Planet Impact

What is going Green? It is simply doing things that allow us to lessen the negative impact on our environment.

The POWERless energy competition is designed to encourage all of us to "Go Green." Production of electrical energy contributes to a broad range of environmental and health problems including climate change (CO2 mainly), acid rain (S02 & NOx), lung ailments and high levels of mercury in some fish species. A kilowatt-hour (1,000 watts of electricity for one hour) is generated in our area through several sources, including 45 percent coal, 40 percent nuclear, and the remainder through hydro-electric and burning natural gas. The electrical usage of residential and commercial buildings in the United States accounts for 36 percent of the U.S. greenhouse gases (mainly CO2) which are a byproduct of burning fossil fuels.

The Environmental Protection Agency says that an Energy Star lamp can reduce the production of more than 400 pounds of CO2 over its lifetime. Every kilowatt-hour saved by Elon students prevents the release of 1.5 lbs of CO2 into the atmosphere. When the POWERless competition is complete, we will post the amount of that CO2 that the competition prevented from being released to the atmosphere. Go Elon and Go Green.