The University of Illinois, like any other place, needs power to function. The University currently has almost 46,000 students that live on or near campus. Accomodating for such a high amount of students and many different facilities can be difficult. For many years, the University has relied on common power tactics like the burning of coal, natural gas, and fuel oil. Throughout the years students have spoken out against the use of these methods in order to obtain power, especially as the global warming issue has become more relevant and pressing. This website will look at the ways the University of Illinois has approached creating energy in the past and present, the ways the situation has changed and not changed, and the efforts of students on campus to improve the environmental footprint of the university on the earth.

These videos published by the University of Illinois Facilities and Services Department provide a summary of how the university obtains energy and how these ways are improving. These video provide a wonderful introduction into many of the topics that are found on this site.