Toward more sustainable operations at NSF's NOIRLab

As traveling scientists and astronomers who operate observatories and data centers our per-capita carbon footprint is seven times higher than the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement, which stipulate that we need to limit the world-wide per-capita CO2 equivalent emissions to 2.7 tons by 2030, and 1.5 tons by 2050, to keep global warming under 1.5C. 

Astronomy is also widely "popular" and news about astronomical discoveries often make the headlines, inspiring the imagination of millions. We can leverage this privileged exposure to be a driver for climate action. As the national flagship organization for ground-based astronomy we at NSF's NOIRLab believe that we must lead by setting a good example.

I will show how we estimated our operational carbon footprint from pre-pandemic FY19 data and how we used these insights to propose for the first time in our most recent NSF five-year renewal proposal an ambitious program to reduce our carbon footprint by at least 30 percent by the end of FY27. We will reduce our business travel by 50 percent and invest the savings in new PV installations, and replacement of inefficient equipment. We are not powerless in face of ongoing climate change, and modest investments now lead to large savings of CO2 and money within just a few years.