If Cornell can demonstrate it's feasibility and really make some headway with this enhanced geothermal system, it could be put into use in many parts of the Appalachians, and potentially in similar locales around the world.

An important tactic for slowing climate change is for private companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, but knowing exactly how much they’re emitting can be a challenge.  To address this need, researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) have developed an online greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions accounting tool, FAST-GHG, to help quantify these emissions in crop production.

Sarah Brylinsky, who works in the Campus Sustainability Office, said she sees the current pandemic as a time where innovation for sustainability can thrive and make Cornell a model for other universities. “[I am] confident that Cornellians … are destined to help us create a future in which our choices as a society are overall better across each of sustainability’s areas of focus — including learning from the current global challenges to help inform a new future,” Brylinsky said.

The University swept top spots in national sustainability rankings for the 2020 year after being recognized as one of the most sustainable higher education institutions by the Sierra Club, Princeton Review, AASHE's Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, and the Carbon Commitment run by Second Nature.

Cornell completed its 12th year of pursuing carbon neutrality and has published a greenhouse gas inventory showing carbon emissions have dropped by 36% from the 2008 baseline set as part of Cornell’s participation in the Second Nature Carbon Commitment. As detailed in the full greenhouse gas inventory, the Ithaca campus released 203,001 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) in 2019, compared to 318,624 MTCO2e 12 years prior. 

Four Cornellians have been appointed to three climate advisory panels that will inform the New York State Climate Action Council – a task force established by Gov. Andrew Cuomo – to guide the state and draft a plan toward a zero-carbon economy by the middle of this century.

After identifying student climate literacy as a key metric to advance in it's first year, the Sustainable Cornell Council’s Education & Engagement Committee wrote, developed, and implemented Cornell’s first climate literacy module for incoming students this Fall.  

Cornell is part of the New York Higher Education Large Scale Renewable Energy consortium that is seeking to purchase electricity from large-scale renewable energy project.  The consortium released a Request for Proposals (RFP) this summer to begin soliciting projects in the United States.

Cornell has secured a U.S. Department of Energy grant of $7.2 million to fund the next stage of Earth Source Heat development.  Earth Source Heat is Cornell’s version of an enhanced geothermal system that would use Earth’s internal heat to warm our campus, helping reach carbon neutrality by 2035.