(691c) Achieving Campus Carbon Neutrality - Application of Sustainable Engineering Methods to Evaluate and Identify Technical and Ecological Solutions

In 2006, the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) was created as a public contract to meet the goal of carbon neutrality. Carbon neutrality is a term which means having no net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to University activity through emission reductions and offsets. Currently, over 300 active signatories have committed a goal and target date for carbon neutrality before 2100.

Second Nature, the main sponsor of the ACUPCC, supports the Sustainability Indicator Management and Analysis Platform (SIMAP™) as a tool to calculate GHG emissions. SIMAP prepares GHG emissions inventories based on campus-provided inputs. However, the role of land use and carbon sequestration of campus property is disregarded in this tool. Projects which increase sequestration rates are treated as offsets, and according to Second Nature’s Carbon Markets & Offsets Guidance should be the last priority for achieving carbon neutrality.

Many other models consider flows of carbon, or the carbon cycle, through sources and sinks. If we consider active sequestration, not carbon storage, as a sink, then we include a constant rate of carbon conversion into biomass across geographic landscapes. If our focus is only minimizing source emissions instead of balancing the cycle, we neglect solutions that enhance sinks.

SIMAP categorizes emissions into three scopes, where Scope 1 is the direct emissions from sources owned or controlled on campus. Similar to the on-site natural gas combustion or campus-owned transportation emissions, the sequestration occurs through campus-owned property and should be included as a campus-owned. Therefore, this research proposes that land use should be included into GHG emissions inventories as negative Scope 1 emissions. Currently, methane recovery in waste disposal is considered a negative Scope 3 emission. What does reframing land as carbon dioxide recovery look like in our sustainability analysis? What impacts could this have on campus sustainability and the pursuit of carbon neutrality?

Data has been collected through the process of writing the Climate Action Plan for The Ohio State University. It shows that carbon sequestration capacity can increase substantially through different scenarios of improved land management and land-use change. The potential of enhancing carbon sinks as a viable solution for University climate neutrality is apparent, resulting in land-use change and improved management scenarios which yield 3-6 times more carbon sequestration than the current landscape. Natural sequestration, which increases over time as biomass grows, is a solution which should be explored immediately, to reap the benefits as soon as possible.

However, how do we compare these results with the trade-offs of other technological and behavioral solutions? Many other necessary technological and behavioral options need to be considered such as: combined heat and power plants, increased building efficiency, on and off-site renewable energy, adjusted climate control settings, financed air travel policies, and greener commuting options. Reaching the goal of carbon neutrality requires drastic action, especially for large universities. Yet, navigating the number of options with constrained budgets and multiple stakeholders can cause paralysis in moving forward. To assist in informing University decision-makers of these trade-offs, optimization methods can be applied to compare the estimated carbon reductions and costs for any number of options, presenting multi-solution strategies that meet the needs of the University. Understanding financial, technological, spatial, and social constraints and dynamics of the carbon reduction strategies can inform the optimization problem to achieve the objective of carbon neutrality, assisting the development of the university’s action plan.

Prioritizing land use as a last effort offset is a missed opportunity for colleges and universities and including optimization methods to develop plans and drive decisions is essential in realizing carbon neutrality in higher education. This research discusses some of the options and challenges that exist in reaching carbon neutrality for academic institutions, while also demonstrating a potential plan for a large University.