Sourcing Renewables  -  August 21, 2020

Pennsylvania colleges recognized for renewable energy

Swarthmore College and Chatham University ranked at the top tier of colleges in the United States sourcing 100% renewable electricity, along with four other Pennsylvania colleges and universities.

The PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center released their new report “America’s Top Colleges for Renewable Energy 2020: Who’s Leading the Transition to 100% Renewable Energy on Campus?” ranking campuses on shifting to renewable energy, repowering buildings with clean energy and adopting electric vehicles. With 110% of their electricity needs coming from renewables, Swarthmore College ranked seventh for their percentage of electricity from renewable sources. Chatham University ranked second for the amount of heating, cooling, hot water and other non-electric renewable energy produced on campus per student, with sources including geothermal, solar, solar hot-water heating, wind and a microgrid.

“College campuses are natural leaders when it comes to transitioning to 100 percent clean, renewable energy,” Ashleigh Deemer, Deputy Director at PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center, said in a statement. “We’re excited to celebrate the fact that so many colleges and universities in Pennsylvania are leading the way in doing just that.”

Additionally, Carnegie Mellon University ranked third in the nation among large campuses for sourcing 105% of their electricity from renewable sources.

“The climate crisis is among the most challenging and complex issues we’ve faced as a society. Confronting it is about more than saving our natural environment; it’s also a question of equity and social justice, for we know the crisis disproportionately affects poor, black, and brown communities,” said Valerie Smith, Swarthmore College President. “As institutions of higher learning who seek to educate individuals to serve the common good, we have a responsibility to model our behavior and adapt our own processes as we work together to solve this crisis.”

The report also identified four other Pennsylvania colleges that made the list for sourcing 100% of their electricity from renewable sources: Bryn Mawr College, Lebanon Valley College, Northampton Community College and Allegheny College.