By Michelle So, Staff Reporter, Yale Daily News
Maia Wilson, Staff Illustrator
Natural gas provides roughly half of Connecticut’s energy, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While burning natural gas produces half as many emissions as burning coal, it is not as green as one might think.
Any carbon-based fuel produces carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases when burned. Greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for trapping heat in Earth’s atmosphere, which contributes to global warming.
Yale has committed to achieving zero emissions by 2050, a goal the University has been slowly advancing towards. Alternative energy sources, including geothermal technologies, may be the ticket there.
“Yale is moving toward geothermal energy as part of the university’s commitment to achieve a zero‑emissions (zero‑carbon) campus by 2050,” Andy Bromage, the sustainability communications officer for the Yale Office of Facilities, wrote in an email to the News.
To achieve that goal, Bromage said drilling is underway to install 263 geothermal wells on Upper Science Hill. The new plant will support buildings including the Yale Science Building, the Sloane Physics Laboratory, the Sterling Chemistry Laboratory, the Kline Chemistry Laboratory, the Chemistry Research Building, and the Bass Center.
