Coal may be the most inexpensive source of energy, but it is also the most polluting. While UW-Madison administrators say a drastic shift toward renewable energy would be costly, or even impossible, recent developments in alternative energy show going green may not be as difficult as it seems.

Jack Huddleston is a UW-Madison professor of urban and regional planning in the Gaylord Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies. He said the university could begin implementing green energy immediately, suggesting it “purchase energy from a company that uses windfarms.”

Area power supplier Madison Gas & Electric recently announced plans to expand its wind energy program, a move allowing Madison residents to opt for about a $10 per month premium to purchase a higher amount of wind energy and less coal. The wind energy would also become available for UW-Madison use.

Although Huddleson said it may not be feasible for UW-Madison to generate its own wind power, two Minnesota colleges are doing just that.

The University of Minnesota-Morris built a wind turbine near campus in 2005 now supplying the campus with 65 percent of its power. Macalester College is designing new buildings able to house solar panels and recently built a small wind turbine allowing students to conduct research and apsire to a larger transition to renewable energy.

“Wind generators get more and more efficient,” Malmquist said. “Solar is really nice when you need a little bit of power to do something, but it’s going to be a while before it’s economical.”

Huddleston said UW-Madison’s size does not inhibit it from implementing green energy strategies similar to those of Morris and Macalester.

“The university needs to be thinking about ways to reduce its carbon footprint,” he said.

Nuclear power, although neither renewable nor waste-free, remains an option for energy production and does not diminish the ozone layer or endanger the human respiratory system.

However, issues of safety during production and waste disposal have stalled the construction of a new nuclear plant in the United States for 30 years.

“I’d live next to a nuclear plant in terms of the safety of it,” Huddleston said.

The problem, according to Jennifer Feyerherm, Wisconsin Clean Energy Campaign coordinator for the Sierra Club is “nuclear power is too toxic for too long” and “there is no safe way to dispose radioactive waste.”