Proposal to Purchase Renewable Energy for Quincy House
David M. Thompson, thompson@physics.harvard.edu, 3-3128 April 9, 2004
1 Brief review of global warming
1.1 The greenhouse effect is real
When sunlight hits the surface of the Earth, much of it is converted to infrared radiation (heat). Infrared radiation cannot simply pass through the atmosphere because it is readily absorbed and reflected by the greenhouse gasses (e.g., CO2). In this way, the atmosphere traps the heat from the sun. We owe our existence to this effect – without it, the Earth would be an uninhabitable ball of ice.
1.2 Greenhouse gasses are rapidly increasing
Preindustrial levels of atmospheric CO2 were roughly 270 parts per million (ppm). Today, thanks to the pumping of CO2 into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels, atmospheric CO2 is currently at 380 ppm. This is an incredible fact – the very air we breathe, anywhere on the planet, contains 40% more CO2 than it did only 250 years ago. This is, by far, the highest concentration of this greenhouse gas ever seen by this planet in the last four hundred thousand years (as far back as records go).
1.3 The planet is warming
As a direct consequence of this increase in CO2, the planet has warmed more than one degree Fahrenheit in the last 140 years. Even if we stopped burning fossil fuels today, the current levels of CO2 in the atmosphere will continue to raise the Earth’s temperature by somewhere between 1 and 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the next 100 years.
1.4 The consequences will be dire
If we continue with business-as-usual, we will have doubled the CO2 by mid-century, tripled it by 2100, and quadrupled it shortly thereafter. A quadrupling of CO2 would result in a 15 to 25 degree Fahrenheit temperature increase for the Northern hemisphere. Our nation’s breadbasket would turn into scorched earth, and the worldwide agricultural system that feeds civilization would fail.
1.5 We must start using renewables
Renewable sources of electricity produce no greenhouse gasses and so do not contribute to the problem of global warming. Examples of renewable sources of energy are wind mills, solar power, hydroelectric, and biomass. Sources of renewable energy are sufficient to power human civilization – the only power we lack is the willpower to change.
2 Tradeable Renewable Energy Certificates (TRCs)
All power plants, be they coal, oil, gas, wind, hydroelectric, solar, or biomass, sell two things: the electrons that get fed into the National Grid, and the attributes that correspond to the particular
form of electricity production. Whenever you purchase electricity, you are purchasing both of these things together. The concept of purchasing electrons is fairly simple – they are what power your television, computer, light bulbs, etc. The attributes are the environmental impacts associated with the production of those electrons. For example, if you purchase the standard electricity package offered to you by a local utility company, you get a statement along with your bill that tells you what the attributes of your electricity are. It will look something like the form below. Notice that it gives a breakdown of where your electrons are coming from (27% nuclear, 15% coal, 14% oil, 17% gas, etc.) and then the attributes, or air emissions, corresponding to the production of those electrons. Power producers get to sell the attributes of their power plants in the form of certificates. Each certificate carries the attributes corresponding to a certain amount of energy produced by the power plant (or wind mill, or solar panel). In the United States, there is an active marketplace for the buying and selling of these certificates. Since certificates from renewable energy sources are more desirable than others, they end up costing more, and so the owner of a wind farm makes more money selling a certificate for a kilowatt-hour of electricity than would the owner of a coal-fired power plant.
3 Renewables for Quincy House
3.1 Objective
We propose to raise funds directly from Quincy House residents, with matching funds from the House and the UC, so that we can purchase the renewable energy certificates for one week’s worth of electricity. The objective of this campaign, aside from ameliorating our environmental impact, is to provide an opportunity for education and discussion about renewable energy in Quincy House and beyond.
3.2 Fund raising and education
We will raise funds by soliciting donations outside the Quincy dining hall. Potential donors will be encouraged to ask questions about the project and will be given pamphlets to take with them to learn more about renewable energy and certificates. Concurrently, we will conduct a survey of donors and non-donors alike about their interest in making renewable energy a permanent source of Quincy’s electricity. In particular, we will try to gauge student attitudes towards renewables and the degree to which they would be willing to help finance the incremental cost of procuring them for Quincy House. An informational session will be held in the JCR to explain some of the important concepts behind global warming, renewable energy, and tradeable renewable energy certificates.
3.3 Costs and financing
We have completed a survey of Green-e certified TRC retailers and have found that our most cost-effective option is to purchase wind energy from EAD Environmental. They sell wind certificates at 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. In the months of October to March of this year, Quincy House has used an average of 3,814 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day. At 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, it will cost $57 per day to replace Quincy’s conventional mix of coal, oil, nuclear and gas with clean, renewable wind energy. This comes out to $399 dollars for a week of wind energy. We propose a dollar-matching scenario in which every dollar raised from the residents of Quincy House is matched by one dollar from House funds (not yet finalized) and by one dollar from a UC grant. Therefore, the breakdown of funding would be as follows: Fundraising House funds UC grant Total $133 $133 $133 $399
3.4 Other impacts
One of the positive outcomes of this project can be an opportunity for students outside of Quincy House to learn about renewable energy. Timed to coincide with Earth Day, this project will provide a stepping stone from which to educate the student body about renewable energy. Concrete steps could include setting up a booth at Springfest, or participating in a university-wide presentation on the current and future role of renewable energy at Harvard.