AN ANALYSIS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, AND CARBON OFFSETS AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
Abstract
Many universities globally are embarking on voluntary efforts to become climate neutral
to combat global warming. In 2007, Duke University adopted a goal to be climate neutral
by 2024. The Office of the Executive Vice President established the Duke Carbon Offsets
Initiative (DCOI) in June 2009 to develop the University’s strategy for meeting its
carbon offset goals. As the client for this report, the DCOI charged Duke’s Nicholas
School of the Environment Masters team with preparing a purchasing guide to aid in
its strategy. The paper analyzes the options considered by Duke to meet its carbon
neutrality goals, which include: reducing on-campus emissions through improving energy
efficiency; buying carbon offsets on the market; creating carbon offsets through local
projects; purchasing Renewable Energy Credits; and developing renewable energy resources
on-campus. The final product sets forth a recommended strategy to meet the carbon
offsets goals, including a timeline of purchases and an overview of costs. Given the
University’s role as an institution motivated by both financial and non-financial
goals, such as education and economic benefits to the local community, combinations
of purchasing options are presented in three portfolios: the cheapest portfolio, the
portfolio yielding the greatest co-benefits to the community and university, and the
portfolio balancing costs and benefits. The cheapest portfolio recommends energy efficiency
through behavioral changes on campus; purchased methane capture offsets; and methane
capture offsets generated through local projects. The balanced portfolio recommends
on-campus renewable energy (a Duke-owned solar PV system); forestry offsets purchased
from local vendors; and Green Source Rider renewable energy (an experimental program
implemented by the Duke Energy utility designed to give non-residential, energy-intensive
customers the option of offsetting some or all of their energy consumption from new
load with renewable energy). The highest co-benefits portfolio recommends Duke-developed
forest offsets and Duke-developed methane capture offsets. A sensitivity analysis
examines potential changes in the policy landscape that would affect the purchasing
decisions favorable to Duke, including a price on carbon; changes in the cost of renewable
energy; and a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard.
Type
Master's projectSubject
co-benefitscarbon offsets
renewable energy credits
renewable energy
energy efficiency
climate neutrality
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/9655Citation
Kazarov, Elena; Baehr, Ellis; Tan, Jing; Zhang, Yee; & Brasovan, Ashley (2015). AN ANALYSIS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, AND CARBON OFFSETS AT DUKE UNIVERSITY.
Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/9655.Collections
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