Energy and Sustainability

PEI Urban Challenges awards $509,000 to new urban sustainability projects
Jan. 18, 2019
Author
Written by Morgan Kelly, Princeton Environmental Institute
Vertical farms in post-industrial America, origami-based noise-pollution barriers, and cement made from burned waste make up the latest round of projects funded by the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI) Urban Grand Challenges program. Totaling $509,000, the new awards are active through September 2020.
Sewers could help clean the atmosphere
Jan. 15, 2019
Author
Written by John Sullivan, Office of Engineering Communications
Sewage treatment — an unglamorous backbone of urban living — could offer a cost-effective way to combat climate change by flushing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
Going quantum to unlock plants’ secrets
Jan. 15, 2019
Author
Written by Kevin McElwee for the Office of the Dean for Research
When it comes to green living, nobody does it better than plants. When plants convert light into fuel through photosynthesis, not a single particle of light is wasted. If we could unlock plants’ secrets, we might be able to perfect the design of light harvesting in solar cells. Gregory Scholes, Princeton’s William S. Tod Professor of Chemistry, suspects that the key to plants’ efficiency stems from their ability to harness quantum physics, the unintuitive behaviors of very small particles. In 2010, he led a team that demonstrated quantum effects in marine algae.
Princeton University’s new biodigester makes food scraps sustainable
Jan. 9, 2019
Author
Written by Emily Aronson, Office of Communications
Princeton University’s latest sustainable innovation can be found along the edge of campus just behind FitzRandolph Observatory. There, under a white tent, hums a new biodigester that turns food waste into nutrient-rich compost. Since operations began in fall 2018, more than 16 tons of food scraps have been converted into compost.
McPhee receives Audubon New York Award for Environmental Writing
Nov. 14, 2018
Author
Written by Jamie Saxon, Office of Communications
John McPhee, a Ferris Professor of Journalism in Residence at Princeton, was awarded the 2018 Audubon New York Award for Environmental Writing. Created in 2015, the award recognizes writers who use the power of the pen to influence positive change in the world of environmental conservation in support of Audubon’s mission.
Class explores ethos of sustainability on Princeton’s campus
Nov. 7, 2018
Author
Written by Emily Aronson, Office of Communications
Touring the Cogeneration Plant that powers University buildings. Eating plant-based burgers made by Campus Dining. Sampling herbs from the Vertical Farming Project. Walking in the rain to observe how campus gardens help filter runoff. Students in the class “Investigating an Ethos of Sustainability at Princeton” use the University as their model and the campus as their lab. Taught by Director of Sustainability Shana Weber, the course examines global environmental issues through a local lens.
Reversing climate change, one plate at a time
Nov. 7, 2018
Author
Written by Chris Lentz, Campus Dining
Each choice we make today about the food we produce and consume can significantly affect the future of the human race. From climate change to poverty and hunger to economics, food is a constant in multiple fields of research. At Princeton, this research is being applied to campus food programs in an effort to identify solutions for some of the global challenges.
Funded by new tax credits, U.S. carbon-capture network could double global CO2 headed underground
Sept. 25, 2018
Author
Written by Morgan Kelly, Princeton Environmental Institute
With the right public infrastructure investment, the United States could as much as double the amount of carbon dioxide emissions currently captured and stored worldwide within the next six years, according to an analysis by Princeton University researchers.
Frist, campus eateries now have "boxed water" instead of plastic bottles
Sept. 20, 2018
Author
Written by Albert Jiang, The Daily Princetonian
Campus Dining has implemented a series of changes in campus cafés and the Food Gallery of Frist Campus Center involving menu changes and an effort to promote plastic alternatives. All plastic water bottles, bags, and utensils have been eliminated. Paper bags, as well as plastic and paper straws, are available only upon request.
Resource Recovery ‘upcycles’ Princeton University office furniture to the public
Sept. 18, 2018
Author
Written by Emily Aronson, Office of Communications
When a University department no longer needs furniture, electronics or other large office supplies, they turn it over to Resource Recovery so the items can be redistributed to other departments, sold, donated or recycled. The items are sold to the public at a deep discount, and are available to nonprofits for free. The program is an example of the University’s sustainability and community service initiatives.