Social Context
As the global awareness of the harmful effects of energy sources such as fossil fuels has grown, there has been a recent push for more sustainable energy development. Although solar energy has been seen to be a viable alternative towards traditional power generation methods, the implementation of solar energy has not yet met the demand. While energy sources are very obviously a climate issue, the environmental pollution they cause is also a public health issue. According to the World Health Organization estimates “roughly 2.5 million people die each year from exposure to combustion products of solid household fuels (McMichael, 1999).” These figures also conclude that contamination from air pollution can contribute up to 7% of the global burden of disease (McMichael, 1999).
Unlike fossil fuels, solar energy does not cause any air pollution, carbondiocide, and has a minimal effect on the environment (US Energy Information Administration, n.d.). Another major benefit to solar energy is the long term availability of energy, while fossil fuels are depleting across the world, solar energy will always exist as long as the sun shines (US Energy Information Administration, n.d.). With this taken into consideration it is clear that solar energy has many long term benefits that do not exist with traditional energy sources. However, there is still a social barrier to widespread implementation of solar energy. As scientist Martin Pasqualetti notes when examining the barriers to widespread renewable energy implementation, “they are locally available, sustainable, have low to zero emissions, and in the case of solar and wind energy – do not need to be cooled with water (Paqualetti, 2011).” As the author continues to examine, there are many possible explanations as to why renewable energy hasn’t been more readily adopted across the globe, but the primary factor is a lack of understanding of renewable energy from the general public and sweeping generalizations that renewable energy is not cost effective or efficient. In addition to this misconception, some researchers have also pointed to a false societal confidence in “an endless supply of energy” (Strum, 1983) existing. However, with environmental degradation continuing at an unsustainable pace it is clear that colleges and Universities must lead by example in order to change these false societal beliefs.
On Campus Context
As scientists have studied the importance of sustainability and sustainable development in recent years more colleges have been pushing sustainable development projects, not only to help reduce their footprint but also to elevate their public image in the surrounding community. This has clearly become a worldwide problem as some researchers have described the human impact on the environment similar to the environment having a heart attack (Smith, 2010). As one anthropologist Peggy Barlet notes, Colleges and Universities have been left to pave the way for new sustainable developments. Bartlet says, “higher education contributes to cultural change toward sustainability through curriculum, research, operations, and community outreach. Universities are now creating sustainability and environmental research centers, and more formal curriculum changes in graduation requirements, certificates, minors, and majors are emerging across the country (Barlett, 2008).”
With Lafayette being a leading institution in multiple academic spheres, we intend to uphold this perception on campus and in the surrounding community in terms of sustainable development with the creation of the Lafayette Clean Energy Center. As a liberal arts institution, Lafayette prides itself on social progress through community involvement, with many opportunities on campus to pursue change. With a large number of clubs and organizations on campus, students are able to actively participate within their community and work toward achieving the best interests of both groups.
Many departments on campus, such as the Lafayette Office of Sustainability, involve students within paid positions on campus to work towards a shared goal on campus. Organizations like these group together to better campus and serve the community. Implementing a renewable energy focused center or department on campus would not only provide educational opportunities for students, but also provides an opportunity for students to work and collaborate towards clean energy within the community. Involving students outside of classes on their own time creates a very beneficial environment, where students can interact with aspects of the solar array and other energy related topics. Also, the implementation of such a renewable energy center would also allow for more collaboration between other organizations on campus. Many other groups on campus involve similar ideals and interests, and involving a clean energy center on campus would support existing organizations, such as the Sustainability Office or LaFarm. The Kirby Solar Array provides a topic and location for community engagement within sustainability and renewable energy.
Implementing a solar energy involved community on campus can also impact local communities within the area. Ideally, a proposed clean energy center would be a fairly open resource to the public, where locals can involve themselves within renewable energy education and events. In addition, implementing these ideas of solar and renewable energy within surrounding communities can have positive implications for local lower schools. Understanding this can involve these sustainable energies further into lower schools, helping the future understand the importance of renewables.
Community Initiatives
In addition to the increased student involvement around solar energy, our group also proposed developing community initiatives that can be run out of the LCEC such as other peer institutions have done. One of these institutions, Drexel University offers community initiatives that allow for renewable energy centered interactions between the University and the surrounding community. One of the oldest initiatives Drexel has is the Junior Solar Sprint. The event, in which Drexel partners with Philadelphia Solar Energy Association to put on, consists of students from 5th through 8th grade coming to the campus to compete in a competition to see who can design the best solar powered car. While the event is designed to “develop students hands-on experience in science, technology engineering, and math (Drexel University, n.d.)” It also exposes them to the possibilities of designing using sustainable technology, something that is often overlooked in domestic science education.
We would use the momentum of the new LCEC and the associated staff to hold a similar event with students from local Easton elementary and middle schools. We propose hosting this competition in the Kirby Sports Center, giving the college the ability to state that the competition is being hosted in a building entirely powered by the rooftop solar array. Not only does this show the community what is possible with solar energy, but it also gives community members insights into some of the college’s recent development projects. In a piece published for the Institute for Global Environmental strategy noted, “Enhanced quality education of youth is necessary for further progress across all dimensions of sustainable development (Ofei-Manu, 2014).” We anticipate this program not only allowing youth to be reinspired to look at the benefits of sustainable energy but also as a great public relations opportunity for the college to bring community members on campus and strengthen the bond between Lafayette and Easton.
Along with the development of programs for local youth, another example of a program Drexel is currently running is making home solar installations more accessible with the surrounding community. Drexel accomplished this goal by “working with a solar company to provide free energy usage assessments on community members’ homes. After the assessment, Drexel provides discounts and rebates to these homeowners, helping them to reduce the cost of solar array installation (Solar Power Authority, 2019).” Through this initiative Drexel is not only making solar power more accessible but also strengthening its ties with its communities. We consider this plan to be very feasible in the local Easton community and in addition to heightening the sustainability of the surrounding area, Lafayette can once again have positive interactions with community members and continue building that relationship.
In addition to the community benefits of a renewable energy center, having the ability and ambition to strive for these energy goals also has implications within the ideas of Lafayette’s public image. Involving these energy based programs at Lafayette represents the students and school’s devotion to the environment. These commitments through the construction and operation of the Lafayette Clean Energy Center can serve to combat social barriers to adopting renewable energy technology both locally and on campus.