The attached file is a collection of information about thermal energy installations on campus, including solar thermal, geothermal, and biomass. Although it has missing information, it is the start of collecting pertinent information about these systems.
Good afternoon Site Selection Committee. I have received some comments and have incorporated them into the draft report and it is attached here.
Also attached is a site evaluation form for you to fill out along with a quick guide on how to complete the evaluation. Please provide your scoring no later than 3:00pm on Thursday May 11, 2023. After that, I will compile the final version with the scoring.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Mark Roessler
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Good afternoon everyone. Dennis pointed out to me that there is a better scorecard document to use rather than the pdf that I previously sent. Please use the attached excel spreadsheet instead of the pdf.
And just a reminder to try to have your scores into me by 3pm on Thursday 5/11/2023.
Thank you and have a great weekend.
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Good afternoon, Mark.
Please find attached, UOCP’s site selection review to locate a new CHW tank.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Sandy
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Good morning Sandy. How’s it going today?
I think you mentioned you/UOCP would have more comments on the draft of the final report for the TES tank selection so I am checking in to see if there are any?
Thanks.
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Mark, thank you for requesting UOCP’s input. UOCP has reviewed the draft Site Evaluation Report for locating the new Thermal Energy Storage tank. Please accept UOCP’s review comments for consideration before UOCP accepts the final report.
There are a few examples of clean thermal energy in use on campus at this time. These include:
the solar thermal panels on the Activities Rec Center, heating the three swimming pools
the biomass boiler at the Energy Farm, heating the two story greenhouse on south Race Street
geothermal installations providing heating and cooling at the Fruit Farm Admin Building, the RIPE greenhouse, the Campus Instructional Facility, a few buildings at Allerton Park, the solar decathlon Gable Home at the Energy Farm, and a few rooms in the Hydrosystems Building
a wood-fired stove heating some maintenance buildings at Allerton Park
We could expand these types of energy systems...
Additional geothermal installations are being planned for various places around campus, including a geothermal battery system at the Energy Farm. The other geothermal locations in planning discussions now include the South Campus Center for Interdisciplinary Learning, a future greenhouse for CABBI, and the Doris Christopher Kelley Illinois Extension Building in the Arboretum.
The biomass boiler at the Energy Farm was designed with the anticipation of future expansion.
Solar thermal is a great option for our area of the planet, but it is not easy to integrate it in our existing energy enterprise.
Another option for clean thermal energy is biogas, which UIUC contributes to locally through the Grind2Energy system, which takes food waste from the dining halls to the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District (UCSD). UCSD puts it through their anaerobic digester which captures the methane (a very strong greenhouse gas). Currently, that captured methane is used to run an electrical generator, which provides power to the UCSD facility. An alternative would be to upgrade the methane to pipeline quality and use the biogas a Abbott Power Plant on campus. This is an expensive option that would require a lot of coordination and funding.
Another strong option is a micronuclear reactor, which is being studies by the Grainger College of Engineering faculty and researchers. This system could be integrated with the existing steam distribution system and provide ghg-free energy to campus.
Morgan White with Facilities and Services, Sustainability, spoke with Stevie Jay and Diane Ducey on May 10, 2021 on ESPN radio 93.5. They discussed the new Campus Instructional Facility geothermal system, other clean energy projects on campus, and the local Geothermal Urbana-Champaign program.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organisation that supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future, and serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, a centre of excellence, and a repository of policy, technology, resource and financial knowledge on renewable energy. IRENA promotes the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind energy in the pursuit of sustainable development, energy access, energy security and low-carbon economic growth and prosperity.
Renewable energy at the UI "How much power is each of the renewable (University of Illinois) sources generating? How many houses can each provide power for? Are there plans to add more than what we currently have? How many years does it take for the cost of each to be paid off? We have a growing interest in this and many homes now also have this."
Morgan White, the UI's associate director of Facilities & Services for sustainability, has all your answers.
As for power generation, she said that the UI's "on-campus solar arrays are now capable of producing over 25,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year and we purchase an additional 25,000 MWh/year from an off-campus wind farm in Illinois.
"For a more comprehensive answer:
"The (Illinois Climate Action Plan) 2020, objective 2.3.1 is: '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. As of 2020, there are three types of clean power options being pursued or used on campus.
"1. Solar Energy on Campus: installing solar photovoltaic panels on campus property
"2. Wind Energy on Campus: installing wind turbine generators on campus property
"3. Power Purchase Agreements for Clean Energy: purchasing solar or wind power from off-campus
"FYI, Solar Farm 2.0 is projected to produce 20,000,000 kWh/year. It began production at the end of January, so there will only be 5 of 12 months production in the FY21 totals (this current fiscal year)."
As for the number of houses each can provide power for, White said, "At Facilities & Services, we use the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) for the average power use in an American home. It currently says, 'In 2019, the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 10,649 kilowatthours (kWh).”
"Thus, the FY20 clean power use on campus (30,635,993 kWh) was the equivalent of the power needed for 2,876 houses. Once Solar Farm 2.0 is operating for an entire year, that will be about 50,000,000 kWh/year of clean power use on campus, which is the equivalent to the power needed for 4,717 houses."
And about whether more generation will be added, she said: "The recently released Illinois Climate Action Plan 2020 (iCAP 2020) includes a goal for increasing clean power use to 140,000 MWh/year by FY25. We are currently having internal discussions at the University of Illinois about initiating a large off-campus solar power purchase agreement to meet this goal. We are also continuing to pursue clean thermal energy solutions, such as geothermal. Additionally, large construction projects on campus are required by the state law to be LEED certified, and this will often entail the addition of clean energy systems for individual buildings."
The payback period for each of these systems varies widely due to several factors, she said.
"For example, the geothermal system for the Campus Instructional Facility is projected to pay for itself in 28 years, while Solar Farm 2.0 is saving money in year one," said White. "For local projects off-campus these programs are very helpful: the Solar Urbana-Champaign program typically finds solar installations to pay for themselves in six or seven years, and the Geothermal Urbana-Champaign program typically finds a geothermal system at a residential home can pay for itself within 10 years."
