Wednesday, April 30, 2008

EPA honors Colby, SNHU for using 'green' power

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has named Colby College and Southern New Hampshire University national winners in its 2007-2008 College University Green Power Challenge.

The schools won for buying 100 percent of their electricity demand from renewable sources such as hydro- and wind-generated power, according to the EPA. Combined, Waterville, Maine-based Colby and Manchester, N.H.-based SNHU purchased nearly 30 million kilowatt-hours of "green" power -- solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro -- this year.

The challenge involved 40 colleges, including the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Connecticut College, Bates College, Bowdoin College, Hamilton College and Wesleyan University.

Over the course of the 2007-2008 academic year, the EPA ranked collegiate athletic conferences by the total amount of green power purchased by their member schools. To be eligible, each conference had to have a collective green power purchase of at least 10 million kilowatt hours.