In a state often characterized by the amount of sunshine it
receives, students are trying to parlay these rays into providing
energy to a substantial amount of the University of California.
The UC Go Solar campaign has made its way to UCLA, with
organizers and students currently garnering support from student
governments systemwide to make all new buildings in the UC powered
largely by renewable resources ““ namely solar power.
“California has to transfer to clean energy,” said
Byron Kahr, a field organizer for the Go Solar campaign.
“We’re hoping the UC system will become a worldwide
leader in the effort.”
Specifically, the campaign aims to have all new buildings in the
university system installed with solar panels capable of generating
25 percent of a building’s power, with an additional 25
percent coming from renewable energy sources such as wind or
hydraulic power.
On Sept. 24 Kahr presented the campaign to the Undergraduate
Students Association Council to ask for UCLA support on the student
government side.
External Vice President Chris Neal said the campaign is
well-timed “since the UC is doing so much
building.”
“If this is cost effective, then it’s an
advantageous thing to do,” Neal said.
According to early estimates, Kahr said the costs would be
marginal to the university when considering the decrease in harm to
the environment.
Parts of UCLA have been utilizing solar power for more than a
decade, with solar panels on top of the high-rise residential halls
on the Hill. Dykstra, Hedrick, Rieber and Sproul Halls all have
rooftop panels accounting for a minimum of 40 percent of the
buildings’ hot water, said Michael Foraker, director of
housing.
The campaign comes at a time when the UC is currently building
its tenth campus at Merced. Kahr said a critical piece of the Go
Solar effort is the UC Merced campus, and if the campaign is
successful it would become the first campus to power itself largely
by renewable energy.
These efforts to move the UC away from oil-based energy also
coincides with a landmark bill signed by Gov. Gray Davis in
September. By signing Senate Bill 1038, Davis mandated that
retailers of electricity in the state must increase their use of
renewable sources by 1 percent per year and must be comprised of 20
percent renewable energy by 2017.
The effect on the environment would be the equivalent of taking
3.3 million cars off California roads, said Erin Walsh, a campus
coordinator for CalPIRG, the student lobbying group that helped
propose Senate Bill 1038.
California’s electricity is currently made up of 12
percent renewable energy, said Steve Maviglio, a press aide for the
governor.
Davis’ office hopes the new standards will decrease
California’s dependence on natural gas and increase the use
of wind, geothermal, biomass and solar resources.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co., one of the state’s largest
energy suppliers which once had an energy monopoly in California
prior to the utility deregulation of the late 1990s, supports the
governor’s bill and expects to meet the 20 percent goal six
years ahead of schedule in 2011.
PG&E currently matches the state average of renewable source
usage at 12 percent, and is already increasing its use at 1 percent
each year, said Brian Swanson, a press aide for PG&E.
“It’s not a problem for us,” he said.
Swanson added that the company has signed long-term contracts
with renewable energy generators, including a large number of
hydroelectric plants.