Wonder how high the utility bills will be at that apartment you like? To help consumers and spur efficiency, U.S. states and cities are beginning this year to require that commercial buildings measure and disclose their energy use....
Sunday, July 31, 2011
U.S. cities, states require large buildings cite energy use - USATODAY.com
U.S. cities, states require large buildings cite energy use - USATODAY.com
Monday, July 25, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Energy Use Soars in City Under Grip of Scorcher
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
Published: July 22, 2011
The morning coffee had not gone cold at Consolidated Edison’s headquarters before its executives could see that trouble was brewing.
The utility’s customers, bracing for one of the hottest days in New York City’s history, were consuming considerably more electricity than they had on any morning before. At the rate they were plugging in and cranking up air conditioners, the previous peak of demand would not merely have been topped, it would have been torched.
That was a frightening prospect for the officials huddled in a makeshift command center at headquarters in Manhattan. They had prepared for an unprecedented draw on their network of underground cables and overhead wires, which spans the city and some suburbs to the north. But none of them knew just how far the system could be stretched without a major breakdown.
Then, at noon, the operator of New York State’s power grid rescued Con Ed by ordering many businesses and other large consumers of power to cut back. Managers of office and apartment buildings turned up their thermostats, dimmed lights and took some elevators out of service.
The New York Independent System Operator said those “demand response programs,” which provide incentives to commercial users for helping out in times of high demand, cover about 800 megawatts in New York City, on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley.
On Con Ed’s system alone, they may have saved 400 megawatts on Friday, said John Miksad, senior vice president for electric operations. He said city officials also pitched in by switching on backup generators at some facilities, including Gracie Mansion and two wastewater treatment plants. Those city properties did not go completely off the grid, but they sharply reduced the amount of power they drew from it, he said.
“We were going up at a rate of 1,000 megawatts an hour,” Mr. Miksad said, describing the spinning of the load meter projected on a floor-to-ceiling screen as “rocketing.” He said the total demand would have surpassed Con Ed’s projected peak for the day by 100 or 200 megawatts “if not for these programs.”
Even with them in effect, power consumption kept rising through the afternoon, briefly spiking above 13,200 megawatts. Officially, the new high is 13,189, which was the average load on Con Ed’s system between 3 and 4 p.m.
By then, the strain was showing: Con Ed reduced voltage in parts of all five boroughs and several towns in Westchester. It took that step, which keeps the lights and air conditioners on but with a little less hum, to try to head off equipment failures.
Meanwhile, the utility’s crews raced around the city repairing scattered problems that, at various times, left thousands of the company’s 3.2 million customers without power. Most of the failures were fixed within a few hours, though one feeder cable that failed near the Richmond Hill section of Queens was not expected to be back in service until Saturday morning.
Just before midnight on Friday, nearly 30,000 Con Ed customers in New York City and Westchester were without power. More than 25,000 of them were in New York City, primarily in Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island.
Saturday promised a combination of relief and added worry for the people charged with keeping the electricity flowing. Most commercial customers draw much less power after their employees take off for the weekend, but most of those workers are likely to spend much of Saturday hunkered in their homes in front of TV screens, air conditioners and fans.
“The residential areas tomorrow are going to be just as big a test as the other areas were today,” Mr. Miksad said.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Nearing the peak?
NYISO's all-time record peak of 33,939 MW occurred on August 2, 2006
Here's what demand looked like at 4 pm today (July 21, 2011) with Central Park temperature = 95 degrees F.
[load map courtesy the NYISO: http://www.nyiso.com/public/markets_operations/market_data/maps/index.jsp]
[load map courtesy the NYISO: http://www.nyiso.com/public/markets_operations/market_data/maps/index.jsp]
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Wrapping the cost of energy improvements into a mortgage - ContraCostaTimes.com
Wrapping the cost of energy improvements into a mortgage - ContraCostaTimes.com
By Eve Mitchell
Contra Costa Times
Contra Costa Times
Stuck with soaring utility bills in a home that's a glutton for energy? Buying a home that has a lot to be desired in terms of energy-efficient features?
There's hope. An under-the-radar program that has been around since 1995 can help buyers save on their utility bills by letting them fold the cost of energy improvements into their mortgage. The program, dubbed Energy Efficient Mortgage, can be used by homeowners with both Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Administration loans....
Thursday, July 14, 2011
If Indian Point Closes, Plenty of Challenges
By MATTHEW L. WALD
July 13, 2011
Peculiarities of the electricity system in New York State, including its unusual independent status, would make it difficult and expensive to replace electricity from the Indian Point nuclear power plant if Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo succeeds in shutting it down, experts on the grid warn.
Closing the plant could also increase the frequency of power failures, officials who run the state’s high-voltage grid say, given that New York has weak ties to generation capacity in other states.
Citing safety concerns, Mr. Cuomo warned Indian Point’s owner, Entergy, last month that he would insist that the plant’s two reactors in Westchester County be retired in 2013 and 2015, when their initial 40-year licenses expire. He maintains that some combination of new generators and new transmission lines could be ready in time to cope with summer 2016, the first peak demand period that power-hungry New York City and Long Island would face without both reactors.
But industry experts are skeptical that new generators or transmission lines could be built that quickly in the New York metropolitan region’s cumbersome regulatory environment. Obtaining construction permits, countering legal challenges and then building a plant or transmission line almost always takes more than five years, they note.
While a downstate coal or natural gas plant could step up production once Indian Point closed, that electricity could prove far more expensive, industry analysts say. And a lighting strike or other event that knocks out a transmission line — a problem that the system can usually ride through today — could lead to rotating blackouts, they add.
“The answer is pretty simple: prices will be higher and reliability will be lower,” said Edward Kee, vice president of the firm NERA Economic Consulting.
Up to 2.1 million customers in southern New York would be vulnerable to power interruptions from 2016 to 2020 if Indian Point shut down, Rick Gonzales, chief operating officer of the New York Independent System Operator, or I.S.O., told a State Senate committee in May.
Officials at the I.S.O., which runs the state’s grid, estimate that Westchester and New York’s five boroughs will use about 64,500 gigawatt-hours this year. Indian Point will generate about a quarter of that, or 16,000 gigawatt-hours.
If both Indian Point reactors were to close, wholesale electricity prices would rise about 12 percent, or $1.4 billion a year, according to a projection from Consolidated Edison, which serves more than three million customers in New York City and part of Westchester.
In New York’s daily energy auctions, the I.S.O. prices electricity by matching offering bids from suppliers against the amount of energy that utilities say they need to serve their customers. Nuclear plants always submit relatively low offers because their costs are the same whether they are running or not, and they want to be assured of having a market.
If Indian Point closes, the list of successful bidders will eventually include more plants fired by coal or natural gas. Their operating costs are higher and they will therefore bid higher, analysts say. And in a quirk of New York’s system, every supplier is paid at the price of the most expensive megawatt-hour needed to satisfy the region’s demand, which will magnify the rise in prices.
The price impact would be smaller if the state added some low-cost generation or transmission. So far, Mr. Cuomo has not been specific about where substitute power would come from, but aides say proposals are certain to emerge, now that he has taken a hard line on closing Indian Point.
“We recognize the window is relatively short,” said an aide, referring to the time it takes to build plants and transmission capacity. The aide spoke on the condition of anonymity because the policy has not been made final.
Some experts on New York’s electricity system suggest that existing transmission lines could be rebuilt to operate at higher voltage and thus provide more capacity. A proposal for a new line running from Quebec to New York City under Lake Champlain and the Hudson River is inching forward, for example, and sponsors say it could be completed by 2015.
Ashok Gupta, an energy expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, has suggested that some generators in northeastern Queens that run on natural gas could be replaced by newer ones that get more power out of a given amount of fuel. Such steps should be taken regardless of Indian Point’s fate, he and others contend.
“Everything we’re saying should be done if Indian Point should be shut down — should be done anyway,” he said, referring to proposals for cleaner and more efficient technology and new transmission lines.
The challenges facing electricity suppliers in New York are rooted partly in the way the system is administered. While New York City is in a densely populated region, it is only loosely tied to power generators in neighboring states. The city is served mainly by five big transmission lines that run from upstate New York, squeezing through the narrow stretch where Westchester is corseted by New Jersey and Connecticut to deliver a mix of power from energy sources in Quebec, Ontario and upstate.
By contrast, the six New England states have been integrated for decades into a single system, which gives each far more flexibility in balancing supply and demand in peak periods. From New Jersey southward, PJM Interconnection — the letters once stood for Pennsylvania, Jersey and Maryland — manages supply and demand for all or part of 13 states and the District of Columbia.
Even in New York State, connections are weak, further limiting options. “New York’s grid is a patchwork,” said Mr. Gonzales of the I.S.O., which keeps a round-the-clock watch on how heavily the state’s power lines are loaded. The agency divides the state into 11 zones mimicking the former territories of utilities, and it prices electricity separately in each one because of the weak way they are interconnected.
As a result, some parts of the system are highly congested, and power in those places can sell for double what it does in better-connected areas with strong generation like northern New York. In a region that stretches from south of Albany down through Dutchess, Ulster, Orange, Rockland and Westchester Counties, the five boroughs and Long Island, prices are sometimes double what they are in upstate or western New York.
Sometimes wind turbines upstate generate electricity for which there is no local market, but the energy cannot be delivered to the New York area because of congestion on the grid. Wind power could one day help replace Indian Point, experts say, but not without more transmission capacity.
Yet construction of new lines or new plants tends to stir enormous opposition, industry experts say. Paul Steidler, a spokesman for an energy lobbying group largely financed by Indian Point’s owner, pointed to NYRI, a proposed 190-mile high-voltage link between upstate and downstate that was shelved in 2009 after major objections from people in areas it would pass through.
“Based on the NYRI experience, I do not think it is possible to underestimate the amount of opposition that the Champlain line will face,” Mr. Steidler said. “We shouldn’t count on it until it is up and running and all the lawsuits are resolved.”
Power plant construction in the New York City area faces yet another hurdle: because the air already violates the smog standard, for each ton of nitrogen oxides that any new power plant would emit, the Environmental Protection Agency requires the builder to cut output of that pollutant from another source by 1.3 tons. That means a developer wanting to build a new plant has to find another plant to clean up.
Closing the Indian Point reactors would, however, hardly be gloom and doom for everyone. Any company that runs a generator in downstate New York ends up selling its output at a higher price, and would share in the $1.4 billion a year that Con Edison says its customers will pay if the nuclear plant closes.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
After two years of eco-living, what works and what doesn't
Interesting hands-on article about home-scale sustainability improvements.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
State of the Environment report for London, June 2011
London’s Environment Revealed is the first joint report on the State of the Environment in London, produced by the Greater London Authority, Environment Agency, Natural England and the Forestry Commission. The report looks at the state of London’s environment today, highlights the improvements that have been made, and the challenges the city faces. The report also features many projects and schemes at a local level that have improved the environment in London in recent years.
The report looks at how the environment has changed over the last decade, and uses a series of indicators to illustrate the changes in the state of the environment within eight themes: Climate change, Flood risk, Water quality, Water resources, Waste, Air quality, noise and transport, Biodiversity, and Landscape and green infrastructure.
Open the report (PDF 3.3MB)
Download the data presented in the report (Excel 0.1MB)
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Shanghai cuts power supply to over 1,000 industrial users due to shortfall
For the first time this summer, Shanghai's power company cut supply to 1,435 industrial users in suburban Qingpu and Songjiang districts yesterday due to a serious shortfall in the areas, the Oriental Morning Post reported today.
As the power load hit a new record at 24.1 gigawatts about 10:45am yesterday, the power company had to switch off supply to some factories to ensure sufficient supply for residential use, the report said.
By 3:30pm, power supply to industrial users resumed as normal, it added.
As the city tries to juggle a tight power supply with spikes in demand, industrial users will be required to close when a potential power shortage occurs, as households will get priority, according to the local power company.
The recent scorching weather has imposed high pressure on the local power grid, as sweltering residents crank up their air conditioning.
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nsp/Metro/2011/07/05/Shanghai%2Bcuts%2Bpower%2Bsupply%2Bto%2Bover%2B1000%2Bindustrial%2Busers%2Bdue%2Bto%2Bshortfall/
As the power load hit a new record at 24.1 gigawatts about 10:45am yesterday, the power company had to switch off supply to some factories to ensure sufficient supply for residential use, the report said.
By 3:30pm, power supply to industrial users resumed as normal, it added.
As the city tries to juggle a tight power supply with spikes in demand, industrial users will be required to close when a potential power shortage occurs, as households will get priority, according to the local power company.
The recent scorching weather has imposed high pressure on the local power grid, as sweltering residents crank up their air conditioning.
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nsp/Metro/2011/07/05/Shanghai%2Bcuts%2Bpower%2Bsupply%2Bto%2Bover%2B1000%2Bindustrial%2Busers%2Bdue%2Bto%2Bshortfall/
Monday, May 02, 2011
China Plans to Have 100 New Energy Demonstration Cities by 2015
27 Apr 2011
April 27, China, the world’s second-largest energy consumer, will choose 100 new energy demonstration cities by 2015 as a vital component of its new energy strategy outlined in the 12th Five-Year Plan.
New energy technologies to be demonstrated in the 100 cities include geothermal energy, solar energy, wind energy, biological energy, new energy vehicles and smart grids, said Hu Runqing, deputy researcher at the Center for Renewable Energy Development under the Energy Research Institute, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
The cities will focus on demonstrating the application of new energy technologies, instead of equipment manufacturing and energy production.
Industry experts generally agree that China’s new energy industry is limited by underdeveloped domestic application of new technologies. Official data show China’s production of solar-cells accounted for 50% of the world’s total output in 2010, but 95% of that was exported.
“In terms of application [of new energy technologies], the demonstration cities will change the old mode of large scale transportation and emphasize distributed energy resources to produce locally and consume locally,” an official at the National Energy Bureau (NEB) told the 21st Century Business Herald.
Distributed energy resources are small-scale power generation technologies located close to where electricity is used to provide an alternative to or an enhancement of the traditional electric power system.
The central government is currently compiling an index and support policies for new energy demonstration cities, which are expected to be published before the end of this year, sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Researcher Hu said conurbations of all sizes, including metropolises and prefecture and county-level cities, are all welcome to apply.
The index will be established by CECEP Consulting, a subsidiary of the state-run China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group.
The proportion of new energy in primary energy consumption will be a key indicator as it directly reflects the level of new energy development in an area, said director Guo, who is heading up the project at CECEP Consulting.
Some experts suggest setting the new energy proportion at 8%-10%, but this has not been decided, Guo said.
Meanwhile, related support policies are also being researched.
At the end of 2010, China’s Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and NEB jointly issued a notice to start building 108 green energy demonstration counties across the nation.
Under that scheme, the central government will provide a subsidy of RMB 30 million for each participating county, with a cap of RMB 50 million, and local financial aid in central and western regions will not be less than 30% of that provided by the central government.
Based on that, local officials are expecting a similar subsidy for the 100 demonstration cities.
“The subsidy for the demonstration cities may by higher than that for counties, as cities have a higher administration level,” said an official from a local NDRC bureau.
Some cities are rushing to take part in the project, although no policy details have been finalized.
Last May, Zhang Guobao, who was then head of the NEB, said at a forum during the Shanghai 2010 World Expo that Turpan, a county-level city in Xinjiang autonomous region, had received approval to build a national new energy demonstration city.
The NEB has also approved a plan for a national energy demonstration city submitted by Dezhou, a city with a solid new energy industrial base in Shandong province, sources said.
Dunhuang, a city in China’s western Gansu province, is actively applying to participate in the NDRC’s demonstration project.
Local governments may rush headlong into the project, but their support mechanisms will decide the success or failure of the program, said Yang Fuqiang, a senior adviser on climate and energy to the Natural Resources Defense Council in China.
“What needs to be solved in the future is how to integrate distributed energy resources with power grids, construction departments and urban planning,” said researcher Hu.
245 Sign Up for EPA's 'Battle of the Buildings'
By EMILY YEHLE of Greenwire
Published: May 2, 2011U.S. EPA launched its "Battle of the Buildings" competition today, enlisting 245 stores, schools, museums and other commercial buildings to participate in a contest to see who can reduce energy use the most.
The agency's National Building Competition -- held for the first time last year -- promotes EPA's Energy Star program, a marketing-based effort that uses labels to alert customers of high-performing products. Competitors exchange ideas to become more energy efficient and track their building's monthly energy consumption with an online tool called Portfolio Manager.
"It's really a nice way to dispel a bunch of myths. One is that it costs a lot of money to make buildings more efficient," said Energy Star spokeswoman Maria Vargas. "There are a wide range of activities, from large capital improvement to just making sure lights are off when people aren't using them."
Last year's competition only included 14 buildings, which collectively saved more than $950,000 and reduced greenhouse gas emissions equal to the annual electricity use of almost 600 homes. The 2010 winner was Morrison Residence Hall at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The dormitory reduced its energy use by 35.7 percent in one year, saving more than $250,000 on its energy bills.
Three residence halls are competing this year, including Chapel Hill's Kenan Residence Hall. But the majority of participants are schools and office buildings, collectively making up 165 of the 245 buildings competing.
The competition includes 26 types of buildings, a variety selected in order to produce case studies that can be used through the public and private sectors, Vargas said. Participants can exchange ideas through Twitter, Facebook and other social media applications.
EPA officials will select between 10 and 14 finalists in July, Vargas said. Those finalists will submit Statements of Energy Performance signed by a professional engineer or licensed architect; the building with the largest percentage reduction between Sept. 1, 2010, and Aug. 31, 2011, will be declared the winner in November.
"EPA's Battle of the Buildings competitors are showing that everyone can help save energy where we work, play and learn," EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe said in a sound bite released to promote the competition. "If you want to save energy, you can start by turning off lights when you leave the room, power down computers and unplug electronics when they aren't in use. These small steps can make a big difference in saving energy and money."
Vargas said last year's participants primarily reduced energy use through maintenance and behavioral changes. EPA has kept tabs on the buildings, she said, and those savings appear to be continuing.
"It's very much like losing weight, so we are following up with last year contestants," she said. But unlike a diet, she added, there's no reason to slip back into old ways and pay a higher utility bill.
Click here for a list of participants and more information on EPA's National Building Competition.
Copyright 2011 E&E Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Solar panels rise pole by pole, followed by gasps of 'eyesore'
Juan Arredondo for The New York Times
Solar panels along Fifth Street in Fair Lawn, N.J. Residents elsewhere were upset they had not been notified before installation.
By MIREYA NAVARRO
Published: April 27, 2011
ORADELL, N.J. — Nancy and Eric Olsen could not pinpoint exactly when it happened or how. All they knew was one moment they had a pastoral view of a soccer field and the woods from their 1920s colonial-style house; the next all they could see were three solar panels.
“I hate them,” Mr. Olsen, 40, said of the row of panels attached to electrical poles across the street. “It’s just an eyesore.”
Around the corner lives Tom Trobiano, 61, a liquor salesman, now adapting to the lone solar panel hanging over his driveway. “When it’s up close,” he said, “the panel takes on a life of its own.”
Like a massive Christo project but without the advance publicity, installations have been popping up across New Jersey for about a year now, courtesy of New Jersey’s largest utility, the Public Service Electric and Gas Company. Unlike other solar projects tucked away on roofs or in industrial areas, the utility is mounting 200,000 individual panels in neighborhoods throughout its service area, covering nearly three-quarters of the state.
The solar installations, the first and most extensive of their kind in the country, are part of a $515 million investment in solar projects by PSE&G under a state mandate that by 2021 power providers get 23 percent of their electricity from renewable sources. If they were laid out like quilt pieces, the 5-by-2.5-foot panels would blanket 170 acres.
New Jersey is second only to California in solar powercapacity thanks to financial incentives and a public policy commitment to renewable energy industries seeded during Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s administration. But what might have been a point of pride in a state better known as the nation’s leader in toxic Superfund sites has instead caused suburban aesthetic unrest.
Some residents consider the overhanging panels “ugly” and “hideous” and worry aloud about the effect on property values.
Though nearly halfway finished, the company’s crews have encountered some fresh resistance in Bergen County, where cities, villages and boroughs are in varying stages of mortification. Local officials have forced a temporary halt in many towns as they seek assurances that they will not be liable in case of injury, but also to buy time for suggesting alternative sites — like dumps — to spare their tree-lined streets.
And here in Oradell, at least one panel has gone missing.
When and where the panels will show up next can be a mystery, prompting complaints over the lack of prior notice.
“I came back from running errands and there they were,” Mrs. Olsen, 37, said. “It’s not right. They should have warned us.”
In neighboring Ridgewood, Deputy Mayor Thomas M. Riche said constituents had called, sent e-mails and stopped him on the street demanding that he halt the encroaching blight. Ridgewood, an affluent village of about 24,000, got PSE&G to cease installations after only a few had been put up, over concerns that they would interfere with the emergency communications boxes on the poles.
The talks are continuing, Mr. Riche said, adding that he is trying to steer the Ridgewood panels to a town park-and-ride lot and its public schools.
“A cluster of panels in one area is better than individual panels all over the town,” he said. “We’re not against solar energy, but there are more efficient ways than having panels on the utility poles.”
PSE&G officials said their search for maximum sun exposure could not dodge and weave residential areas in a place as crowded as New Jersey. It turns out that only a quarter of the company’s 800,000 poles are suitable for the panels, which are mounted 15 feet high and need good southern exposure.
Solar industry experts approve of the decentralized pole-by-pole approach and said it could be just as efficient and cost effective as larger installations.
“Solar is extremely flexible,” said Monique Hanis, a spokeswoman for the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group based in Washington. “The utility owns the property already, and the panels can feed right into the transmission line.”
Ralph A. LaRossa, PSE&G’s president and chief executive, said that the company was also placing panels, which direct the energy they generate back into the power grid, at its industrial yards and on facility rooftops, and that it was leasing flat roofs of large buildings, including several schools in Newark. “We’re looking for ways to deploy the technology in the cheapest and most accessible way,” he said.
Yes, Mr. LaRossa said, his company could have communicated better, but he added that Bergen County had become “a pocket” of opposition in what had generally been a welcoming reception.
And not every burg in Bergen County is rebelling. Over in Fair Lawn, Mayor Lisa Swain said that her city had not interfered with the program and that she was trying to make the community sustainable in other ways, like using motion sensor lighting in city buildings.
“I’m going to do what I can,” she said.
Sean Smith, a 43-year-old airline sales supervisor in Fair Lawn, said he was fine with the seven panels on his street, especially “if it’s helping the greenhouse effect.”
“We have the kids to think about,” he said.
But his neighbor Tony Christofi, a 47-year-old contractor, wondered aloud whether Fair Lawn, by not fighting, was getting more than its fair share.
“I’m fine with green energy,” he said, “but are the savings going to be passed on to consumers?”
PSE&G officials said solar energy was still more expensive to produce than more traditional power sources and acknowledged that bills were going up 29 cents a month. Each panel produces 220 watts of power, enough to brighten about four 60-watt light bulbs for about six weeks. When complete, this project is expected to provide half of the 80 megawatts of electricity needed to power 6,500 homes.
Although he supports renewable energy, Gov. Chris Christie, through a spokesman, characterized the mandates that spawned the panel project as “extremely aggressive.” He has already asked that they be re-evaluated.
Over in Oradell, population 8,000, some residents say the new units aren’t worth the effort, producing too little power for the aggravation.
The case of the missing panel has been referred to local law enforcement.
“PSE&G takes a very dim view of people tampering with the equipment,” said Francis Sullivan, a company spokesman, “but that’s secondary to the fact that it’s just a dangerous idea.” All the units are connected to high-voltage wires.
Richard Joel Sr., a lawyer in town, said a panel close to his house had been removed, but demurred when asked if he knew details.
“I’m not saying what happened,” he said.
Waste-to-electricity plan draws mixed review in NY
By MIREYA NAVARRO
One of the new initiatives included in the recently updated version of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s environmental agenda — a plan to solicit proposals to try out new technologies that convert garbage into heat and electricity –- is drawing mixed reviews from environmental groups.
Waste-to-energy technologies are widely used in Europe, but have not caught on in a big way in this country, where most trash still goes to landfills. The Bloomberg administration wants to experiment with two specific technologies — anaerobic digestion and thermal processing – to convert solid waste into either electricity or fuel to reduce the use of landfills and the costs associated with transporting waste to them by truck and rail.
Anaerobic digestion uses microorganisms to break down waste and produce a biogas that can be combusted to generate electricity. Thermal processing uses heat to produce a synthetic gas and produce electricity.
Marcia Bystryn, executive director of the New York League of Conservation Voters, called waste-to-energy plants a plus that produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the current disposal system. “And you have this twofer,” she added. “You’re creating energy and disposing of waste.”
But groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council say that waste-to-electricity systems are not the best use of resources in New York City, given that it has a recycling rate of less than 20 percent. In Europe, they note, countries like Denmark and Germany that use the technology burn only the trash that cannot be recycled.
“Right now the focus of the Sanitation Department should be on resurrecting the city’s recycling program, finding better ways to handle food and yard waste and making the trash collection system more cost-effective and efficient,” said Eric A. Goldstein, a senior attorney with the council. “They have their hands full.”
“Right now the focus of the Sanitation Department should be on resurrecting the city’s recycling program, finding better ways to handle food and yard waste and making the trash collection system more cost-effective and efficient,” said Eric A. Goldstein, a senior attorney with the council. “They have their hands full.”
PlaNYC, as the city’s environmental plan is known, states that the technologies will be part of a strategy that also envisions “robust” recycling programs. But one program the city has been hoping to expand, the recycling of plastics, may have to wait. Citing limited markets for certain types of plastic, the plan says the city will revisit the expansion of plastics designated for recycling “as markets evolve.”
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Energy Loan Plan
By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL
New York City will open a new corporation that will operate a loan program to fund projects that save energy and reduce utility bills, Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to say Thursday as part of a major policy address.
Four years after releasing PlaNYC—a comprehensive sustainability plan for the city's future—Mr. Bloomberg is slated to re-launch the initiative with updated plans and new policy proposals. The speech is to be delivered at the Harlem Stage, a performing-arts venue in upper Manhattan.
In addition to the new corporation, the mayor will discuss plans to create new solar power plants on top of large areas of capped city landfills, aides said Wednesday. These plants could significantly improve local air quality by reducing power generation at the city's dirtiest plants during periods of peak summer demand, aides said.
Daniel Bragdon, the mayor's sustainability director, said the Bloomberg administration will create the New York City Energy Efficiency Corp., which will use $37 million in federal funding to make loans to property owners interested in energy-efficiency upgrades to their buildings.
"The corporation could loan money, or the [building] owner might go to his conventional bank and get a loan there that is backed by this corporation," Mr. Bragdon explained. "The point is—how do you make this $37 million revolve and go further."
Mr. Bragdon said officials are still assessing what's the most effective role this federal money can play in the marketplace. It is premature, he said, to speculate on how many buildings could be upgraded as a result of the funding.
"We'll devise different programs for different niches of the market," he said.
These energy improvements, officials said, will pay for themselves over time and help the city reach its goal of a "30% reduction in 2005 carbon emissions."
Mr. Bragdon said the city is also exploring public-private partnerships to create large-scale solar power plants on municipal landfills. Officials are looking at landfills in Brooklyn, as well as Fresh Kills on Staten Island, he said.
Four years ago, when Mr. Bloomberg first launched PlaNYC, the most controversial proposal was the mayor's call to charge motorists $8 to enter the most congested parts of Manhattan. The proposal was based on London's successful congestion-pricing program.
"You know, it sounds like a lot of money, but you go to a movie, it's $12," the mayor said at the time. "So, let's, you know, put some of this stuff in perspective here."
The proposal ultimately failed to win approval in Albany.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Empire State Building to strike green gold
City's tallest spire set for recognition as one of its greenest; $550 million renovation to draw LEED certification as well as 38% energy savings.
Buck Ennis
The Empire State Building is applying for gold LEED status.
The Empire State Building, which is in the midst of a $550 million renovation that includes numerous improvements designed to improve its sustainability, is on track to receive its LEED certification from the U.S. Buildings Council this month.
Upgrades at the 2.9 million-square-foot landmark include green features such as better-insulated windows and an upgraded air-conditioning system—changes that the management said lower energy consumption by 38%. Anthony Malkin, president of Malkin Holdings, an owner of the Empire State Building and its asset manager, said the changes were motivated by a desire to save energy. However, he said that once he realized the work would qualify for a certification, he opted to pursue it.
“We did the work,” Mr. Malkin said. “Why not?”
Mr. Malkin said the building would merit a gold rating. A U.S. Buildings Council spokeswoman said the organization doesn't disclose which rating a building will receive ahead of time.
LEED, which is named for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, was launched in March 2000. It measures various metrics that contribute to sustainability, including carbon emissions, water efficiency, energy savings and building materials.
In the decade since LEED was introduced, many developers have constructed or renovated their buildings to earn certification, both to help the environment and lure tenants.
However, in recent years other standards have also emerged, especially to measure energy efficiency. Additionally, later this year, New York City will begin requiring building to report their energy use, and those results will be posted publicly. The city hopes the postings will shame energy hogs into making changes that will put them more in line with their peers.
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