Frequently Asked Questions

How are greenhouse gases produced and what impact do they have on the environment?

Greenhouse gases is a term used for gases (like carbon dioxide) which are mainly generated as a result of burning fossil fuels like coal, petrol and diesel.

While the use of these fuels has helped industrialization enormously, it has caused a steady increase in levels of carbon rich gases and other pollutants. Scientists predict that higher levels of greenhouse gases will cause a significant warming of the earth by about one to five degrees Celsius.

This could cause potentially disastrous changes in the environment like violent storms, expanding deserts and melting ice caps, causing sea levels to rise and engulf coastal regions.

According to one estimate, global warming could cost the world about 5 trillion dollars. Developing countries are expected to be the hardest hit.

What materials can I recycle?

Stony Brook recycles paper, cardboard, bottles, cans, motor oil, printer cartridges, scrap metal, pallets, lumber, batteries, and wood debris. Stony Brook has also diverted up to 6,000 lbs. per month of clothing to Goodwill.

Where does Stony Brook get it's electricity from?

Stony Brook is unique in that it has an on-site power generation facility that normally provides all of the power needs of the campus. For those times when the on-site facility is unavailable for maintenance or problems, power comes from the local utility, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA).

The generation plant uses a gas turbine, normally found under the wing of airplanes (aeroderivative gas turbines), that has been modified to drive an electric generator. The gas turbine normally burns clean natural gas, but can also burn oil as a backup, but there is more to the story than that.

The privately owned on-site generation facility is a Co-generation Plant, meaning it simultaneously produces steam to supply the campus' two heating and cooling plants when it generates the electricity. The co-generation plant recovers waste heat that is leftover after the power is created and produces steam with it. It is the same concept as turning your heat on while driving your automobile in the winter (i.e. recovering heat that is normally dumped in to the atmosphere via the radiator and instead using it to perform a useful function.) Two forms of useful energy from one fuel! The effective energy conversion efficiency is a lot greater than creating the two products separately as is normally the case.

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