Despite significant growth across the system, the University of California’s carbon emissions now are 30% lower than they were in 2009. Those reductions are the result of concerted efforts at every campus, including energy efficiency programs that have saved UC more than $400 million in energy costs, and the deployment of more than 100 on-campus solar projects.
At UC Santa Barbara, total greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 were 67% below 1990 levels — reductions primarily attributed to investments in energy efficiency and to strategic procurement of electricity generation from low-carbon sources. Today, 93% of UC Santa Barbara’s remaining operational greenhouse gas emissions are a result of combustion of natural gas on campus for heating and cooling.