Agenda - 06-15-2010- 7d - Laserfiche WebLink

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Interim Findings 11 Despite its extraordinary efficiency, the cogeneration plant still burns coal - -the most carbon intensive of the fossil fuels and the target of increased state, national, and international regulation. Coal is the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions from the electric sector. New and proposed regulation will undoubtedly increase its cost. Previous regulation which increased the cost of coal use include Title IV of the 1990 Amended Clean Air Act, which established a cap and trade system to regulate sulfur dioxide and North Carolina's 2002 Clean Smokestacks Legislation, which required scrubbers on coal plants to reduce NO2 and S02. Southern Appalachian coal is reportedly nearly twice as expensive as western coal, because the cost to extract the smaller seams is higher (Appalachian Voices presentation 4/14/10). Also see April 16, 2010 Argus Coal Weekly (p. 10) Powder River Basin verses Central Appalachia coal prices. The effect of recent and likely US EPA rulings is that more and more of the cost of negative "externalities" associated with coal extraction, use, and waste disposal will be assigned to coal, which should make alternatives to coal more cost- competitive. These rulings include: • December 2009: US Environmental Protection Agency Endangerment Finding for six key well -mixed green house gases. The finding could result in the regulation of CO2 emissions from power plants.' • January 2010: US Environmental Protection Agency proposed new ozone standards, which would reduce allowable ground level ozone from 75 ppm to between 60 -70 pprn." Power plants produce nitrogen oxides, which are the major precursor of ground -level ozone. • April 2010: US Environmental Protection Agency issues revised guidance on water quality standards that restricts the practice of `valley fills" associated with mountain top or surface mining of coal. "' • Likely 2010 -11: US Environmental Protection Agency to increase regulation on mercury emissions and coal ash from power plants. '" The UNC- Chapel Hill 2009 Climate Action Plan identifies four long -term alternative energy plans (p.9), two of which enable cessation of coal use by 2020. It is in the strategic best interest of the university to pursue these or other lower carbon alternatives, in Iight of the preponderance of climate science and increased public demand and expectation to move away from carbon intensive fuels. Such a shift would be consistent with the University's history of leadership in sustainability. Energy Task Force Interim Report) 3