Behind the Scenes of UMass Carbon Zero

 In 2019, Chancellor Subbaswamy proclaimed that UMass would be Carbon Zero by 2030. Five years later, not much has changed. Why?

 At the request of climate-concerned students, previous Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy announced the UMass Amherst Carbon Zero Initiative in 2019. The overarching goal of the project was to reduce campus carbon emissions to net-zero by 2030. This would mean that campus would not release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than it could sequester, which involves transitioning completely away from fossil fuels.

Upon the announcement of the project, Subbaswamy founded the Carbon Mitigation Task Force, a group of faculty, staff, and students that would draft a plan for becoming net-zero. In 2021, the task force completed its report and presented it to administration. The report is available on the UMass Carbon Zero website and the webpage states that the Chancellor and his team would be reviewing the report and adding funding plans soon. Yet after three years, there aren’t any updates. What has been going on behind the scenes since the report was presented? How much progress has been made?

The task force originally determined that UMass would need roughly 2,490 wells to power campus. But, after building a couple of test wells, they found that that number would only power the southwest side of campus. This means that they would need to build more wells than anticipated and in different parts of campus, which would cost a lot more money. Another aspect of the project that is both disruptive and a financial hurdle is refitting all of the piping and buildings to be heated/cooled by “low temperature hot water”, which is water headed to around 120 degrees, instead of steam. This transition is crucial to running the heat pumps and a more energy efficient campus, but it is a very disruptive project. Refitting the buildings might even require some renovations because buildings are no longer up to code. These obstacles have made the project very overwhelming and have been the main reasons for stalled progress.

One win of the project thus far is the new computer science building, which is planned to run entirely on heat pumps and heat exchange. Staff like Ted Mendoza, the Capital Projects Manager here at UMass, are very excited about this project because it could act as a proof of concept and pave the way for other buildings’ transitions.

But, not all of the administration shares the same enthusiasm for heat pumps. After learning about the high price tag and level of disruption, people like Tilman Wolf are looking for other options. One that he is excited about is biofuels, which would be a semi-renewable energy source and would not require transitioning away from steam. However, they would still involve burning a substance for energy which would emit carbon dioxide, though it would be much cleaner than natural gas. There also is some excitement about potential mini nuclear or green hydrogen technology, but since it is still many years from reaching the market, it’s unlikely to be implementable anywhere near 2030.

An added hurdle to the entire project has been the transition between chancellors. The task force has not met in months, as they have been waiting for the chancellor to get caught up on the project and adjust to UMass. On more of the administrative side, I feel like there is a also sense of hoping that a cheaper solution will somehow emerge that will be just as effective as the heat pumps, which has kept them waiting to make any drastic decisions.

After interviewing faculty and staff involved in the initiative from all sides, I have come to some conclusions about what I think are some important things that need to be remembered and next steps:

First, the University needs to make the transition from steam to “low temperature hot water.” It may be an incredibly invasive process, but it is the future of heating and cooling and will set the stage for a more efficient campus for years to come. When I spoke to Scott Augerbach, a chemistry professor that is a part of the task force, he talked about experts being convinced that “low temperature hot water” really is the future of heating and that we need to make that transition no matter what.

Going along with that, I believe that biofuels are not a viable solution. Although they are technically net-zero because they come from a semi-renewable resource, that does not take into account the carbon potentially involved in their production and definitely in their transportation. They also don’t do much of a service to campus besides producing less toxic pollutants, because the carbon dioxide is still generated on campus.

Furthermore, although other technologies like green hydrogen may be exciting, they are in such early stages that they cannot be relied on to be a solution to a problem with such urgency.

I also was assured throughout these interviews that the 2030 goal is impossible to reach by this point. Although that is disappointing, Ted Mendoza reminded me that the timeline is less important than the progress. We don’t want to cut corners, even if it means the project might be delayed. We need to do this project right, which means choosing the right solution - heat pumps - and making progress without rushing.

The most concrete thing that I believe needs to happen for any more progress to be made is the founding of a University advancement team. When I spoke to Ezra Small, one of the co-chairs of the task force, he told me that this is the best next step. Advancement teams exist for each college, which work to fund individual college projects. Yet, UMass lacks a university-wide advancement team. Shifting to carbon zero will have a hefty price tag, and UMass needs people to lobby for private funding to make it happen. According to Small, this is what Subbaswamy had originally envisioned as the way the project could be funded, but steps have not been taken yet.

How can students get involved in this project and ensure that it continues to progress? First, we need to put pressure on the administration and show that we care about this issue. We are the clients of the university and therefore we have power. I’ve linked a petition to this article that demands that the chancellor make UMass Carbon Zero a priority and found a University advancement team to begin to gather funding. There are also other ways to get involved, such as working in the Carbon Zero Living Lab or joining student climate organizations, such as the Sunrise Movement. Above all, we as students need to show that we are willing to fight for this issue. After all, that is how this project began in the first place; students met with Subbaswamy and demanded that UMass be revolutionary in the clean energy transition. We have this opportunity again today, so I urge you to use your voice!

Thank you to everyone I interviewed:

Dwayne Breger - Director of UMass Clean Energy Extension

Ezra Small - Campus Sustainability

Tilman Wolf - Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

Ted Mendoza - Capital Projects Manager

Scott Auerbach - Chemistry Professor, iCons Program Director