Two uni coal boilers to go as Govt aims to reduce public service emissions
The University of Canterbury will reduce its carbon emissions by 9000 tonnes annually after replacing two of its coal boilers with an eco-friendly option. It is one of six projects getting a share of $12.7 million from the Crowns clean powered public service fund. Other recipients are the Auckland University of Technology, NZ Defence Force, Inland Revenue, and MidCentral and Lakes district health boards. To replace two coal boilers with one new biomass boiler, the University of Canterbury (UC) will put up $9.36m of its own money on top of the $6.34m of Government funding. UC has been using 4300 to 6270 tonnes of coal annually to heat its campus. READ MORE: * University of Canterbury burning more coal but says emissions are reducing * Coal will keep burning across Canterbury for decades A third coal boiler will be retained for top-up heating during the coldest periods of the year. The new biomass boiler will be running by March 2022. Biomass boilers run on wood pellets made from waste wood and emit about 60 times fewer emissions than coal boilers. Vice-chancellor Professor Cheryl de la Rey said the funding was an important step towards the universitys sustainability goals. The university wants to move away from combustion-based heating, using technology that pulls heat from the earth instead, but it is unable to do so until some older buildings have thermal insulation upgrades. This is expected to take up to 12 years. Climate Change Minister James Shaw said the six projects would reduce emissions by about 14,730 tonnes annually, the equivalent of taking more than 6000 petrol vehicles off the road. He said upgrading public services to run on clean energy was a hugely important part of the Governments work to tackle the climate crisis, and those organisations had relied on climate-polluting fuels to keep running for too long. The Burnham army base will get $3.84m to replace its coal boiler with heat pumps, saving about 4860 tonnes of emissions annually. The NZ Defence Force will pitch in another $5.76m. Auckland University of Technology will get $1.29m towards replacing its boilers and chillers, and to install energy efficient lighting. The university will put in another $1.93m. It will save about 48 tonnes of emissions annually. Inland Revenue will get $1.015m towards replacing some of its vehicle fleet with electric vehicles. It will contribute a further $985,000 towards this. The MidCentral and Lakes district health boards will get $308,000 for upgrades to low emissions chillers and to swap three vehicles to electric alternatives. This will save about 340 tonnes of emissions annually. The boards are putting in an additional $299,000. An estimated annual 7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide or 8 per cent of New Zealands greenhouse gas emissions come from fossil fuel powered industrial heating systems. However, cost is seen as a barrier for organisations to move towards biomass burners, which are more expensive to run. It's thought coal will keep burning in Canterbury for decades , with an Environment Canterbury list showing some coal consumers have consents through until June 2039. However, the Government is considering a ban on most new coal boilers and a phase out of existing boilers by 2030. Wednesdays $12.7m announcement is the second spend from the $200m the Government set aside to decarbonise public services. The first 10 projects , announced in January, involved funding to replace coal boilers at 10 schools and improve heating at Ashburton Hospital and Hillmorton Hospital's mental health unit.