Frequently Asked Questions

Why wind power, as opposed to solar, hydroelectric, etc.?
            Each source of renewable energy has its advantages and disadvantages.  Hydroelectric power created by damming rivers can be very harmful to the river and the land around it.  Solar power is too expensive right now.  Wind power, on the other hand, is relatively cheap and widely available in New York City.  Wind power is booming, with enormous potential for future growth.  There are few harmful effects of building wind turbines.  Lastly, dozens of colleges have independently concluded that wind power is the way to go. 

Where are you going to put the wind turbines?  There’s not much space on campus…
            We are not proposing that wind turbines be built on campus.  There’s not much space on campus, what there is is expensive, and there’s not enough wind in the middle of Manhattan to make a turbine economically feasible.  When Columbia buys wind power, it will be buying promoting development of wind turbines elsewhere, perhaps upstate, perhaps out West.  Just as Columbia’s food isn’t grown on campus, neither is most of its electricity generated here.

How much will this cost?
            The most recent price estimate of switching Morningside Campus to wind works out to as little as $10 per semester per student, if students were to foot the entire bill.

What type of electricity does Columbia use now?
            Nuclear, coal, natural gas and oil provide the vast majority of the electricity that Columbia purchases, mostly through Con Edison.  Wind power is less than 1%.

Will this really be worth it?
            You decide.  Switching over to wind for Morningside campus alone would reduce carbon dioxide emissions every year by the equivalent of planting ten million trees or having over twenty thousand typical American commuters ride their bikes to work instead of cars.* 

Ask us more questions, we’ll give you more answers

*Based on 6000 miles and 375 trees for every 3600 kWh, and taking 235 as a very rough average number of workdays per year, times the average commute distance of 32 miles per day, and using 100,000 MWh as Morningside’s electrical consumption.