Penn leads nation's universities in buying green power

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, May, 2008 | by Susan Snyder Inquirer Staff Writer

The University of Pennsylvania leads the nation's colleges and universities in the purchase of green power, specifically wind power, the Environmental Protection Agency has announced. Penn was at the top of 40 colleges and universities that are EPA "green partners," and EPA officials said it was highly unlikely there was another college that did more.

The Ivy League school had led the nation for several years, but was overtaken by New York University in 2007. "We didn't like that," said Dan Garofalo, Penn environmental sustainability coordinator and senior facilities planner. Though it does not literally buy energy from wind turbines, which is all but impossible, the university this year bought renewable-energy credits equal to 192.7 million kilowatt hours of wind energy,...