The organization’s CO2 footprint was calculated for the first time in 2010. At that time, the footprint amounted to 73 kilotons of CO2, 26 kilotons of which were compensated for. Last year the footprint was 43 kilotons of CO2 and for the first time it was more than compensated for, mainly by the wind turbines which produced nearly 25 percent more electricity last year (a total of 77.5 million kWh). Wageningen UR’s footprint also benefitted from a chance in the national indicators used to calculate CO2 emissions. ‘On balance that works out to our advantage,’ says energy coordinator Michiel Van der Wal.
But the organization’s operations have been made more sustainable in recent years too. There was a great leap forward five years ago with the switch to exclusively green electricity. Before that electricity consumption by the buildings accounted for 70 percent of the footprint. The move to the energy-efficient new buildings on campus also contributed a lot to reducing the footprint. In the most recent footprint, buildings account for only one third of the emissions. A striking feature of the footprint in kerosene consumption. The air miles run up on WUR business account for a full quarter of the footprint. That is almost twice as much as the footprint for daily commuting.
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