their energy use more closely, she said.
“People will leave television sets on when they’re not there,” Patten said. “Students could really just be more aware.”
The Daily’s Margaret Matray contributed to this report.
Reach Diana Samuels at [email protected].
