Yale to Reduce Emissions at Power Plant through Fuel Change

Yale University plans to reduce emissions from its Sterling Power Plant, which provides energy for the School of Medicine, by using cleaner oil than the type it currently is permitted by the State of Connecticut to use.

Yale University plans to reduce emissions from its Sterling Power Plant, which provides energy for the School of Medicine, by using cleaner oil than the type it currently is permitted by the State of Connecticut to use.

In place of a plan Yale developed with outside consultants to use No. 6 fuel oil, which meets regulatory standards, Yale will use cleaner No. 2 fuel oil at the power plant.

“The change in fuel will increase Yale’s energy costs, but there are environmental benefits that need to go into the balance when making this decision,” said Robert Culver, Yale’s vice president for finance and administration.

Increased fuel costs resulting from the switch in fuel oil are expected to total more than $1 million each year.

Yale has installed new boilers in the power plant that are much more efficient than older units that will be relegated to backup status. Yale will amend its permit application to the Department of Environmental Protection for its newest state-of-the-art boiler to substitute No. 2 fuel oil for No. 6 fuel oil throughout the plant. The combination of more efficient boilers and cleaner fuel oil at the plant will produce significant emissions reductions.

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Media Contact

Tom Conroy: tom.conroy@yale.edu, 203-432-1345