Renewable Energy 101

Ten Tools for Moving Your Campus to 100% Clean Energy

Environment America designed a series of 10 fact sheets as a resource for students, faculty and administrators interested in moving their campus toward sustainability. The fact sheets have been crafted to illustrate the importance, challenges and opportunities of 10 important and distinct tools associated with building a 100 percent clean, renewable energy system. Each fact sheet includes two case studies of effective action on college campuses, as well as a list of resources. 

Katherine Eshel

Policy Analyst

More recent research on this topic is available:

Renewable Energy 101, 2018

America’s institutions of higher education can play a leadership role in the fight to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. Colleges and universities across the country should aggressively deploy clean energy on campus, setting a goal to meet all their energy needs with clean renewable resources.

America has enough renewable energy potential from the sun and wind to power the nation several times over. Studies of the electricity system suggest that high penetrations of renewable energy are possible using technologies available today at costs that society can afford. Technological advances – including the development and commercialization of new methods of energy storage – along with continued declines in the price of renewable energy technologies such as solar power and advances in energy efficiency, suggest that a 100 percent renewable energy system can be achieved by 2050.

As hotspots of innovation and technical expertise, college campuses are the perfect place to implement the programs and technologies that will develop the clean energy technologies of tomorrow and accelerate the transition to a future powered entirely by of 100 percent clean, renewable energy.  

Environment America and Frontier Group designed a series of 10 fact sheets as a resource for students, faculty and administrators interested in moving their campus toward sustainability. The fact sheets have been crafted to illustrate the importance, challenges and opportunities of 10 important and distinct tools associated with building a 100 percent clean, renewable energy system. Each fact sheet includes two case studies of effective action on college campuses, as well as a list of resources.

Click the links below to download each section:

1. On-Campus Solar Energy

2. On-Campus Wind Energy

3. Solar Heating and Hot Water

4. Geothermal Energy

5. Renewable Energy Purchasing

6. Energy Efficiency in Campus Buildings

7. Microgrids and Energy Storage

8. Electric Transportation

9. Sustainable Transportation

10. Energy Conservation

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Katherine Eshel

Policy Analyst

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