Yesterday, bundled-up UW students hustled across the Quad, heading to class a little early to seek respite from the brisk January air. Few know that the heat they find inside University buildings is generated by the UW’s own power plant, located just across the street from the Intramural Activities building (IMA).

Along with heating buildings and providing backup power for the UW Medical Center and other facilities, the power plant emits more than 80,000 metric tons of carbon per year. Responsible for more than 40 percent of the University’s carbon emissions, the plant is emblematic of the UW’s impact on the environment and global climate change.

The overwhelming majority of scientists agree that global warming is happening and is a result of human activity, according to a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Man-made green house gasses (GHG), like the UW power plant’s emissions, are considered the key contributor to the Earth’s rising temperature.

“The debate is not in the science realm now, it’s in the policy realm,” said Stephanie Harrington, executive director of the UW Earth Initiative.

In the last few years, the UW has adopted policies to neutralize the University’s “carbon footprint,” and has taken many direct actions to minimize its impact on the rising global temperatures.

The term “carbon footprint” refers to the amount of greenhouse gases a facility releases into the environment.

In March of 2007, UW President Mark Emmert, along with the chancellors at UW Bothell and UW Tacoma, signed the Leadership Circle of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment.

“By signing this commitment, the University of Washington agrees to develop a plan for achieving climate neutrality in terms of greenhouse gas emissions,” Emmert said in a press release.

The Environmental Stewardship Advisory Committee (ESAC) — which draws its membership from students, staff and faculty at all three UW campuses — seeks to assist the University in honoring that commitment.

In its 2006-2007 report, the ESAC recommended ways the University should reduce its GHG emissions and a timeline for implementing them.

Short-term recommendations include buying printers and copiers capable of double-sided printing, and switching task lighting and incandescent bulbs in Housing and Foods Services buildings with compact fluorescent lamps. The lamps use 75 percent less energy and last seven to 10 times as long as incandescent bulbs.

Long-term recommendations include continuing to use renewable energy sources and building higher-density facilities.

We create a carbon footprint every time we drive a car, use our power and put more [GHGs] into the environment that can’t be removed, said Phyllis Wise, UW provost and executive vice president.

Human-made GHGs add to a naturally occurring shroud of molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere. These molecules absorb heat from the sun and emit some of that heat back to the planet’s surface. An excess of these gases disturbs the balance in the Earth’s temperature by trapping more energy than is released back into space.

“Global warming is the change in the balance of incoming solar radiation and outgoing radiation,” Harrington said.

The GHG that is primary contributor to global warming is carbon dioxide, a by-product of burning fossil fuels. The power plant creates steam from burning natural gas.

As for the plant, its carbon emissions were greatly reduced in the 1980s when its fuel was switched from coal to gas.

To further reduce its impact, a group of four UW graduate students proposed a plan in 2007 to make the plant carbon neutral by capturing, treating and storing its tailpipe emissions.

The proposal is one of many in the UW Climate Keystone Project by graduate students Matt Kuharic, Kaia Peterson, Eli Levitt and Amy Wheeless.

Beyond research, UW students can make their own impact to reduce the University’s carbon footprint.

“Most people think [global warming] is such a big problem, nothing they do can make a difference,” said Rehana Lanewala, a graduate student in the School of Marine affairs. “It’s not true.”

Lanewala said with small lifestyle changes, like taking the bus, using their own cup at coffee stands and installing fluorescent bulbs, students can make an impact on climate change. She also encourages political action.

Lanewala is one of three main organizers of Focus the Nation, a teach-in focusing on the science and solutions of global warming to be held Thursday in the HUB.

[Reach reporter Jacob Olson at news@thedaiy.washington.edu.]

See tomorrow’s paper for more information about the UW’s future role in creating solutions to global climate change.