A group on campus is trying to make Athens’ air a little cleaner.

Last week, members of Students for Environmental Action presented several deans and members of the University’s administration with reports on the environmental and social effects of coal as an energy source.

“The presentation was a way to show the administration how big of an issue this is and how the University can benefit from alternative energy sources,” said Sheena Zhang, a junior from Athens and president of SEA.

One of the four steam boilers on campus runs on coal, an energy source that is a major cause of air and water pollution. SEA is working to change the coal-burning boiler to a more environmentally-friendly form of energy.

Steam boilers are used for a variety of purposes across campus, including heating and air conditioning buildings and providing steam to research centers for sterilization.

The reports presented by SEA were compiled by the Campuses Beyond Coal Campaign, a nationwide project started by the Sierra Student Coalition.

Ralph Johnson, associate vice president of the Physical Plant, said using different kinds of fuel for the steam boilers allows the University to choose fuel based on availability and cost.

“During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, neither natural gas nor heating oil was available to UGA, so the University had to rely on coal for all steam production,” Johnson said.

Johnson said that in an average year, steam produced by coal is less than 50 percent of the steam produced at the University. He also said that, because of a drop in natural gas prices this summer, the coal boiler has not been used since May and is not expected to be restarted until October.

Not only is coal a major source of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, Zhang said, but the method used to collect coal pollutes streams, damages the environment and puts Appalachian communities at risk.

According to the Sierra Club’s Web site, coal is often harvested through mountaintop removal mining – a process which involves blowing up Appalachian mountaintops and extracting the coal.

The Campuses Beyond Coal reports state this method has damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 miles of streams and threatens to destroy 1.4 million acres of land by 2020.

Zhang said the University is interested in looking into options for clean energy, but the cost of switching may cause a delay in the project.

“The University is looking into biomass as an alternative to the coal burning boiler, but the bottom line is just cost,” she said.

Johnson said the University is already planning on replacing the 45-year-old coal boiler, but since UGA has not created a plan to fund the replacement, there is no set timeline for when this change will happen.

“The capital cost for a replacement boiler could vary greatly,” he said. “A recent study regarding utilization of biomass technology for a boiler determined that the required capital investment would be in the range of $25 million to $30 million.”

This year, the University was awarded a grade of “D” on the Sierra Club’s list of Cool Schools, which lists the top environmentally friendly schools in the country. According to the Sierra Club’s Web site, this grade reflects the University’s use of energy, transportation, waste management and other criteria.

“We were No. 115 out of 135 schools – so pretty much at the bottom,” Zhang said. “Besides our goal to replace the coal boiler, SEA is doing a lot of audits on energy use this year to get a feel for what’s currently being done at the University.”