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Friday, November 27, 2009 9:20 PM CST
OUR VIEW: EIU energy center project is one to be emulated
By JG/T-C Editorial Board
The best thing about the under-construction energy center at Eastern Illinois University is that it solves a problem that needs to be fixed immediately.
It’s all the better that the project, when combined with facility upgrades, will have an environmental impact estimated at being the equivalent of removing 3,600 cars from the road.
And, neither the university nor the state had to invest funds up front or borrow any money, as the university’s partnership with Honeywell Inc. is taking care of the financing.
These are but a few of the highlights underlined recently when the university officially broke ground on a nearly $80 million renewable energy center.
The center will replace an aging coal-fired power plant that is on life support and demanded replacement. The process that led to the groundbreaking was several years in the making.
The further the parties got into developing the project, the better it got. We can only hope for those involved that the momentum continues through construction and implementation.
At its core, the project involves construction of a new biomass fueled power plant. The plant will use renewable energy sources, and once online will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 20,000 metric tons a year.
The plant has a research component that fits well with the mission of a university. In conjunction with the new power plant, the campus is making facility upgrades designed to reduce consumption.
We are reminded that when Steven Chu, the U.S. energy secretary, had his confirmation hearing, he told senators that reducing consumption was the first and best (but not the only) way to deal with energy issues.
The project hit obstacles along the way, one of which was complaints of neighbors about how the facility would impact their neighborhood. The neighbors’ complaints led to improvements in the project, and those neighbors were among those thanked by EIU President Bill Perry at the groundbreaking.
Students helped the project through the legislative process by writing letters to their representatives. Rep. Chapin Rose said when questions arose, he was able to show lawmakers letters from student who were constituents of those lawmakers describing the importance of the project.
Every obstacle was met with a response, in most cases a response that improved the project.
By the way, this also is a major public works project that involves good-paying jobs involving local and national contractors.
We hear a lot these days about stimulus and public sector spending. We hear a lot about climate change, and that focus will increase in upcoming days with the international climate change summit in Copenhagen in December.
The energy center at Eastern Illinois University is an example of making a major investment that solves a major problem.
And in this case, the public-private partnership takes the taxpayers off the hook for the financing.
We need more projects like this one.
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sapient wrote on Dec 3, 2009 11:08 AM: