Penn State Recognized as National Leader in Green Power Use

Penn State is ranked fourth in the nation among colleges and universities for the amount of green power it uses, according to a report from the Environmental Protection Agency. The University is ranked 49th among all organizations participating in the Green Power Partnership, including Fortune 500 companies, federal government agencies, and local and state governments.

UNIVERSITY PARK, PARK (February 18, 2011) – Penn State is ranked fourth in the nation among colleges and universities for the amount of green power it uses, according to a report from the Environmental Protection Agency. The University is ranked 49th among all organizations participating in the Green Power Partnership, including Fortune 500 companies, federal government agencies, and local and state governments.

While renewable energy includes fuel sources that don’t diminish and that renew themselves—solar and wind power, for example—some renewable energy technologies may involve environmental tradeoffs, such as a large hydroelectric resource, which conflicts with land use.

Green power sources, on the other hand, avoid environmental impacts and produce no human-caused greenhouse gases. According to the EPA, these resources include solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and small hydroelectric sources. These green power purchases help reduce the environmental impacts of electricity use and support the development of new renewable generation capacity nationwide.

At present, Penn State purchases almost 84 million kilowatt hours of green power—about 20 percent of the electricity the University consumes—generated by biomass, small hydroelectric sources and wind. Its providers, in order of volume, include 3Degrees, Sterling Planet and Community Energy.

Michael Prinkey, an engineer in the energy and engineering department of the University's Office of Physical Plant, said the percentage of green power purchased by Penn State probably will rise when the current contract ends.

"We've been investigating other opportunities," he said, "some of them on site, some of them directly contracted with people developing the projects." This would also help fund some new energy projects.

In addition, Prinkey said, the market has changed since the current contract took effect. Now, all companies selling electricity in Pennsylvania must provide a certain amount of renewable or green power, so the University won't necessarily need to contract to buy more.

For more information on the Green Power Partnership, visit www.epa.gov/greenpower.

REPORTERS & EDITORS: For more information, please contact Victoria Fryer in the Smeal College of Business Media Relations Office at 814-863-3798 or mediarelations@smeal.psu.edu.

Penn State's Smeal College of Business offers highly ranked undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, Ph.D., and executive education opportunities to more than 5,500 students at all levels. Featuring academic departments of accounting, finance, management and organization, marketing, risk management, and supply chain and information systems, the college is also home to major research centers such as the Center for Supply Chain Research, the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Global Business Studies, and the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change.