Environmentalism: Ball State University's Alternative Energy

            Ball State is taking yet another step in leading the way in becoming an environmentally friendly campus. The university is creating the largest closed geothermal energy system in the nation. The system will provide energy for more than 45 of its buildings on its 660 acre campus. This project is expected to take 5 years and they anticipate it being complete in 2012. This system will have approximately 4,100 boreholes drilled in borehole fields around campus, but the campus’ beauty will be restored with the completion of the project, and the boreholes will go unnoticed. The switch to this alternative energy will be also go unnoticed by students and staff, and there will be no differences in the temperatures of the dorm rooms or the classrooms. When completed, the university will be saving 2 million dollars a year in operating costs and the energy system will replace 4 coal burners. By using Earth’s natural ability to produce and store energy, Ball State will be cutting its carbon footprint in half. This is just one of the many ways that Ball State University is again taking charge and responsibility to create not only a cleaner campus, but a cleaner world as well.