EPA names SU 4th-largest purchaser of green energy
Ten dollars can keep 2,600 cars off the street and their emissions out of the air; $10 can plant 4,100 acres of trees, can produce the same amount of electricity as 2,056 homes and can give the university 22 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity.

The $10 figure represents the approximate increased cost per student of buying fossil fuel-based electricity as opposed to electricity from alternative and renewable energy sources.

Since July 2005, Syracuse University has received 20 percent of its electricity from low-impact hydro plants and windmills. The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday that SU is the fourth largest purchaser of green energy among the 45 colleges and universities in the Green Power Partnership program.

"Syracuse University is really carving a leadership stake," said Blaine Collison, program director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Program.

The amount $10 is an estimate and varies case by case, Collison said.

"In some cases, it actually does not cost more," Collison said. "There are a couple of markets around the country, Colorado and Austin, Texas, where the wind production cost is less than the standard fuel cost."

SU's 20 percent commitment exceeds the statewide 10 percent requirement affecting state agencies and organizations that Gov. George E. Pataki's Executive Order 111, put into effect for 2005.

Nathan Prior, energy conservation manager for the department of energy and computing management, has looked into green and alternative sources of energy for SU and noted Pataki's move.

"We took a look at that and wanted to make sure we were ahead of the curve," Prior said.

At an event introducing the Energy Council at the Schine Student Center, Prior received positive feedback about green energy.

"Students who I've had contact with have been supportive," he said.

The Energy Council is a group of students, faculty and staff from SU and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Prior said.

SU signed a contract that will expire in two years with Suez Energy Resources, a division of Suez Energy North America, in 2005, said Louis G. Marcoccia, senior vice president for business, finance and administrative services.

While SU has had no problems with Suez, Marcoccia said the university administration would consider its options when the time comes.

"The question is what happens to that cost and what happens to other costs," he said. "We'll be watching this very carefully as we move forward."

Two years from now, Mark Hamer, a senior political science major, will be past college. Hamer said he's all for green energy as long as it makes sense.

"If there's any way to have a cheaper energy source that's also environmentally friendly, it'd be a great thing for the university," Hamer said. "It'd certainly make me proud as an alumnus."

Daily Orange – James D. Yoo