EPA’s Green Power Challenge

Over the course of the past academic year, 30 collegiate athletic conferences comprising more than 70 universities competed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) College and University Green Power Challenge. The competition, which is an offshoot of EPA’s Green Power Partnership, wrapped up last month with the Ivy League’s University of Pennsylvania taking the top spot.

Winners were determined by the amount of “green power” they purchased. Smaller schools with lower consumption were at a disadvantage, although the percentage of green power purchased was also calculated. The EPA defines green power as “electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources.”

The top conference in terms of total green power purchased was the Pac-12. Although only four schools from the conference participated, they collectively purchased in excess of 228 million kilowatt-hours. Here are the top five conferences and their green power purchases:

1. Pac-12 Conference (228,529,654 kWh)
2. Big Ten Conference (213,707,149 kWh)
3. Ivy League (200,194,600 kWh)
4. University Athletic Association (119,515,000 kWh)
5. Big 12 Conference (113,001,780 kWh)

Interestingly, only one school from the UAA (Carnegie Mellon University) and one from the Ivy League participated. Perhaps next year more schools will take part. To join the Partnership, visit the “Join Us” page. According to the challenge, in order to be included, “a conference must have at least one Green Power Partner and an aggregate green power use of at least 10 million kWh between conference members.”

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