UC System Working to Become Energy-Neutral

The University of California, with 10 campuses, is making strides to become the first college system in the country to go energy-neutral, after UC President Janet Napolitano vowed last fall to see that the system offsets the greenhouse gases it produces. Achieving that goal was the subject of a recent workshop hosted by UCSB’s Institute for Energy Efficiency, with representatives from all of the campuses converging on the South Coast to talk about implementing more on-site solar panels — which are in the works to juice UCSB’s Student Resource Building — as well as examining making use of solid and yard wastes. Finding alternatives to natural gas will also be crucial, officials said, as that is the single-biggest source of emissions UC-wide.