University Business - June 2009 - (Page 8)

EDITOR’S NOTE Sustainable Stories S ometimeS wordS and phraSeS can trigger images that we use to define things. For example, when i hear the word “sustainable” it often brings to mind a trip i took some years ago. i was among a group of people touring one of the largest working dairy farms in western connecticut. we had already seen vast grain fields and numerous cows, and a demonstration of the milking machines. our guide had explained how pasteurization and homogeni- homa Gas and electric that will lead the school to be zation worked and showed us the gleaming stainless steel powered entirely by wind energy by 2013. “this is a day in which history is being made,” oU tanks where those processes took place. then he led the way to a nondescript Quonset hut president david Boren said in a recent statement. “we intend to be a role model and a leader in energy indepenthat he was particularly eager to show us. dence for this country. we’re inside were two parallel, walled ready to do it.” flat beds, perhaps 20 feet long and Wind energy will soon be Arizona State University, eight feet wide. one was empty, providing power at the located in a state that boasts but the other was covered with a 310 days of sunshine a year, has rubber membrane that, oddly, had University of Oklahoma. taken advantage of that natuinflated like a balloon. ral resource to build the largest the guide explained that the flat bed was filled with animal droppings, and the rub- solar power infrastructure of any university in the counber membrane was being inflated by methane gas—a by- try. Solar panels erected on the rooftops of buildings at aSU’s tempe campus will eventually provide as much as product of the manure. the machines we had seen earlier were powered by 20 percent of the campus’s energy requirements and save generators, which were fueled by gas, produced from the aSU about $425,000 in energy costs. Sustainability isn’t just about energy, of course. the waste, that came from the cows, who fed on the grain, that grew on the farm that Jack built … or whatever the widely accepted definition of the term, crafted 20 years ago by the world commission on environment and defarmer’s name was. this farm produced its own energy. it was a great example of sustainability in action. the velopment, is “meeting the needs of the present without plus was that the methane—which is classified as a green- compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” house gas—wasn’t being vented into the atmosphere. in this issue, our fourth annual “green report,” you’ll our guide told us that similar techniques had been used for years in developing countries, where the col- learn how colleges and universities across the country lected methane gas from animal waste was used to fuel are doing just that—even in a tough economy. they are finding ways to reduce their carbon footprint, preserve food cookers. i’ve learned since that a number of higher education the environment, and ensure that the resources on which institutions, such as the University of Minnesota and the they depend will still be around for those future generaUniversity of Missouri, are also researching the use of tions. we invite you to share your stories with us. animal waste to produce an alternative to fossil fuels. other universities are experimenting with wind power. in fact, last month, the University of Oklahoma announced an alternative energy partnership with okla- Write to Tim Goral at tgoral@universitybusiness.com. 8 | June 2009 universitybusiness.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - June 2009

University Business - June 2009
Editor's Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Viewpoint
Financial Aid
Keeping It Green
Joining Forces
From A to V
Independent Outlook
Internet Tech
End Note

University Business - June 2009