UI Cuts Emissions, Saves $1M Per Year Burning Oat Hulls

January 30, 2009

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In 2008, University of Iowa avoided emitting 69, 000 metric tons of CO2 by using one system to generate both heat and energy for the campus.

A member of the EPA’s Combined Heat and Power partnership, UI burns coal, natural gas and oat hulls at its power plant to generate about 30 percent of the electricity needed – and all of the steam energy needed – for its main campus, university hospitals and clinics complex.

According to a university video, burning oat hulls – instead of just coal – saves about $1 million per year. It gets the oat hulls from a Quaker Oats facility, which is just a short distance away.

By 2010, the university plans to reduce its energy consumption by 10 percent and use renewable sources to generate 15 percent of all energy on campus.

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Reader Comments

Good to see that IU is using CHP. I’m associated with Recycled Energy Development, a company that does CHP and other forms of energy efficiency for manufacturers and other large institutions. The potential with this technology is absolutely massive. EPA and DOE studies suggest energy recycling (of which CHP is the biggest form) could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% in the U.S. That’s as much as if we removed every passenger vehicle from the road. Meanwhile, costs would drop due to increased efficiency. We should be doing much more of this.

speakforthose | February 1st, 2009

So why isn’t Quaker Oats doing this? Seems to me they could put good use to it too.

Iain | February 2nd, 2009

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