The Fuqua School of Business has made a commitment to purchase renewable energy certificates to offset 100 percent of its electricity use, making it one of the first business schools in the country to independently purchase 100 percent of its energy in this way. Renewable energy certificates are credits that individuals, institutions, or businesses can buy to compensate for the amount of nonrenewable, greenhouse-gas-emitting fossil fuels--such as coal, oil, and natural gas--used in their vehicles, homes, offices, or other facilities. Buying the certificates helps subsidize the cost for a wind farm, solar farm, or other renewable energy producer to generate an equivalent amount of clean energy and put it back into the national power grid. Although Fuqua will not actually change its source of electricity, the school's purchase of renewable energy credits, which will begin this summer, will help support the use of alternative energy sources in areas of the country where they are more widely available for general use. Fuqua will purchase its renewable energy certificates through a larger agreement that Duke has established with Sterling Planet, a company that works with businesses to offset their conventional energy use with renewable energy. The purchase was proposed and organized by members of Fuqua's student government and Energy Club. The Pratt School of Engineering and the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences have also purchased renewable energy credits through Sterling Planet. "It's important as students and future business leaders that we support environmental sustainability," says Matthew Meares M.B.A. '06, who led the development of Fuqua's program. "Business leaders need to know how to operate in an environmentally correct manner, and this is a solid first step toward that." |
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