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117 <br />Comprehensive Review of <br />Solid Waste Collection and Disposal Options <br />13.0 ALTERNATIVE TF-C H- NOLOGIES - COLLABORATION <br />WITH AREA INSTITUTIONS <br />13.1 UNIVERSITIES <br />Another waste management option for the Town is to pursue the implementation of Waste <br />Conversion (WC) technologies in collaboration with area universities. Chapel Hill is located in <br />the Research Triangle, so named in 1959 with the creation of Research Triangle ParIc, a research <br />park between Durham and Raleigh. "The Triangle" is anchored by Dunce University (Duke), <br />North Carolina State University (NCSU), and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill <br />(UNC). Each university has its distinctive character and long -term sustainability program. <br />The following section briefly includes a general summary of current sustainability and solid <br />waste management programs at the three universities and initial discussions with their <br />sustainability directors to gauge the level of interest in collaborating with the Town on WC <br />technologies. Several of the projects described below provide flagship examples of the <br />possibilities that may spring from successful collaboration between WC technology vendors, <br />university research resources, and private industry. Particularly, SCS believes collaborative <br />resources within the Town are optimal for development of anaerobic digestion of organic waste <br />with cooperation from UNC Chapel Hill, based on recent collaborative success in this <br />technology by Duke. <br />13.1.1 Duke !University <br />Duke has developed a Climate Action Plan that will guide the University towards carbon <br />neutrality by 2024. As part of that effort, Dunce University established The Dunce Carbon Offsets <br />Initiative (DCOI) to help meet the University's carbon neutrality commitment. The DCOI's <br />mission is to develop local, state, and regional carbon offset projects that yield significant <br />benefits beyond greenhouse gas emission reductions. Benefits the DCOI looks for in projects are <br />additional environmental and public health protection, job creation opportunities, energy savings, <br />and habitat protection. <br />For example, Duke University and Duke Energy have partnered to pilot an innovative systern for <br />managing hog waste that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, generate renewable energy, and <br />substantially eliminate a host of pollutants and issues associated with the waste from swine <br />farms, including odors, ammonia, nutrients and pathogens. This system is located at Loyd Ray <br />Farms, an 8,600 -head swine finishing facility in Yadkin County, NC 23. It is intended to serve as <br />a model for other hog farms seeking to manage waste and develop on -farm renewable power, <br />The project involves the capture of methane generated by the hog waste. Hog waste generated at <br />the farm is directed into a lagoon which acts as an anaerobic digester. The decomposing hog <br />waste generates methane gas which is captured and collected under a plastic cover over the <br />Iagoon /anaerobic digester, The gas collected under the digester cover is used to power a 65 -1 {W <br />microturbine, the electricity from which is used to support the operation of the innovative waste <br />23littp:/ /sustainability.duke.edu/carbon offsets/Projects /loydray.html <br />v2. 1 183 10/22/12 <br />