Energy Use at the University of Minnesota

Energy Use at the University of Minnesota

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that the U.S. uses about 17% of the world's total energy despite only being about 4% of the world's total population.*

Because a large portion of the University of Minnesota's emissions come from heating and powering buildings, the University is committed to using renewably sourced energy whenever possible, including purchased and on-site solar, thermal and photovoltaic installations, and more. In 2019, the Morris campus was ranked as the #1 campus in the U.S. for most renewable electricity generated on campus per full-time equivalent (FTE) student.**

We track energy use across the system campuses in order to identify how much energy is used, from which sources, and to continue improving our efforts.

Right now the majority of our renewable energy sources come in the form of renewable electricity and biofuels for the fleet. Across the system, approximately 5% of the total energy consumption comes from renewable sources. To see the breakdown of renewable energy by campus, see the table below.

 

Energy Use, 2023

Source (Gigajoules)

Crookston

Duluth

Morris

Rochester

Twin Cities

Systemwide

Gasoline  1,273  3,265  1,328N/A  19,987  25,852
Diesel  799  2,314  765N/A  22,868  26,746
Coal/Steam61,186--N/A15,182  76,368
Propane---N/A--
Natural gas-359,163107,776N/A1,123,7981,590,737
Distillate Oil #1-4-2,625-N/A5,6418,266
Cogen Distillate---N/A1,1141,114
Cogen Natural Gas---N/A2,550,5722,550,572
Grid Electricity Carbon15,99966,013-N/A163,089245,101

TOTAL NON-RENEWABLE

79,257433,380109,869N/A3,902,2524,524,757
E85---N/A4,1564,156
B5---N/A--
B10---N/A--
B20---N/A--
Grid Carbon Free9,39666,013-N/A289,936365,345
Purchased RECs-72814,886N/A144,000159,614
On-campus renewable-34315,977N/A6,69423,014
Renewable Connect---N/A64,22164,221

TOTAL RENEWABLE

9,39667,08430,863N/A509,007616,350

TOTAL ENERGY USE

88,653500,464140,731N/A4,411,2595,141,107