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

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15 ustainability Update "Okam Breaking News: UNC- Chapel Hill to end campus coal use by 2020 With the national director of the Sierra Club's coal campaign on hand to endorse the decision, Chancellor Holden Thorp today (May 4) announced that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will end its use of coal in the next decade. "Universities must lead the transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy," Thorp said. "Today, Carolina takes another big step in that direction." The chancellor spoke from the green rooftop of the Rams Head Plaza, within sight of the solar panel array on the Morrison Residence Hall roof. "Carolina is proud to be a national leader in sustainability in American higher education," Thorp said. "Our systems for energy efficiency, cogeneration of electricity and steam, waste recycling, green building, mass transit and water conservation are models." Thorp said he expected Carolina's decision to help guide other campuses. "We are in an unusual position because our cogeneration plant has a useful life of another 30 to 40 years," he said. "It's not going to be easy to make this transition. We have challenges in making sure biomass will work in our existing boilers and challenges on the supply side as well. But we are confident we can achieve our goal in 10 years." As a step toward ending coal use, the cogeneration facility will test co -firing coal with biomass in the form of dried wood pellets later this spring and torrefied wood - a product similar to charcoal - this fall or winter. The University plans to replace 20 percent of its coal with biomass no later than 2015, and perhaps by 2012. The 2020 date for ending coal usage was one of six interim recommendations submitted to Thorp April 29 by the Energy Task Force he appointed in January to study energy issues on campus. The chancellor accepted all of the group's recommendations: 1. End all use of coal on campus by May 1, 2020; 2. Accelerate conversion from coat to a cleaner fuel or fuel mix; 3. Source biomass, if used, from certified "sustainably managed" forests, as determined by third -party verification; 4. Make best efforts to identify and secure coal that is certified by a third party and sourced from deep mines only; 5. Optimize use of natural gas as supplies and costs warrant; and 6. Undertake periodic reviews of the potential for solar thermal and solar photovoltaic system installations. "UNC has made a decision today to lead by example," said Bruce Nilles, who oversees the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign. "College campuses cannot responsibly teach the science of climate change and