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Title image: Kyle Travis, a technician from Lighthouse Solar, installs solar panels on the roof of the building that houses the CU Center for Innovation and Creativity. Photo by Glenn Asakawa/CU Boulder.

Colleagues from the CU system office and CU Boulder have been selected to take part in the inaugural Scalable Tech Track Adopters cohort this fall, a program through the partnership of Wells Fargo’s Innovation Incubator (IN2) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). 

NREL chose 10 participants from around the United States, including utilities, data centers, real estate companies and electric companies. CU system Assistant Vice President for Budget, Planning, and Capital Kori Donaldson and CU Boulder Vice Chancellor for Infrastructure and Sustainability Chris Ewing will represent CU, the only university included in the cohort. The program will focus on understanding the challenges of implementing clean energy technology, exploring innovative solutions and identifying ways to accelerate clean technology from idea and proof of concept through to market adoption.

“Ensuring the University of Colorado remains a leader in sustainability efforts is a priority,” said CU President Todd Saliman. “Establishing the CU Sustainability Steering Committee, which brings together leaders from each of the four CU campuses and the system’s office, has certainly paid dividends. Through the group’s collaborative efforts, I believe this is just one of many initiatives CU can contribute to as we continue the hard and necessary work in the sustainability environment.”

NREL will educate participants on adopting scalable solutions and provide practical implementation guidance in support of their sustainability goals.

“When I envision the future of sustainability at CU Boulder, I see clean energy like solar and geothermal being important parts of our approach—but I think there’s even more we can do,” CU Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz said. “This cohort provides another opportunity for us to identify further possibilities that will propel us toward campus decarbonization.”

The program started on Aug. 7 and runs through December. At the end of the cohort, participants will pitch ideas for up to $250,000 in grant funding to be used for clean technology transition. Awards will be announced in January 2025.

“I am honored to be included in the inaugural IN2 cohort for adopters of new sustainable technologies,” Donaldson said. “The University of Colorado is committed to the long-term goal of carbon neutrality and I am excited that this program will help connect CU with the new technologies we will need to meet our sustainability goals.”

CU Boulder’s Climate Action Plan calls for a 50% reduction in carbon emissions (from a 2019 baseline) by 2030 and carbon neutrality by no later than 2050. The program follows Schwartz’s recent announcement to hire a vice chancellor for sustainability and CU Boulder’s partnership in an off-site solar agreement with Pivot Energy.  

“We are committed to achieving the goals outlined in our Climate Action Plan,” Ewing said. “I am excited to represent CU Boulder as part of this cohort as we strive to identify and scale up new technologies that can help accelerate the clean energy transition on our campus and in our community.”