Campus warming

Despite resistance, we here at UNC-Chapel Hill with the Sierra Club's Coal-Free Campus Campaign believe that we really can succeed in moving beyond coal by 2015. Our goal is to get such a commitment from Chancellor Holden Thorp.

Coal burning at the cogeneration plant on Cameron Avenue is the single largest source of global warming pollution for campus. The plant emits more than 320,000 tons of global warming pollution annually; in 2008, it accounted for 63 percent of UNC-Chapel Hill's greenhouse gas emissions.

In the short-term, the cogeneration facility could burn up to 50 percent natural gas, but currently operates using less than 5 percent. The cogen facility could easily switch out half of its current coal use with natural gas, which is significantly cleaner than coal and emits half the greenhouse gases per unit of energy produced.

Progress Energy recently announced plans to close down three coal units in Wayne County and switch them over to natural gas, in part because of its falling price. In the long-term, the Sierra Club hopes to work with the university to move beyond fossil fuels entirely, but that switch must start with coal, one of the dirtiest energy sources used today.

Stewart Boss

Chapel Hill