# @chapelboronews on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DDIY_Zovyio
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/25248513-chapelboronews-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/4373def6ae.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-12-03T21:21:10.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Chapelboro.com (@chapelboronews) — https://gondola.cc/chapelboronews

## Caption

During a recent panel updating where UNC stands in those efforts, sustainability officials pointed to improvements in overall and energy-specific emissions rates – but detailed the challenges of moving entirely away from using coal in the short-term.

According to Sustainable Carolina, which oversees UNC’s environmental impact and sustainability efforts, the campus’ overall greenhouse gas emissions output has been trending downward since 2007 – with combustion emissions down 38% in that same time frame.

"That's largely due to the fact our coal consumption is down 67% since 2007," said Sustainability Analyst Melanie Elliot. "As we’re shifting that fuel mix, our emissions are going to change.”

A major hurdle to eliminating coal entirely, though, is a lack of a solid alternative to use. The plant creates steam to heat and cool buildings, warm up and chill the campus’ water, control humidity and sterilize tools, servicing roughly 40,000 campus users across 200 buildings and the UNC Hospitals campus. Elliot said while the team is continuing to look at alternative fuel mixes, there is no clear and reliable option right now for the university and plant to immediately transition to using.

“We don’t have a coal timeline," Mike Piehler, the director of Sustainable Carolina, said at the panel. "We’ve done that before and, in my estimation, if you don’t have certainty about a timeline it doesn’t make sense to give one. [Instead], we’ll tell you every year how much progress has been made. We’ve made more progress in the last four or five years than the decade and more prior.

“Should we still be burning coal? Absolutely not,” Piehler concluded. “Are we very serious about trying to move on from coal? Absolutely, and demonstrably so.”

Tap the link in our bio to read more about the panel, Sustainable Carolina's efforts, and the cogeneration plant's role in powering campus.

.
.
.
.
.
.

#unc #uncchapelhill #chapelhill #chapelhillnc #cogeneration #emissions #climatechange #greenhousegases #carbonfootprint #sustainable

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 20
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 0

## Tags

unc, cogeneration, sustainable, uncchapelhill, chapelhillnc, climatechange, emissions, carbonfootprint, greenhousegases, chapelhill

---
Copyright (c) Gondola