I passed by the smokestacks every day on my way to bike ride to school. I wasn't quite sure why we had a power plant on Duke property and my mind raced through all the health effects of breathing polluted air. I tried to keep my distance until today when our Forest Management seminar class went for a tour of the facility. As we rounded the corner from the Nicholas school, the first sight that caught my eye was a massive pile of shiny black coal. I grabbed a piece off the pile and admired its shape and texture. I had to reflect on how coal has been a very important energy source for the world over the past three centuries, and it was strange that I hadn't come face to face with the famous mineral in 26 years.

We had a small presentation by a staff member about the facility. I soon would learn that the "evil" power plant was a steam plant. That means that they generate steam, not energy. Many of the research buildings and Duke hospital were built to receive steam for heating and sterilization purposes. It turns out to be a much cheaper and efficient alternative than building heating units on all the buildings and then purchasing all the energy from local suppliers.

The Duke steam plant is quite committed to minimize pollution. They have baghouses and lime scrubbers that filter 98.9% of the particulates released from the burners. On most days, when the plant is at full operation, there are no visible emissions from the smokestack. Also, they buy top-grade coal from West Virginia and Kentucky, which is low in sulfur and mercury.

Duke is also undergoing a new trial to generate energy off of woody biomass (i.e. trees). They are partnering with the Duke Forest in order to supply them with fuel during the trial period. Duke forest won't be clearcutting their forest anytime soon for the Duke steam plant. Rather, they will simply be using the wood that is no longer of use (i.e. dead and felled trees) and using the material to generate more steam for campus facilities.