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118 Comprehensive Review of Solid Waste Collection and Disposal {options management system. Any electricity not needed to power the anaerobic digester operations is kept on the farm to support normal farm operations. Like a traditional waste lagoon, the remaining liquid waste flows to an aeration basin which treats the water to address ammonia and other residual pollutants so that it can be re -used for irrigation and barn - flushing. The project is also creating carbon offset credits through the documented and verified destruction of the methane gas. These carbon offset credits are shared by Duke University and Google. The project also produces renewable energy credits (RECs) which Duke Energy counts towards its NC Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS) requirements for the generation of electricity from swine waste. Discussions with Ms. Tavey McDaniel, the University's Sustainability Director indicated that they would welcome discussions with the town on potential collaborative research on waste -to- energy (WTE) and WC technologies. 13.1.2 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill SCS met with representatives of UNC to review their current solid waste programs and initiatives, and to identify possible areas of collaboration with the Town. In 2010, UNC initiated a study team to evaluate alternative energy technologies and make recommendations of viable options. As part of a long -term Climate Action Plan (CAP), the University has committed to end the use of coal on campus by 2020, and is evaluating the switch to biomass and natural gas, 13.1,2.1 Landfill Gas Currently, UNC is partnering with Orange County to utilize landfill gas (LFG) supplied from the County's landfill. The initial phase of this project in 2010 -2011 constructed a pipeline from the landfill to the power plant and modified UNC's existing boilers to co -fire coal and LFG. In future phases of this project, as part of upgrades to the University's power supply system, the University is constiucting a new campus power plant to bum LFG with the gas transported via an extension of this pipeline from the landfill. 13.1.2.2 Biomass Feedstock Implementation Furthermore, UNC has conducted pilot studies with their boilers to co -fire biomass in the form of torrefied wood pellets. The goal of these studies is to evaluate various feedstock, integrating the biomass processing and handling with boiler operations, and resulting energy potential. The results of these studies are under consideration and further studies are in discussion. Based on these ongoing initiatives at UNC and the current state of many of the WTE and alternative WC technologies summarized in Section 12, collaboration with the Town to initiate another large -scale strategy (e.g., mass burn, or other thermal gasification technology) is in the near term unlikely. Furthermore, the University's existing boilers represent a useful life to the year 2040, at which time another technology may become feasible for consideration. v2.1 184 10/22/12