AIR AND CLIMATE
Comprehensive Environmental Policy directive: “The University will monitor, report, and strive to reduce its GHG emissions.”
University of Oregon Energy Flow
Notes:
1. MMBTU: Millions of British Thermal Units
2. MTCDE: Millions of Tons of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent
3. All numbers are approximate due to slight variations in conversion factors used by various entities we rely on.
4. Although renewables such as hydro, wind, and solar do produce emissions in their production cycle, these emissions are insignificant and are not included.
Scope 1 emissions represent direct campus emissions. These are produced primarily by burning natural gas at the UO power plant on the Eugene campus to produce steam used to heat campus. Scope 2 emissions are those for which UO is tangentially responsible. They are associated with purchased electricity. Scope 3 emissions are those for which UO is indirectly responsible, i.e., they would not have been released if UO did not exist. In this flowchart, scope 3 includes emissions from commuting and business travel.
UO uses the SIMAP accounting platform to track and estimate our annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. SIMAP follows the GHG inventory protocol established by the World Resources Institute. After the university’s annual GHG inventory is complete, the data is converted into this custom-designed flowchart, known as a “Sankey diagram,” to show fuel sources, energy-consuming activities, and overall emissions.
UO is committed to minimizing carbon emissions as the university grows and develops. In recent years, the university has progressed toward this goal by transitioning to lower carbon-intensity energy sources and technologies. Since 2017, UO has decreased its use of carbon-intensive fuel sources and increased its use of lower-emissions alternatives.
Eugene’s local utility is Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB). Hydropower is dominant in EWEB’s fuel mix, and produces most of the electricity used to light and cool UO classrooms and to power campus appliances. Hydropower produces minimal carbon emissions and is relatively inexpensive. UO’s ongoing transition to electricity for its heating and transportation needs, therefore, decreases both costs and carbon emissions.
UO CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
In 2010, The Office of Sustainability initiated the University of Oregon’s Climate Action Plan (CAP). The CAP supported transparent actions to reduce UO’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, initiated the processes to facilitate these actions, and mandated reports of their results. The CAP specified three broad-based, aspirational goals:
- 2010: Stabilize and begin to reduce GHG emissions.
- 2020: Achieve GHG levels 10% below 1990 levels.
- 2050: Achieve climate neutrality.
The CAP was relaunched in 2019 as CAP 2, and includes other specific goals:
- Reduce GHG emissions.
- Reduce reliance on carbon-emitting energy sources.
- Transition to more sustainable and economical energy sources for thermal utility production and distribution.
CAP 2 outlines the following actions:
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification continues to be required in all newly constructed buildings.
- The University must seek to reduce its GHG emissions to 25% less than what is allowable by 2014 Oregon code. (*Note: Oregon GHG regulations consistently increase efficiency requirements over time. The 2014 code is therefore highly efficient, so this new commitment seeks to reduce emissions to lower levels than required by CAP 1).
CAP 2 also commits the university to pursue energy efficiency projects in existing buildings as capital improvement funding becomes available from the state of Oregon. And, importantly, CAP 2 initiates a series of studies to identify how UO can pursue a path toward GHG emissions reduction most effectively.
OREGON MODEL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The Oregon Model for Sustainable Development (OMSD) is the major policy initiative that emerged from the CAPs. It oversees the implementation of UO’s emissions reduction efforts. The OMSD set the ambitious goal of capping energy use in campus buildings at 2011 levels, despite expecting significant growth over subsequent decades. The OMSD focuses on the following three elements:
- All newly constructed buildings must achieve (LEED) gold standard certification.
- New buildings must be 35% more efficient than 2007 Oregon code, thus guaranteeing a high level of energy efficiency in all buildings constructed after 2010.
- UO must increase energy efficiency in existing buildings; the savings produced offsets newly constructed buildings’ energy loads.
By adhering to the standards set in the Oregon Model for Sustainable Development, UO kept its energy consumption flat from 2011-2019. In other words, despite an increase in building square footage, GHG emissions held steady.
BROADER GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) EMISSIONS
The visualization on this page displays the larger greenhouse gas emissions context in our area, including UO, Eugene, Lane County, and the state of Oregon.
Click on an organization name (e.g., “University of Oregon,” “State of Oregon,” etc.) to add or remove them from the visualization and select different “layouts” to see the data presented in different iterations. As each organization increases in size, the smaller organizations within it are factored into the total emissions so, for example, the UO’s emissions are also included in the emissions for the City of Eugene, UO’s and Eugene’s emissions are included in Lane County’s, and so on.
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON ELECTRICITY FOR LIGHTING, PLUG LOADS, AND COOLING
Due to the dominance of hydropower in the local utility’s fuel mix, our local electricity is relatively inexpensive and has a low carbon emissions footprint. This explains why strategies to electrify heating and ground travel can be cost-effective and dramatically reduce emissions. The graphic below – with data provided by the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) – compares fuel sources used to generate local and state-wide electricity.
Source: EWEB, “Where Does Your Power Come From?” (09/2021).