UNC faces long road to goal to be carbon neutral by 2050

In 2007, UNC pledged to become carbon neutral by the year 2050, but those in charge of UNC’s energy services are not optimistic about meeting that deadline.

“Honestly, in 2007, when this commitment was made by Chancellor James Moeser, it was the thing to do for forward-thinking universities. A lot of universities have backed off that commitment in the years since then,” said Stephen Senter, UNC’s greenhouse gas specialist.

Senter gave an update on UNC’s Climate Action Plan at the Campus Y on Wednesday.

“We’re not where we should be and where we’d like to be,” Senter said. “As far as our coal-free goal, people don’t like to talk about it because it’s hard to achieve. We haven’t met our interim goal, but we can still talk about it. We can learn from every missed opportunity.”

In 2010, UNC further pledged to become coal free by the year 2020, but it has already conceded that it will likely not reach that goal.

Senter explained that UNC currently has two specialized boilers that require about 80 percent coal and 20 percent natural gas. He said it is possible, though difficult, to convert them to 100 percent natural gas. UNC’s other three boilers are traditional gas boilers.

“This is the big question, but also the one with the most opportunity — is it possible to get off coal by 2020?” he said. “But I don’t know. I wish I did.”

To carry out UNC’s Climate Action Plan, a steering committee of faculty, administrators and two students is being created this year.

“The students bring a little bit of the idealism to the committee that I think we need when we’re talking about climate change,” said Jasmine Ruddy, student government environmental affairs chairwoman.

There will also be student groups that will each focus on a specific environmental issue on campus, such as commuting, food purchases or land use.

“I think it’s a really positive thing that we’re reframing the Climate Action Plan in a more collaborative way that’s data driven and still focused on reaching these goals,” said Spencer Nelson, co-chairman of the renewable energy special projects committee.

The University’s sustainability director, Cindy Shea, had some ideas for how the general student body could help encourage the efforts.

“One of the things is to understand your greenhouse gas footprint. There are a number of tools online if you Google them that will look at where you live, where you eat on the food chain, how far your food travels and things like that,” Shea said. “Air travel leaves a huge footprint.”

Aside from its carbon-neutral and coal-free goals, UNC’s environmental groups hope students focus on how their actions affect energy use.

“The theme that’s driving all of this is how we can be more sustainable. We want this to be a living laboratory for sustainability, and people need to be more aware of the positive things we’re doing and what we can do better,” Shea said.

university@dailytarheel.com