Media & Press

Harvard University Represents Ivy League in EPA’s First College & University Green Power Challenge

Harvard University announced today that it is one of three schools in the Ivy League that were recognized by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency as 2006-2007 Collective Conference Champions for purchasing green power.
Press Release (April 18, 2007)

Renewable Energy at Harvard Update

Harvard continues to purchase renewable electricity credits (RECs), which represent the environmental attributes of a kwh of renewable energy to offset GHG emissions caused by our electricity use. In 2006, we purchased 20,500 MWh, which means that 6.6% of the University’s total electric use was supplied or offset by renewable sources.
HGCI Newsletter (Spring 2007)

Harvard to Purchase Hull Wind Energy Credits

Harvard University announced on June 13 that it will enter into an agreement with the town of Hull's municipal light department to purchase the renewable energy credits (RECs) generated by the 1.8 megawatt Hull wind turbine for a 10-year period.
Harvard Gazette (June 15, 2006)

HBS Students and Corporate Partner to Offset Their Carbon Emissions

The HBS Green Week carbon neutrality initiative concluded last week when the Business and Environment Club received sponsorship from Waste Management, Inc., the leading provider of comprehensive waste and environmental services in North America. Together, HBS students and Waste Management will purchase and retire Chicago Climate Exchange Carbon Financial Instruments, representing 700 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This amounts to taking 140 new cars out of the streets.
Harbus (May 8, 2006)

Pledge Earns Wind Energy

Harvard will provide enough RECs to offset 10 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions produced this year by the 30 buildings, which is the equivalent of removing 2000 cars from the road over the course of a year, according to the HGCI Web site.
Harvard Crimson (December 14, 2006)

Harvard Receives Government Award for Use of Renewable Energy

Harvard University received a 2005 Green Power Leadership Award Monday (Oct. 24) from the federal government and the nonprofit Center for Resource Solutions for its commitment to using renewable energy.
Harvard Gazette (October 26, 2005)

The Windy University (Op-Ed)

The winds are most certainly blowing in the right direction with Summers’ announcement of a $100,000 per year renewable energy fund that will make Harvard the leading purchaser of renewable energy among American universities.
Harvard Crimson (March 16, 2005)

Summers Announces New Funds to 'Green' Campus

In an effort to make Harvard the nation's top university purchaser of renewable energy, Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers announced a new renewable energy fund to promote the development of renewable energy on campus.
Harvard Gazette (March 10, 2005)

KSG Admin to Fund Wind Energy

Students at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) found a $5 gift from Dean David T. Ellwood ’75 in their holiday stockings. Ellwood scrapped the clean energy fee from students’ termbills and announced that the school would use its administrative budget to fund the switch-over to environmentally-friendly power sources.

Ellwood’s decision brings an end to a student-led initiative that attached a $5 wind energy surcharge to each semester’s tuition bill. The initiative, which was backed by 58 percent of students voting in a school-wide referendum last February, made KSG the first and only Harvard school to satisfy 100 percent of its electricity needs through clean energy.
Harvard Crimson (January 7, 2005)

Wind Power Referendum Sails On

In a record turnout of nearly 4,000 undergraduates, 82 percent of voters supported a $10 fee to fund renewable energy at the College. Seventy-six percent voted for the fee to be optional and 59 percent chose for it to be opt-out, which means that the default is to pay for wind power.
Harvard Crimson (December 10, 2004)

Winds of Change (Editorial)

The Undergraduate Council is poised to vote this Sunday on an important ballot initiative that may help to significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases Harvard produces. If the proposal is passed, the council will place a referendum on next week's presidential ballot which would ask students two questions: first, whether they support placing a $10 renewable energy fee on termbills and second, whether the charge should be "opt-in," "opt-out," or mandatory. We emphatically urge the council to pass the legislation, and we hope students will approve the fee on an "opt-out" basis.
Harvard Crimson (December 3, 2004)

Renewable Energy at Harvard (Op-Ed)

Over the last 30 years, the Arctic icecap has melted by 15-20 percent and the melting is apparently speeding up, according to a new report by an eight-nation group bringing together the work of 250 scientists under the title of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.
Harvard Crimson (November 10, 2004)

Sun Power Lights the Art World

Music was in the air in Harvard Yard this Saturday as the Harvard Callbacks, the Harvard Opportunes and others performed in front of the Arts First crowd, but for Harvard students with a green thumb, the real story was behind the scenes "behind the main stage, to be exact" where 256 square feet of photovoltaic paneling drew power from the sun.
Harvard Crimson (May 10, 2004)

Quincy Engaged In Wind Project For Awareness, Not Prize (Op-Ed)

To the editors: On April 23, The Crimson Staff wrote an editorial piece entitled "Quincy Gets Winded"  which praised Quincy House for their recent Wind Project, and yet contained many misconceptions about both the Wind Project and renewable energy.
Harvard Crimson (April 26, 2004)

Quincy Gets Winded

When Quincy House residents switched on their lights yesterday morning, the electricity flowing to their lightbulbs wasn't coming from burning coal. Instead, the House began a week-long purchase of wind power, a renewable source of energy that does not damage the environment like fossil fuels do.
Harvard Crimson (April 23, 2004)

Fee Hike Moves Forward

A Student Activities Fee hike will be put to referendum within the next three weeks, the Undergraduate Council decided last night in its weekly meeting.
Harvard Crimson (April 13, 2004)

Students Converge on Harvard to Talk About Clean Energy

Hundreds of college students from around the Northeast descended on Harvard last weekend for the Northeast Climate Conference, an event designed to educate students and inspire them to action. ‘The message specifically was targeted to clean energy [as it relates to] climate change,’ said Allison Rogers ‘04.”
Harvard Gazette (February 26, 2004)

Soybean Fuel Powers Harvard's Shuttles

Leading the way to a greener Ivy League, Harvard officials announced last week that the University’s shuttles and maintenance trucks are now running on biodiesel, an environmentally-friendly fuel made from soybean oil.
Harvard Crimson (February 25, 2004)

'Cold Turkey' program saves traffic jam worth of energy

Participation [in Go Cold Turkey program] by residents at the School of Public Health's Shattuck International House was high enough that half of Shattuck's energy will be supplied for the next year through renewable energy. SPH officials promised to purchase half of Shattuck's energy through renewable energy certificates if at least half of residents took the "Go Cold Turkey" pledge.”
Harvard Gazette (December 11, 2003)

Thinking Green

The titanic development venture in Allston is still in the earliest of stages. But that hasn't prevented the Faculty from voicing significant challenges to University President Lawrence H. Summers' plans since details of the trans-Charles expedition were announced in September. Last week, a student environmental group, Sustainable Allston, courageously joined the chorus of constructive criticism and recommended to Summers that environmental concerns play a role in the planning of the expansion.
Harvard Crimson (December 9, 2003)

B-School Students Implement Solar Power

Daniel Cook and Brian D. Robertson are the only students at Harvard Business School (HBS) whose most recent project can be found on top of a major campus building. Harvard’s first solar energy system now sits on the roof of Shad Hall, the athletic facility at HBS, and recently, the 36,480 Watt installation was put into operation.”
Harvard Crimson (October 2, 2003)

Shad Hall Installation First at Harvard

A new solar power installation on top of Harvard Business School's Shad Hall has made the Business School a renewable energy pioneer and, supporters said, provide a concrete case study of the affordability of clean solar energy.
Harvard Gazette (October 9, 2003)

HUPD Takes a Natural Test Drive

For three weeks in January, the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) test-drove an unmarked Ford Crown Victoria that ran on compressed natural gas (CNG), the same stuff that boils water and heats homes. The experiment, supported by Ford and natural gas provider Keyspan, marked the first time Harvard had tested an alternative fuel vehicle.
Harvard Gazette (January 30, 2003)