Campus Carbon Emissions Inventory:

Commuter Contributions and Campus-Land Offsets

Paul Tanes [email protected]

Darcy Boellstorff, Ph.D. [email protected]

Department of Geography Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater, MA

Bridgewater State College (BSC) and ACUPCC • Public, primarily undergraduate – 10,000 students, 350 faculty • ACU Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) – National initiative – Greenhouse gas inventory, short term efforts and long term plans – Service learning opportunities

Clean Air-Cool Planet © (CA-CP) Calculator • Purchased electricity, steam, and chilled water • On-campus cogeneration plant • On-campus stationary energy use • Transportation: Fleet and air travel • Student commuter habits • Faculty and staff commuter habits • Agriculture • Solid Waste • Refrigeration and other chemicals • Emission offsets

Commuting Profile at BSC • 7000+ student commuters – 320+ towns in Massachusetts and Rhode Island – Average of 4.5 trips per week • 3000+ summer student commuters • 1400+ employees Students Faculty/Staff

CA-CP © Inputs for Commuter Habits – Number of students – Average fuel efficiency – Percent commuting by car – Miles per trip – Trips per day – Days per year

Miles Per Trip • Town hall locations to campus • Path determined by distance and also by speed

Trips Per Day 1. Assume all students make same number of trips per week (4.5)?

2. Trips per week varies by distance – Using the known average: 4 .

5 

s c

(

x

1 ) 

s m

(

x

2 ) 

s f

(

x

3 )

s A

– • • • • • • Where: f s s c s m x c = # students within 25 miles of campus, = # students 25-50 miles of campus, = # students > 50 miles of campus trips for close students x m x f for medium-distance students for far students

Annual Commuter Contribution - Automobile • 54.2 million miles (113 round trips to the moon) using 2.5 million gallons of gasoline • 25,000 metric tons eCO 2 – Or, the amount absorbed in a year by about 5500 acres of mature trees (24 campuses) • Contributions not yet included – Commuter rail – College fleet – College-funded travel

Offsets – Renewable energy credit – Composting – Forest preservation

Forest Preservation

Forest Preservation

Forest Preservation • 97 acres of forest • 4.5 metric tons eCO 2 per acre per year • the campus forested land offsets 437 metric tons eCO 2 year – 1.7% of automobile commuting – Need about 5400+ acres of additional forest land per

Next Steps • Regarding future estimates: More detailed survey information on commuters • The big picture will show where we stand • Short-term action and long-term goals • GIS students and service-learning – Web-mapping applications – Improved campus land use inventories

Resources • Clean Air-Cool Planet © , 2006. Conducting a campus greenhouse gas emissions inventory on your campus, including instructions and documentation for CA-CP Calculator v5.0 • Stavins, R. and K. Richards, 2005.

The cost of U.S. forest-based carbon sequestration. Report for the Pew Center on Climate Change.

• Duke University, 2004. Greenhouse Gas Inventory .

• American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/index.php