University of British Columbia will be greenhouse gas neutral by 2050, pledged school president Stephen Toope.
The university will take gradual steps to drop GHG emissions by 33 per cent from 2007 levels by 2015 then down to 67 per cent by 2020 before reaching its final goal.
“Our overarching strategy for meeting these uncompromising targets is to become a living laboratory,” Toope said Wednesday at GLOBE 2010.
To stay on course UBC will partner with green businesses, model how technology and knowledge transfer can be made easier and engage its community on and off campuses.
The 2015 target is valued at more than $100 million in savings through drops are energy consumption avoiding B.C.’s carbon tax and gains in funding through research grants.
Already, UBC has partnered with B.C. based Nexterra and General Electric for a pilot biomass gasification project which would generate enough clean electricity to power 1,500 homes and eliminate 4,500 tonnes of GHG emissions per year.
After the technology is mastered it will be made available on the market locally and globally.