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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: June 15, 2010 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. <br />SUBJECT: Resolution — "Coal- Free" UNC Co-generation Facility <br />DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) No <br />Parks and Recreation <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />Draft Resolution <br />Petition Received April 20, 2010 <br />UNC Energy Task Force Interim Report <br />Chancellor Thorp News Release <br />Commission for Environment Memo <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />David Stancil, 245 -2510 <br />PURPOSE: To consider a draft resolution regarding the University of North Carolina at Chapel <br />Hill co- generation facility and its use of coal as an energy source. <br />BACKGROUND: At the Board's April 20, 2010 regular meeting, a speaker from the Citizens for <br />a Coal -Free Community presented a petition calling for the University of North Carolina at <br />Chapel Hill to commit to immediately reduce coal use and completely eliminate the use of coal <br />by 2015 at the latest for its cogeneration facility. <br />Nationally, the Sierra Club has asked approximately 60 universities to make such a commitment <br />to help address greenhouse gas emissions and climate- change impacts associated with the use <br />of coal for energy production. UNC's co- generation facility provides power to 175 campus <br />buildings and is responsible for 58% of the university's greenhouse gas emissions. <br />As a result of discussions on this topic in 2009, UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp appointed an <br />Energy Task Force to examine the issues. On May 4, 2010, the Energy Task Force released its <br />interim report. The Task Force recommended encouraging UNC to end coal use by the year <br />2020 and pursue other alternative energy sources, such as biomass from sustainable forests <br />and natural gas and solar options. The report also calls for the University to use only deep - <br />mined coal while coal is still needed. <br />In a May 7 statement, Chancellor Thorp announced that he was adopting the task force's <br />recommendations. <br />The Commission for the Environment (CFE) reviewed the draft petition and discussed the topic <br />on May 10. The CFE has prepared a memorandum on the matter, including some potential <br />ramifications, and proposes that the progress of the fuel switch be monitored over time. <br />