1. Campus Carbon Emissions Inventory: Commuter Contributions and Campus-Land Offsets Paul Tanes ptanes@bridgew.edu Darcy Boellstorff, Ph.D. dboellstorff@bridgew.edu Department of Geography Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater, MA

2. Public, primarily undergraduate –10,000 students, 350 faculty ACU Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) –National initiative –Greenhouse gas inventory, short term efforts and long term plans –Service learning opportunities Bridgewater State College (BSC) and ACUPCC

3. Clean Air-Cool Planet © (CA-CP) Calculator Purchased electricity, steam, and chilled water On-campus cogeneration plant On-campus stationary energy use Transportation: Fleet and air travel Student commuter habits Faculty and staff commuter habits Agriculture Solid Waste Refrigeration and other chemicals Emission offsets

4. Commuting Profile at BSC 7000+ student commuters –320+ towns in Massachusetts and Rhode Island –Average of 4.5 trips per week 3000+ summer student commuters 1400+ employees Students Faculty/Staff

5. CA-CP © Inputs for Commuter Habits –Number of students –Average fuel efficiency –Percent commuting by car –Miles per trip –Trips per day –Days per year

6. Miles Per Trip Town hall locations to campus Path determined by distance and also by speed

7. Trips Per Day 1.Assume all students make same number of trips per week (4.5)? 2.Trips per week varies by distance –Using the known average: –Where: s c = # students within 25 miles of campus, s m = # students 25-50 miles of campus, s f = # students > 50 miles of campus x c trips for close students x m for medium-distance students x f for far students

8. Annual Commuter Contribution - Automobile 54.2 million miles (113 round trips to the moon) using 2.5 million gallons of gasoline 25,000 metric tons eCO 2 –Or, the amount absorbed in a year by about 5500 acres of mature trees (24 campuses) Contributions not yet included –Commuter rail –College fleet –College-funded travel

9. Offsets –Renewable energy credit –Composting –Forest preservation

10. Forest Preservation

12. 97 acres of forest 4.5 metric tons eCO 2 per acre per year the campus forested land offsets 437 metric tons eCO 2 per year –1.7% of automobile commuting –Need about 5400+ acres of additional forest land

13. Next Steps Regarding future estimates: More detailed survey information on commuters The big picture will show where we stand Short-term action and long-term goals GIS students and service-learning –Web-mapping applications –Improved campus land use inventories

14. Clean Air-Cool Planet ©, 2006. Conducting a campus greenhouse gas emissions inventory on your campus, including instructions and documentation for CA-CP Calculator v5.0 Stavins, R. and K. Richards, 2005. The cost of U.S. forest-based carbon sequestration. Report for the Pew Center on Climate Change. Duke University, 2004. Greenhouse Gas Inventory. American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/index.php Resources