Turkish university decides to go 'carbon neutral' by 2050

ISTANBUL

Following a tangible effort launched by a student of Yıldız Technical University (YTÜ) with an aim to reduce its carbon footprint, the university administration has announced that the Davutpaşa campus, one of the largest campuses in Istanbul, will go carbon neutral by 2050.

Berat Kurt, a chemistry student at YTÜ, launched a campaign demanding that the university go carbon-neutral and install solar panels on campus. Kurt managed to collect more than 5,000 signatures from students supporting his campaign in a short period of time. Professor Dr. Bestami Özkaya, the vice-rector of YTÜ, took this into consideration and started working on the project.

Emphasizing that 70 percent of the energy used on the university campus will come from renewable sources by the end of this year and all of it by 2030, Özkaya said that they support the use of bicycles for transportation on campus and are taking steps to carry out campus tours with electric vehicles.

"YTÜ Davutpaşa campus is one of the largest campuses in Istanbul and even in our country. We aim for our university, which is currently ranked 63rd in the world in the international Green Metrics system, to rise to the top 10 in the world with the 'Green, Smart Campus' applications and to go carbon neutral, that is, to emit zero carbon emissions by 2050,” the vice-rector said in a written statement.

Kurt, the initiator and spokesperson of the campaign, said that it is a great source of hope that the university administration has taken a big step to cover its energy needs from renewable resources.

"The way we live in cities deepens the climate crisis, and campuses are actually tiny cities. This campus is like a small Istanbul, with its surface area, number of students and academics, housing, education, food facilities and waste management system," he concluded.