| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 79.54 |
| Liaison | Kelli O'Day |
| Submission Date | June 20, 2023 |
University of California, Davis
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.84 / 4.00 |
Camille
Kirk Director of Sustainability and Campus Sustainability Planner Office of Sustainability |
Total energy consumption, performance year:
Clean and renewable electricity (report kilowatt-hours):
| kWh | MMBtu | |
| Imported electricity from certified/verified clean and renewable sources (i.e., bundled green power purchases) | 21,738,000 Kilowatt-hours | 74,170.06 MMBtu |
| Electricity from on-site, clean and renewable sources (rights retained/retired) | 29,705,834 Kilowatt-hours | 101,356.31 MMBtu |
A brief description of the certified/verified sources of clean and renewable electricity:
UC Davis received 21,738,000 kWh of power from 2 solar power plants in Fresno, CA. UC Davis also received 21,535,236 kWh of large-scale hydropower from Western Area Power Administration in 2021. UC Davis receives and surrenders the RECs from WAPA for this hydropower. A description of UC Davis' on-site and off-site renewable energy is available at: https://sustainability.ucdavis.edu/goals/energy.
A brief description of the on-site renewable electricity generating facilities/devices:
The large 16.3 MW UC Davis solar power plant produced 28,680,373 kWh in 2021. Smaller rooftop, ground-mount, and parking lot solar systems produced 1,025,461 kWh in 2021. A description of UC Davis' on-site and off-site renewable energy is available at: https://sustainability.ucdavis.edu/goals/energy.
Clean and renewable thermal energy (report MMBtu):
| MMBtu | |
| Clean and renewable stationary fuels used on-site to generate thermal energy | 3,702 MMBtu |
| Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water from certified/verified clean and renewable sources | 0 MMBtu |
A brief description of the clean and renewable stationary fuels:
UC Davis satellite central plant has solar thermal systems installed producing 1262 MMBTU in 2022. While UC Davis has an on-site biodigester, it has been under repairs during the performance reporting period, and therefore did not produce biomethane for use on site. The campus has completed repairs, has re-started operations at the biodigester, and is studying the ultimate uses for the biomethane. Currently, the biomethane captured from the now-closed campus landfill and from the biodigester is being flared while the biomethane use study is completed. Though UC Davis has solar thermal systems installed on some of our student housing, and dining commons, there are no output records available.
A brief description of the certified/verified sources of clean and renewable thermal energy:
UC Davis purchases no external thermal energy.
Unbundled renewable energy products (report kWh):
| kWh | MMBtu | |
| Purchased RECs, GOs, I-RECs or equivalent unbundled renewable energy products certified by a third party | 55,056,000 Kilowatt-hours | 187,851.07 MMBtu |
A brief description of the unbundled renewable energy products:
UC Davis purchased 55,056 MWh of unbundled renewable energy credits in 2021.
Total clean and renewable energy generated or purchased:
Percentage of total energy consumption from clean and renewable sources:
Website URL where information about the institution’s support for clean and renewable energy is available:
Electricity use, by source (percentage of total, 0-100):
| Percentage of total electricity use (0-100) | |
| Biomass | 0 |
| Coal | 0 |
| Geothermal | 0 |
| Hydro | 10 |
| Natural gas | 0 |
| Nuclear | 0 |
| Solar photovoltaic | 24 |
| Wind | 25 |
| Other (please specify and explain below) | 41 |
A brief description of other sources of electricity not specified above:
Other: Unspecified generation sources from utilities, including Western Area Power Administration, with which UC Davis contracts for a portion of our total electricity procurement.
Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
| Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100) | |
| Biomass | 0 |
| Coal | 0 |
| Electricity | 0 |
| Fuel oil | 0 |
| Geothermal | 0 |
| Natural gas | 99.66 |
| Other (please specify and explain below) | 0.34 |
A brief description of other sources of building heating not specified above:
UC Davis does use geothermal heat source pumps in some buildings, but because our output is relatively small compared to total heating energy on campus, and because our output cannot be accurately allocated between heating and cooling, the campus elects not to report any geothermal energy used for heating buildings. The 0.34% of “other” represents UC Davis’s propane usage, which is used for heating some small buildings on various outlying areas of the UC Davis campus and research fields.
The Big Shift is UC Davis’s ongoing project to replace its old, steam-based campus heating system with a new, hot water based system. This will improve the system’s energy efficiency and allow it to be powered using renewable electricity, rather than natural gas. https://bigshift.ucdavis.edu/
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Data sources: utility provider invoice/meter data and onsite meter data
Securing clean and renewable energy continues to be very important to UC Davis and the campus has invested in significant renewable sources on and off campus. We have installed a 16.3 MW on-site behind-the-meter solar power plant, along with another approximately 760MW of on-site solar; we hold over a one-quarter share of an off-campus 80 MW solar power plant; we own and operate an on-campus biodigester; we participate in the University of California’s (UC) Wholesale Power Program, which provides 100% clean power for the purchases we make from them; and we are investigating additional renewable investments. The UC maintained their No. 1 ranking among colleges and universities for green electricity use for 2020. UC Davis is a major contributor to the UC renewable energy program, providing 34.2% of the total UC portfolio with our on-campus and off-site renewable energy projects and contracts.
The Big Shift is UC Davis’s ongoing project to replace its old, steam-based campus heating system with a new, hot water based system. This will improve the system’s energy efficiency and allow it to be powered using renewable electricity, rather than natural gas. https://bigshift.ucdavis.edu/
Information about UC Davis' energy sources and uses is available at: https://sustainability.ucdavis.edu/goals/energy.
An additional infographic about our campus energy story is available at: https://ceed.ucdavis.edu/energystory/.
Alex Berk, student employee in the Office of Sustainability, assisted in compiling this credit response.
Data sources: utility provider invoice/meter data and onsite meter data
Securing clean and renewable energy continues to be very important to UC Davis and the campus has invested in significant renewable sources on and off campus. We have installed a 16.3 MW on-site behind-the-meter solar power plant, along with another approximately 760MW of on-site solar; we hold over a one-quarter share of an off-campus 80 MW solar power plant; we own and operate an on-campus biodigester; we participate in the University of California’s (UC) Wholesale Power Program, which provides 100% clean power for the purchases we make from them; and we are investigating additional renewable investments. The UC maintained their No. 1 ranking among colleges and universities for green electricity use for 2020. UC Davis is a major contributor to the UC renewable energy program, providing 34.2% of the total UC portfolio with our on-campus and off-site renewable energy projects and contracts.
The Big Shift is UC Davis’s ongoing project to replace its old, steam-based campus heating system with a new, hot water based system. This will improve the system’s energy efficiency and allow it to be powered using renewable electricity, rather than natural gas. https://bigshift.ucdavis.edu/
Information about UC Davis' energy sources and uses is available at: https://sustainability.ucdavis.edu/goals/energy.
An additional infographic about our campus energy story is available at: https://ceed.ucdavis.edu/energystory/.
Alex Berk, student employee in the Office of Sustainability, assisted in compiling this credit response.
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.