Biomass energy is produced from organic materials, such as wood chips or miscanthus.  The Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research (CABER) focuses on bioenergy systems research, and F&S Energy Services is reviewing options for integrating biomass fuel sources into campus energy production.

The University purchases about half the electricity for campus through the wholly owned subsidiary of the University, Prairieland Energy Incorporated.  In the 2010 iCAP, we committed to being carbon-neutral by 2050.  The majority of campus emissions can be eliminated by implementing more sustainable practices and integrating renewable energy sources for the campus energy supply.  One option for integrating renewable energy sources is to purchase green power through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). 

The ECE Building includes Solar Panels on its roof. The panels provide about 11% of the building's energy needs. The infrastructure for connecting these panels to the building electric supply was included in the original design and construction costs for the full building, while the solar panels themselves were funded separately. 

The 2015 iCAP, chapter 3, objective 1 is "The Energy Generation, Purchasing, and Distribution SWATeam, in collaboration with Facilities & Services and topical Consultation Groups, will lead an exploration of options for 100% clean campus energy during FY16 and submit recommendations through the formal sustainability process." The campus community has considerable intellectual resources that can be brought to bear on the future of energy generation, purchasing, and distribution.  The

The President's House is provided to the University of Illinois President and his or her family.  This home is used for some formal events each year, including an event for graduating students each May.  This building is maintained by F&S, and power is supplied through the campus grid.  It has been noted that this site is a good candidate for geothermal energy, so there is a feasibility evaluation underway.

Campus is exploring options for retrofitting Energy Farm with Deep Direct Use (DDU) geothermal energy.

This project will involve the design, construction, and installation of a geothermal system to heat one greenhouse at the UIUC Woody Perennial Polyculture (WPP) Research Site, located near the southwest corner of Race Street and Windsor Avenue.

Geothermal energy is thermal energy stored in the Earth that humans can extract, process and then use.  Geothermal energy is cost effective, reliable, and sustainable, but has historically been limited to areas near tectonic plate boundaries.  Recent technological advances have expanded the range and size of viable resources, especially for applications such as home heating.  Geothermal wells release greenhouse gases trapped in the earth, but these emissions are much lower than those of fossil fuels.

An Outdoor Wood-fired Boiler system was funded to replace a natural gas heating system at Allerton Park. By replacing the previous system, CO2 emissions will be eliminated and there will be a substantial cost savings. The use of a renewable resource (wood), obtained from landscape management at the park grounds in place of a non-renewable one (natural gas), combined with the greenhouse gas emissions reduction will help increase campus sustainability. The Student Sustainability Committee Granted the project $25,500.

Geothermal energy foundations will be installed this summer as part of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s (CEE) Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory addition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Substantial completion of the renovation is expected in Summer 2020.

The aim of this project is to investigate the possibility of installing an open-loop geothermal system at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC). Open-loop geothermal systems takes ground water pumped through a large diameter pipe and introduces or extracts heat depending on the season. Installing such a system would give the building an opportunity to reduce total building energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 50 percent.

To reach our 2015 iCAP objective of 140,000 MWh per year of clean energy usage, we will need to increase our off-campus procurement of clean energy by 90,000 MWh/year.  One proposed solution is to enter into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with an off-campus solar developer.  This potential project is often called "Solar Farm 3.0" and discussions are ongoing about the costs and benefits of this proposal.

Representatives from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation broke ground Wednesday, October 23 on a new, state-of-the-art greenhouse in the Research Park.

The 20.8 acre Solar Farm on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign South Farms is a Power Purchase Agreement with Phoenix Solar South Farms, LLC, producing an estimated 7, 864 MWh/year of solar energy used solely by the Urbana campus.

The 2015 iCAP, chapter 3, objective 2 is "Expand on-campus solar energy production.  By FY20, produce at least 12,500 MWh/year, and by FY25 at least 25,000 MWh/year, from solar installations on campus property."  Commonly used solar technologies are solar photovoltaics for electricity, solar thermal water heating, and passive solar design for space heating and cooling.

Dr. Roberta M. Johnson worked with F&S to install a garden shed at the President's House in 2018, with rooftop solar. There are 3 325Watt (W) Solar Panels, so the total solar production capacity will be 975W. 

The Student Sustainability Committee commissioned a solar photovoltaic study to determine viable buildings for the installation of solar arrays. The new solar arrays would complement the existing 3,700 square foot Solar PV array located atop the Business Instructional Facility that produces approximately 55,000 kWh/year and help define the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign as a leader in the greening of campuses nationwide.

The iCAP 2020 objective 2.3.1 is to "Use at least 140,000 MWh/year of clean power by FY25." This objective is about clean power, which is different from clean thermal energy. The responsible campus unit for championing this objective is F&S.

As of 2020, there are three types of clean power options being pursued or used on campus.

Wassaja Hall was named after the University's first Native American graduate and a pioneer in advocating for Native American rights.  A 30 kW solar PV array was installed on December 14, 2015 on the east side of the roof.

From November 2016 through October 2026, the Urbana campus will receive a percentage-based portion of the wind-generated electricity and associated environmental attributes from the Rail Splitter Wind Farm located north of Lincoln, Illinois. The power purchase agreement (PPA) specifies that 8.6% of the total wind generation from the farm will be sold to the university, which is expected to be an annual amount of more than 25,000 megawatt-hours (MWh).

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is helping to promote and encourage participation in the Solar Urbana-Champaign program. 

The successful Solar Urbana-Champaign group purchasing program is available again in 2018. Since 2016, the program led to the installation of over 2 megawatts of solar on 241 properties in Champaign, Piatt, and Vermilion Counties. The program educated over a thousand individuals about solar and helped people save on solar through volume purchasing.
 
In 2021, the program will conduct its sixth round of bulk purchasing.

The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to use green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use. The Partnership has more than 1,700 Partner organizations voluntarily using billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually.