Energy policy to make leader of Fresno State

By Bradley Hart
The Collegian

Fresno State is set to become the nation’s largest academic producer of solar energy under a comprehensive new plan approved by the California State University Board of Trustees.

The scheme calls for comprehensive changes to the way the CSU system produces and consumes energy at its 23 campuses. Among the policy’s features is a requirement that CSU campuses begin developing their own renewable energy sources.

Fresno State is slated to construct a 1.2-megawatt solar array that will make it the largest single university producer of solar power in the country. Most of the solar panels required will probably be installed on building rooftops, officials said.

The plan is currently undergoing final review by university officials and a contractor for the project is being sought, according to environmental activists.

If the CSU system meets its overall goal of generating 10 megawatts of solar power on all of its campuses, it will nearly double the amount of existing solar energy presently produced by the nation’s other universities combined.

The new CSU energy plan is the culmination of years of lobbying by the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace and an affiliated student program called RenewCSU.

The plan was approved unanimously by the CSU Board of Trustees in late September and was supported by a number of government officials including State Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez.

“This is really exciting on a system-wide level,” Greenpeace campus organizer Josh Lynch said. “Now it’s up to the students and faculty to implement this policy to protect the environment.”

Lynch said students interested in protecting the environment should be encouraging the meeting of campus goals and pushing for further environmental reform.

The new energy policy will have a major impact on the way universities acquire and consume electricity.

Beyond construction of their own renewable energy sources, such as solar arrays and wind farms, universities must purchase 20 percent of their power from producers who use renewable sources by the year 2010, according to the policy.

In addition, all new buildings on CSU campuses must conform to the highest environmental standards for energy consumption. Existing buildings must eventually be newly designed to meet the standards as well.

Finally, each campus must reduce energy use by 15 percent or risk facing penalties.

Lynch said the changes will have a large overall impact on the state’s environment, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 15 percent in the next five years.

Many scientists have linked emissions to a phenomenon known as global warming, though this remains controversial in some circles.

With the CSU system facing serious financial woes in the recent past, making the necessary changes to conform to the new standards could be difficult, Lynch said, though many of the technologies that will be used will eventually pay for themselves through cost savings.

“Cal State would not have made this policy if it couldn’t pay for it,” he said.

More specifically, Lynch said environmentally friendly buildings would pay for themselves in around five years due to lower energy costs.

Similarly, the federal government offers rebates and other assistance to individuals and institutions that choose to construct solar arrays. Unneeded energy that is produced by panels can also be sold back into the state’s electricity grid for a profit.

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