Black Colleges Go Green

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the historically black educational institution in Princess Anne, is building a 20-acre solar farm on campus. The solar panels will take up an area about the size of 22 football fields. The panels will produce about 2.1 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply 10 to 15 percent of the university’s needs.

The solar field will be the largest in the state of Maryland and will nearly double the state’s capacity to produce solar energy. The university hopes to have the system online by the end of the year.

At Alabama State University in Montgomery, the football team’s bus will be powered by the school cafeteria’s used cooking oil, which will be converted into bio-diesel fuel.

Copyright © 2009. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.