University of Tennessee at Knoxville Plant

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville central steam plant serves both the Main and Agricultural campuses: 153 buildings, containing over 7,000,000 square feet of space. The plant contains two spreader stoker fed, coal-fired boilers, one boiler that burns coal or natural gas, a coal crusher that can convert nut and slag coal to stoker coal for use in the plant, and an electrostatic precipitator that traps the approximately one ton of fly ash generated by the plant each day, which is then conveyed to a closed container for transport. On average, 105 tons of coal are burned each day.

As of January 2010 renovations are underway at the plant to bring it into compliance with the EPA's Clean Air Act standards, including installing a baghouse to be within standards for mercury and to improve particulate emissions. The project will remove the electrostatic precipitator and add water side economizers on the discharge of the three coal fired boilers.

A University of Tennessee at Knoxville Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report found that purchased electricity is by far the largest contributor to the University's carbon footprint, accounting for approximately 166,506 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or 62 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in 2006. On-campus stationary sources, which includes all coal and natural gas burned in the steam plant, account for the second largest greenhouse gas emissions, contributing 23 percent. Since 1990 total and per capita coal use and energy use at the University has steadily increased.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Campus coal plants
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * Opposition to existing coal plants
 * Coal
 * Coal and jobs
 * Coal-fired power plant capacity and generation
 * Coal phase-out
 * Coal plant conversion projects
 * Coal plants near residential areas

External resources

 * Anne C. Mulkern, "Colleges Are Battlegrounds for Coal Fight," Greenwire, October 14, 2009.
 * Campuses Beyond Coal Campaign, Sierra Club, September 2009.
 * "DOE Announces Winners of Annual University Coal Research Grants," July 7, 2005.
 * American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment