Going Green: The College’s Journey to
Becoming Sustainable
Cornelius B. Murphy, Jr.SUNY-ESF
6/11/07 Leadership SummitWashington, DC
ESF Carbon Neutral by 2015
ESF Carbon Neutral by 2015
Climate Action Plan for SUNY ESFAugust, 2009
Carbon Neutral by 2015
Gateway Building
Gateway Building
Gateway Energy System Schematic
Gateway Building Energy System
System Output
• Thermal Output = 65% Campus Heating Needs (35,000+ MMBtu/yr)
• Electrical Output = 20% of Campus Electrical Needs (2,000+ MWh/yr)
• Environmental Impact = 22% Reduction in Carbon Footprint (2,700 MTCO2e/yr)
Gateway Building Energy System
Economics
• System Cost: $3.2 Million• Annual Savings: $336,000• Grants & Incentives: $1,485,000• 15 Year Net Present Value: $1.5 Million
Academic/Research Building
Forest Carbon Sequestration
Forest NameForest
Location
Net Designated
AcreageMTCO2e/ac/yr Sequestered
Total MTCO2e/yr
SequesteredPack
Demonstration Forest
Warrensburg, NY
2,181 3.031 6,612
Heiberg Memorial
Forest
Tully, NY 1,486 2.454 3,647
Total: 10,258 MTCO2e/yr sequestered & stored
All Projects 2007-2015
Fuel Mix Trend
Emission Wedges Timeline
Economic Analysis
Other Initiatives on the HorizonPilot Biomass Pellet Plants
• ESF is researching the viability of constructing a series of biomass pellet projects in Upstate New York.
• Objectives include: Research, demonstration, and
testing grounds for pellets made from various sources of biomass that can be locally produced (willow shrubs, switch grass, agricultural residue, industrial residue, woody biomass)
Successful community-scale biomass production & end-use.
Local, campus owned source of pellets to fuel ESF biomass CHP units.
Existing Renewable Energy Projects
• Campus use of biofuels• Student Biofuels Co-op (SU/ESF)• 250KW Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell• Gasification of woody biomass• Photovoltaic projects (16 KW, 23 KW and 3-
25 KW)• Wind turbine applications (vertical axis and
horizontal axis)• Ranger School wood chip boiler