ESPN and The University of Kansas Host “Green Game”

Image Gallery Fifteen elliptical machines at the David A. Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center on The University of Kansas campus convert kinetic energy created by exercising on them and feed it back to the electrical grid. Photo Courtesy The University of Kansas

ESPN, The University of Kansas and the city of Lawrence hosted the first “Green Game” on Saturday, December 19, at the KU men’s basketball game against Michigan at Allen Fieldhouse. The game highlighted the sustainability efforts of KU and the city of Lawrence.

ESPN produced two video segments about green initiatives at KU and showed them at the game. The first segment features the 15 eco-friendly elliptical machines at the David A. Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center on campus. The machines convert kinetic energy created by exercising on them and feed the energy back to the building’s electrical grid. The second segment highlights KU’s Biodiesel Initiative. This project involves collecting used cooking oil from campus dining halls and converting it into biodiesel fuel. The fuel has been used to power campus lawn mowers and to power generators for the HyVee Kids’ Family Hawk Zone, a play area with inflatable moonwalks, at KU home football games.

To show its commitment to using renewable energy, the city of Lawrence purchased 8,000 kilowatt hours of the Bowersock Mills and Power Co.’s certified renewable energy certificates—or enough energy to cover the electricity used during the game.