At the UNC Energy Transition Town Hall on Thursday, students, faculty and community members gathered to learn more about the University's progress in its transition to clean energy. The event was co-hosted by the UNC Undergraduate Student Government, the Renewable Energy Special Projects Committee and Sustainable Carolina.
The event had seven panelists, three of whom were faculty members. Tony Millette, the executive director of UNC Energy Services, Melanie Elliott, the sustainability analyst for UNC Sustainable Carolina and Michael Piehler, the director of the UNC Institute for the Environment, were all on the panel. Joining them were three consultants and an engineer from Salas O'Brien, the engineering consulting firm contracted by the University to assist the energy transition.
"I think the big role of this event is informing people," said UNC senior Max Nelson, one of the moderators of the event. "Putting them in direct conversation with the people who are making the decisions."
Progress and Challenges
Elliott presented information about the University's energy emissions, the structure of the campus's energy district and the challenges that arise in achieving carbon neutrality goals. She focused her presentation on the progress the University has made thus far, using a 2007 data baseline.
"The combustion emissions are down 34 percent as of 2024, and that's largely due to the fuel mix switching over to more natural gas," Elliott said.
This switch occurred at the cogeneration plant located at 501 W. Cameron Ave. The plant burns coal and natural gas, which has prompted protests and calls for alternative sources of energy led by the student climate activist group Sunrise UNC.
Elliott said the University is making strides to reduce those emissions, but also reminded the audience of the necessity of electricity and steam to campus and UNC Hospitals.
"We have a sophisticated district energy system on a very large campus with a high energy demand, and we have lives and life-saving research on the line. So if we have a power outage or a steam outage, we're going to lose critical research and possibly lives in the hospital."
Melanie Elliott, Sustainability Analyst for UNC Sustainable Carolina
Future Energy Sources
The Town Hall then transitioned to a presentation from the Salas O'Brien consultants, who detailed what goes into helping the University find alternative energy sources.
Putting together this plan for the University, which includes technologies such as electrification, using geothermal energy or heat recovery chillers, is all done with the end goal of carbon neutrality for the University, consultant Chris Martin said.
Accountability and Timeline
The moderators then began asking the panelists questions, noting that UNC pledged to end coal use by 2020 in 2010, but then went back on that promise. They asked panelists how UNC intends to stick to its plan to be carbon neutral by 2040.
Millette responded to this by saying that prioritizing short-term goals would be important. He also said it will be necessary to focus not just on the cogeneration plant, but on all of the district energy.
The topic then shifted to questions and concerns from the crowd, submitted anonymously and then read by the moderators.
Panelists fielded questions about the feasibility of keeping current campus infrastructure amid the transition, how UNC's growth impacts sustainability and how policy changes have impacted the transition. But the conversation eventually shifted back to the cogeneration plant.
Community Health Concerns
One anonymous question referenced Elliott's earlier presentation about the life-saving operations of research and the hospitals, asking about the health impacts of the plant on Chapel Hill.
Piehler responded, saying that because there have not been any measures indicating local pollution, testing for health impacts does not make sense.
"We need to know there's a stressor before we can understand impact," Piehler said. "At this point, there is not, because of the design of the cogen plant and because of the nature of the smokestack and the emissions, its local effects are not something that would be anticipated."
Student Perspective
UNC junior Victoria Plant, who is the research lead for Sunrise UNC, was also in attendance. While current plans don't include shutting down the cogeneration plant or completely stopping coal use as Sunrise has demanded, she said things are getting better even though the pace of change is slow.
"It's hard when you want things to happen faster, but it is good that the University is doing things right, and really trying to settle on the most efficient option for the long term," she said.
Nelson said the town hall made the information more accessible and showed that the University is interested in being responsive to concerns regarding the energy transition.
"A concern about the cogeneration plant, for instance, can feel too big to do anything about it, but I think when we put things in this kind of setting, it makes it feel not so insurmountable."
Max Nelson, UNC Senior and Event Moderator