February 1, 2021
Dear UMass Amherst Community,
I am pleased to share with you this report by the Carbon Mitigation Taskforce (CMTF). It is a high-level overview of key-steps UMass Amherst (UMA) could take to transition the campus energy system to carbon neutrality. This report summarizes the results of a one-year study in response to the Chancellor’s call for a detailed technical assessment of the feasibility of and requirements for achieving 100% renewable energy on campus by 2030 – not just our electricity, but all our heating and cooling needs as well.
The taskforce members who worked on the report are a diverse group of UMA faculty, students, and staff. The University hired an expert consultant team to support the taskforce, and throughout the yearlong study this collective team gathered input from staff, faculty, students and alum from across the UMA community. CMTF also consulted experts from other higher-ed institutions, government agencies, and non-profits.
CMTF submitted the report to the Chancellor on January 29. The Chancellor and his team are currently reviewing the technical, policy, procurement and behavior change solutions in the report and plan to add a “funding strategies” section to the report soon. The report can be used internally by UMA’s staff, faculty, and students to further our collective understanding of possible carbon mitigation by the university.
If you have any questions, suggestions, or feedback about the report, please reach out to the co-chairs of the Carbon Mitigation Taskforce, Dwayne Breger (dbreger@umass.edu) and Ezra Small (esmall@umass.edu).
If you want to learn more about UMA efforts to mitigate carbon or share the public information about the planning effort, please visit https://www.umass.edu/sustainability/about/planning-taskforces-and-initiatives to view the recording of the virtual community events held in the fall of 2020 and use that information to share UMA’s carbon mitigation and sustainability work to date.
While this report answered the charge of the chancellor, it also created additional exciting questions. UMA’s staff, faculty, and students are well suited to answer many of these technical, financial, operational, and organizational questions. I hope you will be a part of creating solutions for how UMA mitigates carbon emissions.
Sincerely,
Steve Goodwin Deputy Chancellor
