Cornell's Senior Leaders Climate Action Group presented its findings Tuesday night regarding the school's stated goal of becoming a carbon neutral campus within 20 years and the use of an "unproven" but intriguing new method of heat production that could greatly reduce the school's carbon footprint by nearly 40 percent.
The report, titled Options for Achieving a Carbon Neutral Campus by 2035, detailed the group's work to determine the viability of six different potential routes forward in the school's quest for carbon neutrality. In the end, the group chose option one, a combination of Earth Source Heat, wind, water, solar and biomass. The plan would require drilling between two and four miles into the ground in order to find a depth that would properly warm the circulating water to the point that it can be used to heat the campus' buildings.
SLCAG, a 17 member group of faculty and officials from Cornell, was asked in March 2016 by Provost Michael Kotlikoff to analyze options for the Ithaca campus to reach carbon neutrality by 2035. Cost for the project was not fully discussed, though early reports have suggested $12-15 million for the initial two-well, limited operation test process and the research needed to complete that.
Lance Collins, the school's Dean of Engineering, said Phase 1 will take a year, to find the acceptable spot to drill, then Phase 2 of Drilling will take 3-5 years. If the project is not working at that point, Collins said they would attempt to re-adjust, either stopping the project or examining a heat pump alternative option. That would leave as much as a six year period before the initial success of the project is determined, though it was noted that is a rough estimate and most of the time would be spent acquiring the necessary permits and moving through the city's bureaucratic processes, not actually drilling. The report itself sets a hard deadline of finding a final course of action before 2025 if the university is to meet its 2035 goal.
"It's going to require a bunch of hybrid solutions that work on both sides of the equation," said Bill Sitzabee, a SLCAG member and interim VP for Infrastructure, Properties and Planning, referring to how the school planned to reduce energy demand and increase renewable energy supply.
Some more minor changes were also mentioned, including that the school is also looking to change from about 700 gas vehicles to hybrid or electric vehicles, and expand access to electric car chargers around campus.
Collins explained the unique challenges that the region itself presents to this sort of geothermal system-- out near the West Coast, where projects similar to this are a bit more common, the natural rate of earthquakes actually makes it easier to access the high temperatures necessary to heat the water. Lava isn't as far underground, so drilling for heat is much less rigorous. In the east, however, more drilling is necessary, though that obstacle could make the project that much more innovative.
"What we're doing is more challenging, we'll have to drill deeper, but what's interesting about it is that if we are successful, it would allow this to be deployed much more widely and for us to create a new industry," Collins said. "That's an important aspect of this for us."
While Earth Source Heat is certainly the most eyebrow-raising element of the plan, it would not be carrying the weight of carbon neutrality on its own. Wind, water and solar energy will be utilized to cover electricity needs, while biomass (which is energy produced from organic waste like crop materials) will be implemented during peak times to help lower the burden on the heating system-- another strategy to employ a renewable resource.
Collins also pledged that the system will be designed to not disturb the Marcellus shale reservation that is located beneath the region, using multi-layer encased piping to lower the risk of some sort of leak or blowout. That aspect has become a point of interest, particularly among local environmental activists that allege the project borders on fracking, which would carry with it the risk of seismic disturbances like earthquakes. It should be noted, there is plenty of contention nationally surrounding the benefits and dangers of fracking for energy harvesting. Collins, perhaps aware of the nervousness, made a point to emphasize the differences between actual fracking and what the school is planning-- essentially, that there is much less pressure involved for the pipes being used as opposed to the extremely high pressures used in fracking, and also that the system is closed and used to heat, unlike fracking's open system for energy cultivation.
For their part, "fracktivists" that spoke at the meeting seemed cautiously hesitant to embrace the idea, though somewhat satisfied.
"What we're doing here is providing that pathway forward, a non-carbon based way," Collins said. "We're talking about a limitless source of energy, if we're able to extract it. That's a challenge, but we're taking the challenge."
The proposal so far still includes building two wells at first, essentially as a test case, in order to measure the effectiveness while attempting to only heat certain targeted areas of campus. If all goes well with that, the project would continue. The report listed several reasons for its findings, including that "Earth Source Heat is the most promising technology for heating the campus in our climate," and a statement of dedication to "continue to review other renewable options as technologies and cost feasibilities change over time."
When the question was raised during the panel session, sustainable energy systems professor Jeff Tester said Cornell does not predict any problems regarding area property values, claiming they currently believe the drilling would be done on Cornell's campus and thus not disturb off-campus residences in a significant way.
source:http://www.ithaca.com
No comments:
Post a Comment