The Carbon Reduction (CRed) Project: Moving towards 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions

Principal Investigator: Douglas Crawford-Brown
Carolina Environmental Program and Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering

The Carolina Environmental Program has made the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by this campus, the local community, the State of North Carolina and the United States a core aspect of our education, research and outreach activities. As one step, we have joined the Community Carbon Reduction (CRed) program begun at the University of East Anglia in England, serving as the first such partner site in the United States. We invite other campuses and communities throughout the nation to join, and have created a website to serve as a resource base for efforts here and elsewhere. We are eager to help you join us in reducing carbon dioxide emissions through a mixture of policy options, community designs and personal action.

The CRed program, begun at the University of East Anglia, depicts carbon dioxide emissions as hot air balloons, each of which represents approximately 2 metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted each year by an individual. The average individual in the U.K. emits around 5 balloons per year; the average person in the U.S. emits closer to 10 per year.

CRed was inspired by the U.K. Government's new energy policy, summarized in the Energy White Paper - Our Energy Future. That policy sets an ambitious goal of 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. The CRed program at Carolina provides logistical and planning support to individuals, organizations and communities so they can identify and implement strategies of reduction. This support includes development of carbon emissions inventories; identification of cost-effective strategies for reduction targeting the largest components of that inventory; working with town planning groups to design the communities of the future that will require less material and energy; identifying business opportunities in the transition to lower carbon energy sources; and developing educational materials on climate change and carbon dioxide reduction strategies.