I attended the University of Stellenbosch energy committee meeting today. I have met with some of the people around today’s table through the years, so I was curious about their progress. I was pleasantly surprised.
In 2009, the committee did not exist and there were no specific goals or targets. But now there is a committee with ambitious and time-specific goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, and energy expenditures. And a student representative from ecomaties attended the meeting!
Challenges remain, though. The reduction targets are not on any administrator’s list of key performance indicators. The full benefit of the targets is not being realized, because they are not used for management purposes. And bureaucratic hurdles are delaying progress. But the trajectory is good. I trust that the challenges will be overcome through time.
Like Monday, another fun and interesting day.
—Matt
