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
