The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which has dramatically reduced its carbon dioxide emissions in the past several years, is selling an estimated 150,000 metric tons of certified carbon credits to Chevrolet, which is retiring them on behalf of the environment.

“Our campus has taken a significant first step in reducing its carbon footprint,” said Professor Evan DeLucia, Director of the University’s new Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE). “Chevrolet has rewarded these positive steps by joining with campus leadership to provide more than $1 million to help campus achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.”

The campus committed to the following goals in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) created in 2010: reduce building-related greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by 2015; 30 percent by 2020; 40 percent by 2025; and 100 percent by 2050. Professor Ben McCall, iSEE’s Associate Director for Campus Sustainability, said the campus is on track to easily surpass its 2015 goal.