Sustainability is woven into the university’s campus life and practiced daily — from electric shuttles and bicycle paths to compostable eating utensils at the dining halls. A first-of-its-kind energy plant, located farther down the pathway to your right, eliminated the need for a fossil fuel-based power plant and helped dramatically reduce Stanford’s greenhouse gas emissions, well ahead of global goals. Two-thirds of Stanford’s energy supply now comes from renewable sources, including solar power. Stanford scholars have played key roles in developing technological solutions and policy strategies to minimize humanity’s ecological footprint, and they are preparing a new generation of climate leaders and innovators. Almost 1,000 courses at the university’s seven schools address sustainability issues.
Raising the Bar in Efficiency
The Central Energy Facility (CEF) is part of Stanford Energy System Innovations (SESI), a cutting-edge electric heat recovery system that makes Stanford one of the world’s most energy-efficient universities. Heat recovery chillers at the CEF capture waste heat from a chilled-water loop and move it to a hot-water loop, which distributes heat to buildings, replacing the fossil fuel-reliant steam system. Stanford’s largest construction project to date, implementation of SESI involved installing 22 miles of new under-ground piping and retrofitting about 150 buildings.
Accelerating Auto Technology
Stanford researchers help steer automotive advancements. Engineers, physicists, artificial intelligence specialists and social scientists probing the relationship between humans and machines jointly work toward improving driver-assisted features and solar-powered vehicles. At the Automotive Innovation Facility nearby, auto research groups collaborate for safer and more eco-friendly cars.
A Farm Within The Farm
Environmental science comes to life at the O’Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm, established by the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences in 2014. Student researchers there test small-scale farming techniques and tackle fundamental challenges to sustainable agriculture. This 6-acre space is a living laboratory, with more than 200 varieties of plants.
Kiosk 02 location highlighting Stanford Energy System Innovation, Automotive Innovation Facility and The O’Donohue Educational Farm.
