Energy Management: The Carbon Management Plan at tje University of Hertfordshire

This research will be looking at sustainability within the higher education sector with a focus on CO2 reduction through energy management in the University of Hertfordshire (UH). Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions come from various sources, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels which are deposits of organic material excavated from the ground. Fossil fuels can be processed into various forms of fuel e.g. coal, gas, oil etc. and are used in the generation of power for various industries including the residential and educational sectors. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2005), stated that CO2 emissions in these sectors are mainly produced by boilers and furnaces which burn the fossil fuels and emit the CO2 into the atmosphere from exhaust stacks.

The increase of CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere has caused warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from earth towards space. This process is known as the “greenhouse effect” (US EPA, 2014).

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) which was closed on 1st of April 2011, as part of the Coalition Government's spending cuts stated that a 60-90% reduction in CO2 emissions is needed from industrialized nations by 2050 in order to avert a dangerous change in the climate (RCEP, 2002).

In 2013, it was estimated that 38 per cent of CO2 emissions were from the energy supply sector, making it the largest producer of man-made CO2 emissions followed by 25 per cent from transport, 17 per cent from the residential sector and 16 per cent from business (DECC, 2014).

1.1 Literature Review

There has been a collective response to climate change from the world community by the adoption of the United Nation’s framework conv...

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...dequate housekeeping and lower cost effective upgrades. The Carbon Trust also stated that FHE is a growing sector, with increasing numbers of students by a factor of five over the past thirty years. This implies that there is also a growth in the energy consumption of colleges and universities. There is constant pressure on establishments to provide optimum learning facilities on a limited budget therefore there is need to observe energy use to facilitate the release of extra funds for curricular resources (Carbon Trust, 2014).

The main purpose of this research is to examine the carbon management plan which has been implemented by the University of Hertfordshire focusing on the reduction of energy use in the university. This research will be looking at the drivers of the carbon reduction commitment and identify how reductions in CO2 emissions can be achieved.