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CORNELL CENTRAL HEATING PLANT TO BECOME CLEANER, MORE EFFICIENT
The central heating plant upgrade was developed out of the need to replace aged infrastructure and meet the increasing demand associated with new construction and research initiatives. It will allow Cornell to significantly reduce its use of coal and further its commitment to move toward reducing carbon dioxide emissions, consistent with the Kyoto Protocol. "This project, together with an ongoing and aggressive energy conservation initiative, will assure the long-term adequacy of the heating and electrical supply for campus in the most reliable, cost-effective and sustainable manner available to Cornell," says Stephen Golding, Cornell executive vice president for finance and administration. Combined heat and power is being promoted on a national scale through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. "This project is expected to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide by greater than 50,000 tons per year, which is equivalent to removing 8,260 cars from the road," says Katrina Pielli from the EPA Combined Heat and Power Partnership. "We congratulate Cornell for planning to build and operate such an environmentally beneficial and reliable CHP system." CHP technologies produce both electricity and steam and are typically located near the consumer. CHP is an efficient, clean and reliable approach to generating power and thermal energy from a single fuel source. CHP systems recover heat that normally would be wasted in a conventional electric generating plant, thereby increasing operational efficiency and decreasing energy costs, while reducing emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. These highly efficient systems are being encouraged in New York state through its Energy Research and Development Authority. "New York state is leading the nation in deploying and demonstrating on-site distributed generation technologies," says Peter R. Smith, president of NYSERDA. "This technology enables energy users to take control of their energy costs while benefiting the state's environment, economic development and energy security." The Cornell combined heat-and-power project will add two gas-turbine generators, totaling a nominal 30,000 kilowatts of electrical output with heat recovery steam generators. It will be housed in an approximately 15,000 square-foot addition behind the current central heating plant, located on the southern edge of the main campus along Route 366. Originally constructed in 1922, the central heating plant currently includes stoker coal boilers which burn low-sulfur eastern bituminous coal. Each year, approximately 65,000 tons of coal are burned to provide heat for approximately 150 campus buildings. In 1986, a cogeneration project was completed at Cornell that passes steam headed to campus buildings through steam turbine generators to produce electricity as a byproduct. This cogen-eration system along with a small hydroelectric plant produces approximately 15 percent of Cornell's electricity annually, and both will remain in service. The current electrical connection with the local utility, NYSEG, will provide the supplemental power needed and backup to the gas turbine generators. "This combined heat-and-power project will enhance the existing cogeneration capability to provide about 80 percent of the electricity needed for campus," says Jim Adams, Cornell's director of utilities and energy management. "Benefits of this project include increasing Cornell's fuel flexibility, improving reliability of electricity and heat, reducing emissions and providing for future campus heating needs."
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