The Johns Hopkins Task Force on Climate Change has
released to
President Ronald J. Daniels its
final report, a landmark document that includes a series of
major recommendations, prominent among
which is that the university reduce its greenhouse gas
emissions by 51 percent by the year 2025.
The task force was convened nearly three years ago by
then President William R. Brody to help
guide the development of a new climate change policy that
would focus on practical, innovative and
economically viable approaches to confronting this
environmental threat, with the long-term vision of
carbon neutrality.
In January 2008, the task force — an
interdisciplinary blue ribbon working group of experts
—
was specifically charged with cultivating innovative and
novel approaches related to addressing climate
change and developing a comprehensive strategic plan.
Ben Hobbs, task force chair and the Schad Professor of
Environmental Management in the
Whiting School's Department of
Geography and Environmental Engineering, said that the
final report
and its recommendations are a blueprint that will require
changes in institutions, technology and
behavior to be realized.
"Our aims here are significant," Hobbs said. "During
the next couple of decades, we will use
energy very differently than we do now. The reduction of
emissions from our operations by 51 percent
constitutes a huge break from the past."
Due to the enormity of its charge, the task force was
broken into three working groups: Tactics
and Strategies, Community Partnerships, and Innovation and
Research. The group's membership
included senior members of the university administration,
faculty, students and those from the
Baltimore community.
In a letter sent today to the university community,
President Daniels said, "This high-level
effort reflected the seriousness and commitment of this
institution in tackling one of the most
significant issues facing society today. It is clear that
the challenge of climate change is a daunting
but not insurmountable challenge. Johns Hopkins University
will continue to address this issue and do
its part to advance progress."
The Task Force and its three working groups met
regularly to analyze comprehensively the
university's emissions profile, assess relevant core
strengths, identify intellectual assets and help
define Johns Hopkins' role as a leader in the region.
In the report, the task force recommends that the
university aggressively pursue opportunities
that combine a sustainability focus with smart resource
management.
Efforts in this area are already under way.
This summer, the university plans to build a
cogeneration power plant on the Homewood campus
to supply a significant portion of the campus's energy
needs. "Cogeneration" refers to the utilization
of both power and heat. The proposed plant, which will run
on natural gas, will generate not less than
3.5 megawatts of electricity — roughly 20 percent of
the campus's current peak requirements. It is
projected to save the university $1.5 million annually and,
because JHU will purchase less electricity
from regional coal-burning power plants, will reduce the
campus's carbon footprint.
Johns Hopkins Medicine has also announced plans to
build a cogeneration plant on the East
Baltimore campus, sometime within the next two years.
The report calls for the university to expand its
focus on the student experience, ensuring that
students have more opportunities to get involved in climate
change research activities, community-
based learning and sustainability-related social
activities. Likewise, the report recommends that
academic leadership find creative ways to match interested
professors with meaningful sustainability
projects on the Johns Hopkins campuses and in the
surrounding communities.
In terms of innovation and research, recommendations
were made to develop undergraduate and
graduate programs in sustainability and to increase efforts
to find creative technological and
behavior-related solutions to expand energy efficiency
measures on all campuses, such as the
widespread use of LED-based lighting fixtures and computer
energy-management programs.
To help push forward these initiatives, the report
recommends the creation of an environmental
institute at Johns Hopkins. The institute, Hobbs said,
would be a multidisciplinary entity that could
focus and direct the university's climate change efforts
and disseminate knowledge to the rest of the
world.
"This would be a physical location where students and
professors could share ideas: a place for
people to go to increase and target our efforts in the
energy and sustainability area," Hobbs said.
"Interaction is key because solutions to energy problems
must be interdisciplinary."
The institute, he said, could also promote Johns
Hopkins research.
"For example, right now we have people in Mechanical
Engineering working on wind energy and
those from Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering working on
biofuels. The institute would help
present these and other findings to the outside world in a
concerted fashion," he said.
The Climate Change Task Force worked in consort with
the Johns Hopkins Sustainability Committee, a 16-member
group formed in 2006 to head a universitywide effort to
greatly improve
Johns Hopkins' environmental profile.
Davis Bookhart, chair of the Johns Hopkins
Sustainability Committee and manager of Energy
Management and Environmental Stewardship in the Office of
Facilities Management, said that the
recommendation process benefited from the "multiplicity of
stakeholder perspectives" and the deep
commitment of its members.
"Students, staff, faculty and community members came
together for a creative brainstorming
approach," Bookhart said. "All ideas were thrown on the
table so that we could identify as many good
opportunities as possible. The members were excited about
the prospect of shaping a climate change
policy for the university, and I'm personally very pleased
they committed so much personal time to this
great effort."
During the next several months, President Daniels and
senior members of the administration will
consult with deans and directors to develop an
implementation plan based on the report. The plan,
scheduled to be released in the fall, will detail the
recommendations that the university will adopt and
the timelines for implementation.
Daniels said that the goals are ambitious but
obtainable.
"Even in this difficult economic climate, it is clear
we have opportunities to provide
environmental leadership that will help set the foundation
for a stronger and more dynamic university
for decades to come," he said. "As is our tradition, we can
lead through discovery and scholarship and
by putting what we learn into action. This is the essence
of principled and responsible university
leadership. I am confident that the recommendations we
ultimately implement will catapult us to a
leadership position in sustainability."
To view the full report and recommendations, go to:
www.sustainability.jhu.edu. Comments and suggestions
can be sent to
sustainability@jhu.edu.