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Cleaner fossil fuels
The operation of the College requires us to consume fossil fuel on-campus and off.
The fossil fuels that we consume on-campus to warm our heated spaces, generate
electricity, heat our water and cook our meals result in significant emissions
of greenhouse gases. The largest contributor to our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions
is the residual fuel burned in the heating plant, representing almost 50% of total.
We are recommending that we burn fuels that have a lower emissions profile,
(no. 2 fuel and more natural gas in the heating plant and more biofuels in our
local burners.) Some of the recommended fuel switches may require us to change
our existing infrastructure. As we plan other related projects on campus, such
as developing a source of back-up electricity to safeguard our campus during a
major power outage, the impact on our emissions profile should be an important
evaluative criteria. Future improvements to our utility infrastructure should
include the consideration of opportunities to employ other forms of biomass or
biofuels. In our recommended strategies, we have not fully explored the expected
prices and future availability of the fuels. We expect that future years will
see increased costs for natural gas as our supplies diminish and as we become
more dependent on liquefied natural gas from off-shore sources.
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