The New York City Departments of Citywide Administrative Services of Environmental Protection created a public-private partnership to triple the generation of solar power on city buildings as part of an overarching plan to reduce the city’s carbon emissions, improve air quality and boost the performance of its electricity grid.
The program will not cost the city upfront expenses, as the installation and maintenance of the solar arrays will be managed by Tangent Energy Solutions. The city will purchase the energy generated from the solar systems, expected to save more than $8 million when compared to taking on the construction with taxpayer money. About 40 jobs will be created to enable the projects, and more are predicted to arise as similar initiatives take shape. The city has long-term goals of reducing energy costs and making better use of wastewater treatment plants to generate affordable power.
PlaNYC
New York City’s long-term plan to support economic growth and sustainable energy use looks to keep energy costs low for residents while improving air quality and infrastructure performance. The city hopes to manage peak demand of electricity and natural gas with increased market penetration of renewable sources such as polar panels and geothermal installations through public-private partnerships.
In 2005, New York City’s carbon dioxide emissions totaled 64 million metric tons. By 2017, agencies hope to have cut city government’s carbon emissions by 30 percent, and then decrease citywide emissions by 2030 to total 45 million metric tons annually. Since 2007, the city has already increased its generation of solar photovoltaic energy from 1 megawatt to 14 megawatts of solar power today. The New York City Department of Environment Protection is investing $450 million over the next seven years to cut its use of energy by more than 10 percent, and decrease carbon emissions by more than 56,000 metric tons annually through equipment upgrades and installations of renewable sources of energy.
Carbon Challenge
Leading the effort to cut energy use in city buildings, New York City government agencies are making changes to reduce emissions. Mayor Bloomberg has also challenged private organizations across the city to also consider implementing more sustainable energy use measures to help the goals of PlaNYC be realized. The Mayor’s Carbon Challenge has already received positive feedback from 10 companies eager to participate, as well as numerous universities and hospitals in the city pledging to achieve greater energy efficiency.
Solar Use On The Rise
Gov1 has followed other solar energy programs that save money and improve municipality efficiency.[/dw-post-more]