Institute: Put a cap on carbon emissions
Marissa Graziadio / Correspondent
Issue date: 9/25/07 Section: Page One
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Considering that Rutgers-New Brunswick is such a large campus that uses buses to transport students, and has laboratories and facilities that are very energy intensive, it is a major source of carbon dioxide emissions, said REI Director Paul Falkowski, a Board of Governors professor of geological sciences.
"It is very difficult to reduce carbon emissions to zero, but we should make that our goal," Falkowski said.
The institute is offering four awards per year of up to $2,500 to students whose submissions are judged by a panel of faculty and students, who are chosen by the institute advisory board. Individual or teams of undergraduate students in any program on the New Brunswick campus can participate.
Based on how much oil and gas the University purchased last year and the number of vehicles driven around campus, it is estimated that approximately 300,000 tons of carbon emissions are from the New Brunswick campus, said REI Assistant Director Clinton Andrews, an associate professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
The institute would like to see carbon emissions of the campus reduced by 10 percent each year. One way to do that would be for the University to produce its own power using alternative, environmentally safe means, Falkowski said.
"It is important to lower carbon emissions because humans have put the carbon cycle of the earth out of balance, which has helped create global warming," Andrews said.
Falkowski would like to see at least 20 to 30 contest entries, if not more. Faculty can participate as well and should assist students, but the original ideas must be conceived and written by the students, he said. Contestants are not limited to students studying the sciences. Any Rutgers student with an idea is welcome. Business majors would be helpful, he said.