About REG
The GSEC Renewable Energy Group was started in September 2003 to work towards increasing energy efficiency on campus and having the University powered by renewable forms of energy.
The main focus of our work so far has been targeted towards getting the University to conduct a full energy retrofit. An energy retrofit is replacing old lighting, heating and water systems with very efficient modern technologies. This type of retrofit has been done before at Universities across Canada and the world. Retrofits usually involve large upfront capital costs that are paid off in 4-8 years by the energy savings. Essentially, this would cost the University nothing as the energy savings themselves pay for the improvements. The University of Manitoba now saves $2.65 million a year on energy costs from a $13 million retrofit.
We have also proposed to use the eventual energy savings, after paying off the retrofit costs, to be invested in green energy. There are many ways in which the University could begin to purchase green power. The first would be to install either Wind Turbines or solar Panels on and around campus to begin producing our own pollution free, cheap energy. Secondly, we could invest install Wind Turbines off campus in areas of high wind to maximize our energy production. Finally, we could begin purchasing green energy from an existing green energy supplier. While these forms of energy are presently more costly than conventional power, they provide long term pricing stability and are not susceptible to volatilities in the energy market. We are campaigning for the University to establish a council of students, administrators, faculty and staff to work towards sustainability on campus.
In order to work towards these goals we have been active in various areas. We have completed a formal proposal that we presented to the University Executive University Administration in March 2004. We also put forward a referendum question that was posed to the students in the CSA elections, which showed overwhelming support for the retrofit proposal. We organised a speaking event “Sun Wind and Sky” last march, and again in the Fall of 2004, with presentations on the feasibility of green power as an alternative to fossil fuels and nuclear, as well as the political and technical challenges to be overcome in making the switch. We have been gathering endorsements of our proposal to gain credibility with the administration.
This coming semester, we will be working towards approving a student levy which will allow the Bullring to purchase renewable energy equivelant to all of it’s electricity usage. We will also be contining our long-term project to install a wind tower on campus both as a generator, and as an educational tool. New projects and ideas are always needed as we grow in size and momentum.