The New York Times
Summary
When administrators at Princeton University decided to cut the carbon emissions that came from heating and cooling their campus, they opted for a method that is gaining popularity among colleges and universities.
They began drilling holes deep into the ground.
The university is using the earth beneath its campus to create a new system that will keep buildings at comfortable temperatures without burning fossil fuels. The multimillion dollar project, using a process known as geoexchange, marks a significant shift in how Princeton gets its energy, and is key to the university’s plan to stop adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by 2046.
When administrators at Princeton University decided to cut the carbon emissions that came from heating and cooling their campus, they opted for a method that is gaining popularity among colleges and universities.
They began drilling holes deep into the ground.
The university is using the earth beneath its campus to create a new system that will keep buildings at comfortable temperatures without burning fossil fuels. The multimillion dollar project, using a process known as geoexchange, marks a significant shift in how Princeton gets its energy, and is key to the university’s plan to stop adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by 2046.
Key Takeaways:
- “This moment is singular,” said Ted Borer, director of energy plants at the school. “This is when we’re switching to something that doesn’t require combustion.”
- “This is what saving the planet looks like,” Mr. Borer said. “It’s hugely chaotic. It’s messy. it’s disruptive.” But, he added, “There’ll be kids playing Frisbee here a year from now.”
- Carleton College in Minnesota spent $42 million on its geoexchange, which was completed in 2021, and expects to break even within 18 years. The system has cut the school’s annual natural gas use by about 70 percent and has cut 25 years off the college’s plan to be carbon neutral, which is now expected by 2025, Sarah Fortner, Carleton’s director of sustainability, wrote in an email.
Lindsey Olsen, associate vice president and senior mechanical engineer at Salas O’Brien, a technical engineering firm, said five years ago, the company was working on two or three campus geothermal projects at one time. That figure has grown to between 20 and 30 projects, she said.
Among the colleges where geoexchange or geothermal systems are being tested, installed or are in use: Smith, Oberlin, Dartmouth, Mount Holyoke and William & Mary.
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