PROVIDENCE — In a daring move beyond recycling and energy-efficient light bulbs, Brown University is developing a plan to become more “green” and reduce its carbon dioxide pollution. This comes at a time when the public is becoming more aware of global warming and several Northeast states, including Rhode Island, also are trying to limit emissions of greenhouse gases.

The university’s Energy and Environmental Advisory Committee, comprising students, professors and facility workers, has released a list of goals and strategies for how the Ivy League school can become more environment-friendly. Recommendations include:

• Cutting annual carbon dioxide emissions to 42,425 to 45,000 metric tons by 2020. (Brown’s current emissions from electricity and heating is 82,000 metric tons, the weight of a 1,800-passenger cruise ship, or roughly the same emissions produced by the British Virgin Islands, according to the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center.)

• Developing a policy to become carbon neutral by removing an amount of air pollution equal to what the school emits. (The policy should be created this year and last until 2020. Carbon neutrality can be achieved through investing in renewable energy and carbon offsets by contracting with independent companies to remove carbon dioxide through programs such as tree plantings. Brown would also create local environmental projects with students and faculty.)

• Using 20 percent less electricity in current buildings by 2012. The university should also reduce the amount of energy used in all new buildings by 25 to 50 percent. Brown has 235 buildings.

“I think they are challenging goals. … This is meant to push the envelope,” said Chris Powell, Brown’s energy manager and chairman of the advisory committee. “We’ve identified ways to get there, but none of which are going to be simple.”

The committee is still working on an implementation plan, to be done next month. The estimated cost of all the suggestions is $29 million, not including additional expenses. Brown’s operating budget for 2008 is $704.8 million.

In an Earth Day statement, Brown President Ruth Simmons called the suggestions “a bold and thoughtful plan.”

The idea of creating local environmental projects was noteworthy, Simmons said, and sets a new standard “that stresses the personal initiative and responsibility” needed to address global warming.

One suggestion was approved, switching to natural gas instead of heating oil for four months to emit less carbon dioxide. The switch will begin in October and add $300,000 to the university’s $17-million energy budget, Powell said.

The other suggestions will be considered by Simmons and the rest of the Brown Corporation, which includes the board of fellows and trustees.

It is unclear when a final decision will be made on the environmental policy or how much Brown will spend to achieve it.

The recommendations were applauded by emPOWER, a student environmental advocacy group. The group started last year to encourage Brown to become carbon neutral and support renewable energy.

“I’d like to stress how exciting this is. It really puts Brown in a leadership role,” said sophomore Aden Van Noppen, an emPOWER and EEAC member

“We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we’re not there yet,” said Jon Magaziner, a Brown senior and member of emPOWER and the advisory committee. Magaziner thanked Simmons for listening to the student group over the past months.

In February, emPOWER presented a carbon neutral proposal to the Brown University Community Council, lead by Simmons. Some of the committee’s recommendations came from the student presentation.

To galvanize support, emPOWER held a letter-writing campaign and a massive photo exhibit. Four Brown graduates also wrote an editorial that ran in the campus newspaper The Brown Daily Herald.

The environmental movement at Brown reflects a trend on college campuses to minimize the “pollution footprint” generated by schools. More than 150 schools, including the University of Rhode Island, have signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, a pledge to eliminate school-made greenhouse gases.

Many strides have been made at other colleges. Last fall, the College of the Atlantic, in Maine, became the first school to pledge to use only renewable energy by 2015. Middlebury College, in Vermont, promised to cut emissions and invest $11 million in a biomass energy plant, which will burn wood chips.

Cornell University is developing a policy to further reduce its carbon dioxide emissions, said Dean Koyanagi, Cornell’s sustainability coordinator. In 2001, Cornell pledged to reduce its greenhouse gases to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Koyanagi said the university will meet that target through energy conservation programs and a $52-million upgrade of its central heating plant.

Other schools are also crafting similar policies, including the University of Pennsylvania, Arizona State University, and the University of Florida.

In Rhode Island, other schools are also working to be more environment-friendly.

The University of Rhode Island recently completed an energy audit on 200 buildings and plans to seek approval to spend $18.1 million for more efficient lighting and heating systems, said Robert Weygand, URI’s vice president for administration. URI is also designing its new buildings and renovation projects to use less energy.

URI is calculating the school’s carbon dioxide emissions and hopes to develop a policy to reduce its emissions next year, Weygand said.

URI is also looking into building a wind turbine. Initially officials thought it could be built near the Ryan Center, but data from a meteorological tower showed the site did not get enough wind. URI plans to move the tower to the Narragansett campus to check other sites, Weygand said.

At the Rhode Island School of Design, several steps have been taken to make the campus more “green,” including recycling, and retrofitting energy-efficient lights in 50 buildings, said Alan Cantara, RISD’s environmental health and safety manager. Cantara said RISD also hopes to gain “green building” certification for its new dormitory and library in the former Rhode Island Hospital Trust Building and the Chace Center, a new building to house classrooms and galleries.

Cantara said he and other RISD officials are researching how to reduce carbon emissions. “We’re starting that dialogue,” Cantara said. “It’s inevitable we’ll go there. It’s just a matter of how far and how long it takes.”

To read Simmons’ statement and the environmental recommendations, visit www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2006-07/06-140.html. For more information about emPOWER, visit www.brownempower.org

Michelle J. Lee is a fellow with the Metcalf Institute of Marine and Environmental Reporting.

mlee@projo.com