Greenhouse gases absorb a certain type of radiation in our atmosphere and act like a huge blanket that insulates the earth and keeps heat in. These gases stay in the atmosphere for about 100 years, so some of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by the first Model T is still in the atmosphere today. The other thing that is really scary is it takes about 30 years for the full impact of the emissions to be felt in the climate. Even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, the earth would still warm up for another 30 years.

Being climate neutral means at some time in the future the university will be responsible for no net greenhouse gas emissions. There are a variety of ways of doing that, such as cutting emissions by being more efficient to changing the energy infrastructure for the campus so we are burning less or even no fossil fuels. Offsets can also help. We can, for example, pay hog farmers in North Carolina to use technology that captures methane, a powerful greenhouse gas and a by-product of the breakdown of manure. By paying the farmer to capture the methane before it escaped to the atmosphere, Duke would own those negative greenhouse gas emissions or offsets, which could then be used to negate an equivalent amount of CO2 Duke put in the atmosphere.

I think the big issues will be power and steam generation and transportation, which represent our largest sources of emissions. We purchase electricity from Duke Energy, which has a large number of coal-fired plants. So a lot depends on what happens nationally. If the U.S. passes legislation that requires energy companies to decrease their CO2 emissions, it will help us meet our goal because we assume responsibility for the emissions that Duke Energy emits to generate power on our behalf.

Coal is also the fuel used in Duke’s steam plant to heat buildings on campus. One of the things we are considering is to co-fire the steam plant using biomass, which would cut fossil fuel emissions significantly.

I think the transportation sector is especially challenging because of the lack of alternatives in this area. If we want to address the transportation issue, we really can’t do it by ourselves. We have the opportunity to partner with Durham, the Triangle, the state and on up to do something far more significant in the way of transportation, and we should.

What can people do to make a difference?

We simply need to

be smarter about how we use energy. That involves lifestyle changes. Some of those are fairly trivial, like turning the lights off and using less water. If every home in the United States changed out three regular light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs, it would be equivalent to taking three million cars off the road. That’s significant. In the final analysis, however, I don’t believe the necessary changes will happen on a national scale until appropriate signals appear in the marketplace.

What needs to change nationally to reduce emissions? 

The federal government should put a cap on emissions by some specified year and allow the marketplace to figure out the best way to meet it. Whoever figures out the best, cheapest way to supply the energy we need without emitting too much CO2 will create the technology that wins. Today, there is little incentive in the marketplace. We’re all putting out CO2 into the atmosphere for free, but there really is a cost. Coal is cheap, but the reason why coal is so cheap is because no one is paying for all the CO2 that is going into the atmosphere. Once you internalize the cost of those emissions, coal is not so cheap, and other sources of energy, such as wind and solar power, begin to look a lot more attractive.

How will Duke play a role in helping our country cut emissions?

The advantage we have at Duke is our culture of being interactive and interdisciplinary.  For example, part of the answer will be coming up with new technologies. That’s primarily an engineering challenge, and we’ve got great folks at Pratt who can help do that. But if you don’t have a good business model, the technology won’t be adopted in the marketplace. We’ve got people in Fuqua School of Business thinking about that. You also need good policies to provide the incentives for making new technologies attractive. We’re working in the Nicholas Institute and the Sanford Institute of Public Policy to make that happen.