Beyond PR.
Decarbonize Cornell: Big Red Should Not be Exempt from Ithaca’s Fossil-Fuel Phaseout.
An independent report with Cornell on Fire
Updates on Cornell’s response:
February 26: We see encouraging signs. In a February 25 presentation to the County's Climate and Sustainable Energy Board, Cornell appeared to be updating their methods by proposing a study on long-run marginal emission rates. Progress! 👏
Explore our findings
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Summary for Changemakers: what you need to know to drive the change we need.
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The research report on operational emissions from Cornell’s heat decarbonization pathways.
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A graphic telling of the decarbonization debate. Like it on Instagram or Mastodon!
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Watch our presentation of findings to the community and Cornell.
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Read the press on Cornell’s decarbonization pathways.
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Tell Cornell the evidence supports decarbonization — and you do too.
Summary for Changemakers
Should Cornell be exempt from Ithaca’s fossil-fuel phaseout? Cornell says yes. The university wants to change Ithaca’s progressive Energy Code Supplement (the IECS) to exempt its campus from the fossil-fuel phaseout on new construction and major renovations. Why? Cornell claims electrified heat pumps would increase carbon emissions relative to continued use of its gas-fired power plant.
Cornell on Fire co-authored an independent white paper called “Estimating the Operational Emissions of Cornell University Heat Decarbonization Pathways.” We find that Cornell will reduce emissions by decarbonizing new construction projects now, as mandated by the IECS. The key difference between our model and Cornell’s is methodological: we followed widespread consensus in the academic and industry literature that long-run emission rates are appropriate to building electrification decisions. Cornell’s prior analyses relied on short-run emission rates, an unsound methodology known to overestimate the benefits of gas heating and underestimate the benefits of decarbonization. That is why the American Gas Association uses this faulty method to mislead the public on the energy transition.
Following our white paper’s dissemination, Cornell Interim President Kotlikoff publicly reiterated Cornell’s argument for delayed decarbonization — on exactly the same flawed methodological grounds that Big Oil is using to cripple America’s energy transition. The implications are far-reaching. If Cornell succeeds in changing Ithaca’s energy code on the basis of flawed methodology, this will subvert climate legislation in a high-profile case and lend unwarranted credibility to Big Oil’s attack on America’s decarbonization project.
Action Steps: The integrity of the IECS will hinge upon the outcome of this debate. We urge Cornell to withdraw their request for exemption from Ithaca’s fossil-fuel phaseout and collaborate with activists and academics to revise the BIG RED Energy Transition plan. More broadly, Cornell must reorient toward climate action on a scale commensurate with the crisis. Yes, Cornell needs to decarbonize their buildings, but it also needs to decarbonize and degrow the entire university system and lifestyle while foregrounding perspectives from frontline communities.
White Paper:
Estimating the Operational Emissions of Cornell University Heat Decarbonization Pathways
Fenya Bartram, Eric Potash, bethany ojalehto mays, Jacob Mays, & Anthony Ingraffea (technical monitor)
Date: January 2025. Working paper currently under revision, pending submission as a preprint.
Abstract
Cornell University’s plan for decarbonizing its district heating system relies on the implementation of Earth Source Heat (ESH), an experimental technology that could potentially meet the majority of campus needs by 2035. In the meantime, Cornell continues to use a gas-fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant to serve campus. The Ithaca Energy Code Supplement, however, requires that new and renovated buildings phase out fossil fuels beginning in 2026. This more immediate mandate raises the question of how Cornell should provide heat to such buildings in the near term. This paper develops a model to estimate the emissions from two heating decarbonization pathways over the period 2026-2050. The near-term decarbonization pathway implements Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs) in all new construction, while the delayed decarbonization pathway continues to use gas-fired heat from the CHP while waiting for ESH to potentially come online. Our model considers emissions from operation of the CHP plant to provide heat, emissions displaced from the co-generation of electricity, and emissions associated with the electricity required to operate the GSHP and ESH alternatives under various decarbonization scenarios assumed for the New York State electricity grid. We find that near-term decarbonization confers significant emissions benefits: compared to the delayed decarbonization pathway, Cornell would reduce operational carbon emissions by 53–93% by implementing GSHPs in 2026, depending on the emissions trajectory assumed for the Upstate New York power grid.
THE STORY
Presentation
Watch our presentation to the Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative (TCCPI) on January 31.
Press
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Cornell should not be exempt from Ithaca’s fossil-fuel phaseout, argue leading Cornell academics, environmental organizations, and community members.
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Cornell on Fire Faculty Fellow Anthony Ingraffea responds to Kotlikoff’s op-ed: Save the Earth Source Project.
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Our co-authored response to Kotlikoff’s op-ed in The Cornell Daily Sun: Cornell’s Energy Transition - a troubling delay on decarbonization.
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Three weeks after our white paper was disseminated, Cornell President Kotlikoff publicy argued for delayed decarbonization.
