The Energy iCAP team met on Friday, October 29th to discuss the proposed plan to construct a micro-modular nuclear reacter on campus. Several guests were invited to speak about the pros and cons of the issue.
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The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP), completed in 2010, identifies several goals related to energy production and distribution on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) campus. The iCAP called for a detailed study of the University's Energy and Utility systems. That study is now ongoing and is intended to be interactive with the sustainability goals of the iCAP. The University is working with a multi-disciplinary consulting team to study the requirements and opportunities necessary to safely and reliably meet the current and future campus energy needs.
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Several SWATeam recommendations were discussed. Also, an update from the Sustainability Council was provided:
Facilities & Services unit rejected the recommendation. F&S's response was sent to the iWG and EGen SWATeam on June 15th, 2015. However, this recommendation led to the EGen004 Electrification Study recommendation.
See SWATeam recommendation EGen004 Electrification Study here.
Following the completion of iWG Assessment, the recommendation was forwarded to the Facilities & Services unit on May 29th, 2015.
See iWG Assessment of EGen002 Utilities Master Plan Review here.
See SWATeam recommendation EGen002 Utilities Master Plan Review here.
The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on May 21st, 2015, to discuss the EGen002 Utilities Master Plan Review recommendation, and started the recommendation. Their official comment on this recommendation was:
"We recommend that the Utilities Master Plan be vetted by outside experts with specific expertise in renewable energy and geothermal heat pump technology."
See the attached file for the complete iWG Assessment with comments from all the iWG members.
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The eGen SWATeam submitted a recommendation to the iWG stating, "Seek expert external reviews of the Utilities Master Plan."
See attached the SWATeam recommendation EGen002 Utilities Master Plan Review complete with comments from all the eGen SWATeam members.
Hi Ben,
Thanks for your letter from the iWG about the Utilities Master Plan (attached for reference).
For a general overview of our energy systems at the University of Illinois, please see the online overview at http://www.fs.illinois.edu/docs/default-source/Resources/brochures/utilities-energy-3-14.pdf?sfvrsn=0.
In general, the overall efficiency of a typical power plant is approximately 35%, and the efficiency of a typical cogeneration plant is typically 80-85%. The efficiency is in general a measure of the energy input (fuel), vs. the energy output (electricity, and in the case of a cogeneration plant steam and electricity).
Work on the Energy Production and Distribution Master Plan continues. There was a progress meeting at F&S on April 18. This included a discussion about stakeholder engagement for the project and a brainstorming session with staff to identify new projects and aspects for the AEI team to review during the master planning study.
