N.C. State has committed to being climate-neutral by 2050. To achieve this neutrality, N.C. State’s campuses will have to emit greenhouse gases equal to or less than the amount that they remove from the atmosphere.

David Dean, outreach coordinator for the sustainability office, said that this goal stems from an agreement signed by former Chancellor James Oblinger.

The agreement, the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, is a pact between institutions of higher education to reduce and counteract their greenhouse gas emissions. ACUPCC’s web site states that institutions that sign up agree “to set a target date and interim milestones for becoming climate neutral.”

Tracy Dixon, director of sustainability, pointed out that this is one way N.C. State is “locally responsive [and] globally engaged.” 

“This is just another example of how N.C. State can be a leader,” Dixon said. “Sustainability and climate are global issues, and how N.C. State responds can make a difference.”

Currently, the University is developing a plan to work toward climate neutrality.

“What’s going on now … is to determine how to reach that goal,” Dixon said. 

Meanwhile, the University is taking steps to reduce its emissions.

“Right now, the sustainability plan is looking at how we can reduce our impact over the next five years,” Dixon said.

Dixon stressed that it is difficult to plan for the distant future.

“This will have to be a living plan,” Dixon said.  “We cannot possibly know what things will look like in 40 years.”

A baseline was established by a greenhouse gas emissions inventory taken last year, whichh summarized the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted by the University in 2008. For ease of comparison, the sum of all emissions was reported as metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. 

According to Dixon, the University emits around 270,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.

For comparison, “one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent is about the average energy use that a household would use in a month,” Dixon said.

Using that conversion, the University emitted the same amount of greenhouse gases as 22,500 households in 2008. For larger buildings with different functions, one ton of equivalent can be released over a much shorter time frame.

“[One metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent is] about a day and a half of energy usage at Holladay Hall,” Dixon said.

The majority of energy use on campus is in buildings and transportation.

“Somewhere between 75 and 85 percent is building energy and the rest is commuting and transportation,” Dixon said.

These numbers are not “climate neutral,” but N.C. State emits less than some peer institutions.  According to the 2008 Greenhouse Gas Inventory, N.C. State emits less carbon dioxide than UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Maryland, both of which have also signed the ACUPCC.

Although it is early to speculate on the ultimate success of this endeavor, the University is also making progress toward other environmental goals. Dean cited the effort to reduce landfill.

“N.C. State has set the goal of 65 percent of our waste diverted from the landfill by 2015,” Dean said. “Currently, we divert roughly half of the waste that is generated on campus.”

The results of N.C. State’s efforts will be seen in the next greenhouse gas inventory.

Some worry about the cost of becoming climate neutral, such as Campbell Dean, a freshman in psychology.


“It’s obviously good for the environment, but … cost-efficiency probably would be my biggest concern,” Dean said.


Many students, Dean included, have not heard of the climate neutrality goal.  Adam Ward, senior in environmental science, did not know about the program.


“I’m not familiar with their goal or with their plan,” Ward said.