CalCAP - UC Berkeley's Climate Action Partnership

2009 Climate Action Plan

The recently finalized 2009 Climate Action Plan documents how the campus plans to reduce its greenhouse (GHG) emissions by one-third and eventually achieve climate neutrality. The Plan – which will be updated annually by the Office of Sustainability - examines how far the campus has come in the last two years to meet it ambitious emissions reduction goal and begins to explore areas that still need deeper analysis, decision-making, and implementation.

Target

The campus has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to reach 1990 levels by the year 2014 – a goal that is six years earlier than State of California and the UC requires. The eventual target of CalCAP is to achieve climate neutrality – defined in the UC Policy on Sustainable Practices as reducing GHG emissions through mitigation strategies so as to have a net zero impact on the Earth’s climate.

Description

The Cal Climate Action Partnership (CalCAP) is a collaboration of faculty, administration, staff and students working to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at UC Berkeley. Facilitation of CalCAP activities is part of the responsibilities of the campus Office of Sustainability. CalCAP’s focus is to develop a strategy and implementation methods for significantly reducing UC Berkeley’s GHG footprint without compromising the operations and mission of the University. Key elements to CalCAP’s work program include:

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory

UC Berkeley reports on ten emissions sources that include: electricity consumption, steam use, natural gas consumption, the university fleet, student commuting, faculty and staff commuting, business air travel, fugitive emissions from coolants, solid waste, and water use. Greenhouse gas inventories reveal that electricity and steam usage account for over 70% of campus emissions and close to 80% of our emissions are associated with campus buildings. The majority of the remaining emissions come from campus related travel. The campus reports its GHG inventory annually to both the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR) and the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and makes it available to the public. Third party verification of the inventory is completed as part of the CCAR reporting process.

Climate Planning & Emissions Mitigation Strategies:

The 2009 Climate Action Plan examines UC Berkeley’s current emissions mitigation strategy. Over the last year, the campus has begun implementation of some reduction projects and committed to additional energy efficiency GHG reduction projects through a Strategic Energy Plan. These new projects, along with other infrastructure and behavioral projects identified in an earlier plan, the 2007 CalCAP Feasibility Study, are predicted to accomplish about half of what is needed to meet the 2014 target. The 2009 Climate Action Plan identifies new potential strategies to accomplish the 2014 target without purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) and expands the discussion on climate neutrality. The Plan calls for the campus to make its next interim GHG reduction target for the year 2020 or 2025 by 2011.