Oregon State's Green Energy Fee Helps Cut Emissions

The Oregonian

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A renewable energy fee approved by Oregon State University students helped the college reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in 2007-08, the university says.

OSU's gross emissions increased by 2 percent, according to the school's sustainability office, largely because of increased natural gas consumption. Air miles flow and electricity consumption also increased slightly. But the net emissions dropped because of a green energy fee of up to $8.50 per student that the student body approved in 2007, with 71 percent of voters in favor.

The fee, one of the first in the nation, helps cover purchases of renewable energy. The emissions inventory includes energy consumption, air miles, commuting miles logged by faculty, staff and students, solid wastes taken to landfills, refrigerants used and fertilizer and animal waste used in OSU's agricultural programs.

The inventory covers the main campus, the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, the OSU-Cascades campus in Bend, extension service offices and facilities operated by the Forest Research Laboratory and Agricultural Experiment Station.