UNC has long used its cogeneration plant on West Cameron Avenue to create steam to heat, cool and power buildings on its campus – burning coal as a key part of its fuel source. The university has also long explored alternatives to burn and is currently asking permission from the state to test a new option. But that fuel, pellets, has some questions surrounding it, with the greater Chapel Hill community set to ask those at a public hearing on Thursday. The request for pellet testing is just the latest step as UNC continues to scale back its coal consumption at the cogeneration plant by using alternative fuel sources. The university’s Sustainable Carolina department reports coal use is down 67% since 2007 and combustion emissions have subsequently dropped 38%. The campus and community’s reliance on the cogeneration plant make it difficult to fully or immediately transition away from coal, and the lack of an obvious physical – and reliable – fuel source led UNC to overshoot former Chanc...