Sustainability Action Plan

UNDERSTANDING OUR GHG EMISSIONS

When we talk about “metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent” it can be difficult to wrap our heads around the size of our campus’ emissions. This is where the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator 4 can help. According to this calculator, UW-Stout’s FY2018 GHG emissions are equivalent to the emissions from:

8,614 miles

79,838,778 Miles driven by an average passenger vehicle. This is close to the number of miles expended if every UW-Stout student drove the perimeter of the continental U.S.

2020 GHG EMISSIONS REDUCTION TARGETS

During 2015-2016, UW-Stout’s Sustainability Steering Committee made recommendations for new greenhouse gas emissions targets to be achieved by 2020, aligning with UW-Stout’s FOCUS 2020 Goals. These were approved by UW-Stout’s Strategic Planning Group.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Scope

FY2015 GHG Emissions Data (Benchmark Year) Measured in MTCDE

2020 GHG Emissions Reduction Commitment (from 2015-2020)

FY2020 GHG Emissions Targets Measured in MTCDE

FY2018 Emissions

Another way of looking at our emissions is what it would take for them to be avoided. Our FY2018 emissions could be avoided by:

Scope 1 Scope 2 Scope 3

11,000 14,586

10,637 14,362

11,111 16,207

1%

10%

6.9 wind turbines running for a year

4,743 - 4,480

7,656

5,270

10-15%

SCOPE 1

SCOPE 2

SCOPE 3

To sequester our greenhouse gas emissions, it would take 38,431 acres of U.S. forest in one year. For comparison, the City of Menomonie is 9,901 acres. To sequester UW-Stout’s FY2018 greenhouse gas emissions, it would take U.S. forest in the size of 3.9 times the city of Menomonie.

4 https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator

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