Duke Energy is attempting to save money by avoiding standard pollution controls at the fracked gas-fired power plant it proposes to build on the Duke University campus. This would allow a key respiratory pollutant to be emitted at a rate ten times higher than allowed at most other facilities – and the plant would be disastrous for the climate.
Methane, Fracked Gas & Climate
Methane (the main component in natural gas) is 100 times as bad for the climate as carbon dioxide over the short term. Less CO2 is emitted by natural gas than by coal when burned. But significant leakage of methane before burning makes gas a disaster for the climate, as revealed even more by recent science. Yet utilities and the gas industry are still feverishly promoting fracked gas.
NC WARN is working hard to connect the dots between climate change, methane leakage and the fracking boom that is driven by demand from the electric power industry.
Learn more about our methane work here.
Watch a 3-minute video by Cornell University’s Dr. Robert Howarth describing why natural gas is a disastrous strategy for the climate. More videos, PowerPoints and documentation here.
“Everything You Need to Know About Methane”, a primer by Earthjustice.
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Virginia county approves massive natural gas compressor over community outrage — Think Progress
If constructed, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline will run from eastern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia to North Carolina and Virginia. But the project faces major public opposition — even in Buckingham County, where Thursday’s meeting dragged on for five hours, and many residents testified in opposition.
Plans for proposed campus power plant stalled — The Chronicle
The company has requested that the North Carolina Utilities Commission postpone a hearing on the proposed plant from Jan. 24 to late spring. The filing notes that “the University’s administration has indicated that it needs more time to work with University stakeholders regarding the role of the CHP [combined heat and power plant] in the broader context of the University’s sustainability goals.”
Duke Energy’s Natural Gas Plant on Duke University’s Campus Is On Hold — INDY Week
Duke Energy requests delay on power plant at Duke University — The Daily Tarheel
Duke Energy’s plan to put a plant at Duke University might be powering down—at least for a little while.
The energy company is seeking a delay until early summer for its proposal to put a 21-megawatt combined heating and power plant at Duke University after pushback from the public. Duke Energy said the plant will reduce its carbon footprint and provide additional backup power in case of a power emergency.
Duke Energy seeks delay for controversial Duke University plant – Charlotte Business Journal
The Durham advocacy group NC WARN, a consistent critic of Duke Energy proposals for new plant construction, has been in the thick of the battle over the campus plant. While the university has not withdrawn from the project, NC WARN Executive Director Jim Warren, sees the delay as a victory.
See more articles on this here.
Duke University’s natural gas-fired combined heat and power plant – not so fast — Durham Herald-Sun
Op-ed by Kelly Garvy. Earlier this year, Duke University unveiled its proposal to build a $55 million, 21-megawatt, natural gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plant on its campus, to be owned and operated by Duke Energy. This plant has significant implications for Duke Energy ratepayers and citizens of North Carolina on everything from monthly utility bills to public health to climate action.
Duke should reject fracked gas plant — The News & Observer
Letter to the Editor by Connie Leeper. NC WARN urges Duke University President Richard Brodhead to take assertive action to avert the accelerating climate crisis. Instead of helping Duke Energy advance a national scheme to expand the burning of fracked gas on campuses, he should join the leading universities that are adopting clean energy innovations.
Duke University plant would turn away from renewable energy – The News & Observer
Op-Ed By William H. Schlesinger Renewable energy is the way; not skirting under the bar of EPA regulations with an array of small power plants that maintain the old ways of doing business. Setting an example for others, a solar-powered campus would light the way for bright young minds of the next generation.
Group opposes Duke Energy plans to burn natural gas in Cliffside coal plant — Charlotte Business Journal
Advocacy group NC WARN wants state regulators to hold hearings on Duke Energy’s $56 million plan to upgrade its Cliffside coal units to burn natural gas. NC WARN contends that upgrading Duke Energy’s two Cliffside coal units at the Rogers Energy Complex would be needlessly expensive and environmentally unsound.