Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of project is Cornell planning?
a. Cornell is planning to upgrade its central heating plant with a very efficient combined heat-and-power project. This project will employ gas turbine technology to help ensure the necessary heat and electric capacity while reducing emissions.
Why does Cornell need this project?
a. 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. This project, together with an ongoing and aggressive energy conservation initiative, will provide the necessary steam capacity for the campus in the most reliable, cost-effective and sustainable manner available to Cornell.
What is the project schedule?
a. Engineering and permitting are anticipated to be completed by late 2007. Equipment procurement and construction will follow, with an anticipated in-service date of Fall 2009.
Who else has a system like this?
a. Numerous peer institutions such as Princeton, MIT, Yale, University of Cincinnati, University of Missouri-Columbia and University of California campuses have similar systems.
Will Cornell continue to combust coal?
a. Yes, because this project is not large enough by itself to satisfy all of Cornell's heating needs. Plus, continued use of coal allows Cornell to meet its heating requirements in a more cost effective and reliable manner. Having multiple energy sources allows for fuel flexibility in case of supply disruptions that effect availability of coal, oil or natural gas. The amount of coal that is combusted each year is expected to reduce by 30-50% based on current forecasts.
What are the environmental issues?
What are the emissions reductions associated with this project?
a. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that this project will reduce CO2 emissions by 50,000 tons/yr, NOx emissions by 250 tons/yr and SO2 emissions by 800 tons/yr for campus total electricity and heating needs. This is equivalent to removing over 8,200 cars from the road.
What are the current and future emissions related to energy at Cornell.
a. Annual fuel use and CO2 related emissions at Cornell University are available at http://www.utilities.cornell.edu/Kyoto/. Future emissions can vary depending on the fuel mix used at Cornell for heat and by electric power generators in New York State who might sell Cornell supplemental power.
Is Cornell committing to meet Kyoto Protocol targets?
a. In 2001 the university agreed to cost effectively strive toward reductions in carbon dioxide emissions consistent with the Kyoto Protocol. We anticipate that this project will allow Cornell to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, related to central heating and power, to a level that is consistent with the Kyoto Protocol goal.
What are the permits needed, and who approves the project?
a. Emissions related to the electrical and steam generating equipment are permitted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Site plan approval and related permits will most likely be issued by the Town of Ithaca.
What are the costs and benefits?
Why did Cornell choose this project?
a. Benefits of this project include increasing Cornell's fuel flexibility, improving reliability of electricity and heat on campus, reducing emissions, and cost effectively providing for future campus heating and electricity needs.
How much money will Cornell save with this project?
a. This project is not expected to reduce total annual utility costs at Cornell in the near term, but it will slow the rate of their growth over time. Over the life of the project, it will provide the lowest total energy cost.
How much does this project cost?
a. The total cost is expected to be in the range of $50 million.
How/why is this project considered to be "sustainable"?
a. Because the project utilizes combined heat and power, this project will result in the most thermally efficient system possible to meet Cornell's heating and electricity needs. It is considered to be more sustainable than the alternative because waste heat, exhausted from a gas turbine generator, created during the generation of electrical power is utilized by a heat recovery boiler. Steam generated in the waste heat boiler is used to produce more electrical power in a steam turbine generator and then shipped to campus customers for space heating and other thermal requirements.
How does it work?
What is "combined heat and power?"
a. Combined heat and power (CHP) is an efficient, clean, and reliable approach to generating power and thermal energy from a single fuel source. These highly efficient systems recover heat that normally would be wasted in a conventional electric generating plant, thereby significantly increasing operational efficiency and decreasing energy costs, while reducing emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
How is CHP being planned at Cornell?
a. The Cornell Combined Heat and Power Project will add two gas turbine generators, totaling a nominal 30,000 kilowatts of peak electrical output with heat recovery steam generators. They 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.
What heating equipment does Cornell currently have?
a. 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 combusted to provide heat for over 150 central campus buildings. Coal is used to produce about 90% of the current heating needs at Cornell. The remainder is generated by combusting natural gas or fuel oil using dual-fuel industrial boilers.
What electric generating equipment does Cornell currently have?
a. 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 cogeneration system, along with a small hydroelectric plant, produces approximately 15% of electricity annually. Both will remain in service continuing to provide high efficiency (cogeneration) and renewable (hydroelectric) energy. The local utility, NYSEG, currently provides the majority of power needed.
What are the alternatives?
What are the alternatives Cornell considered?
a. Alternatives that were considered include natural gas/fuel oil fired industrial boilers, clean coal technology (atmospheric circulating fluidized bed boiler), stoker coal technology, biofuel and a combination of those technologies with combined heat and power units. The current project was selected based on life cycle costs analysis, reliability, flexibility and environmental factors.
What is Cornell doing on energy conservation?
a. Cornell has a very aggressive energy conservation program and is currently spending about $3 million/year to reduce usage. We have made a significant impact on energy growth.
Why not build wind turbines to meet Cornells electricity needs?
a. Cornell has evaluated constructing its own wind farm in the Mount Pleasant area and has discontinued a feasibility study on the issue due to many challenges that together made the timing inappropriate for this technology.
Why not install heating technology fueled by renewable biological materials such as wood?
a. There is no current "biofuel" available within a reasonable distance of Cornell at the scale required for its heating needs. Biofuel technology, at the scale required for Cornell to satisfy a significant portion of its heating needs, would require considerable space at the central heating complex. In addition, it would decrease system reliability based on current technology and the difficulties of fuel supply. Finally, the cost of a new biofuel boiler is the highest of any options studied, and this significantly higher cost cannot be offset by lower fuel cost or added electric generation.
If this project could not be built, then what would have to be built instead?
a. New boilers would have to be built. They would combust some combination of coal, natural gas or fuel oil.
What are the impacts?
How will truck traffic be impacted?
a. A reduction in the annual coal burn will result in a direct reduction in truck traffic related to coal deliveries.
How noisy will the project be?
a. Ambient noise in the area around the Cornell Heating Plant will not increase.
Will this project increase the use of natural gas in New York and therefore impact cost to other users?
a. This project should not increase the use of natural gas in New York. The offset electrical power that would have been generated elsewhere in the state is also natural gas based. New York has a deregulated market for wholesale power. Because of this, the least economical generation plants will back off production. These plants typically combust the most costly fuel (natural gas) in the least efficient manner (simple cycle, where the combustion turbine generators do not recover the waste exhaust heat).
Will our NYSEG rates at home change?
a. There should be no noticeable change in residential customer costs given the current tariff structures. NYSEG will continue providing supplemental power to Cornell along with standby service for when the campus generators are off.
Does this help with local reliability of the electric grid?
a. Producing electricity locally will reduce the "traffic" on the electric grid and may improve local reliability related to regional generation limitations.
What are the visual impacts?
a. The existing Central Heating Plant will be expanded to the south, filling in an area behind the plant. We anticipate that two new stacks will be required as part of this project. These stacks will be significantly smaller than the existing ones.
