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Bloomberg's PlaNYC: Landfill Solar Power and No More Dirty Heating Oil

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I’s difficult for a city like New York, with a population of more than 8 million people, to go green. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg shows difficult doesn’t mean impossible – he proves persistent in his PlaNYC project to reduce 30% carbon-gas emissions in the next 20 years.

What he plans to do exactly is embellish the garbage dumps by providing them with solar panels on top, reduce the usage of heating oils in the city and boost private initiatives to become more energy efficient. These are only some of the goals the plan wants to achieve, but they’re the most important.

Speaking of most important, the solar-panel point on the list is also the most challenging: Bloomberg wants to find a private operator to build the plant and pay a rent for the land. This way, New Yorkers would not fund the plant, but would benefit from it: if 250 acres see solar panels installed on them, then 50,000 homes will have power (50 GW). Don’t cry with joy, though: this would not be a constant thing, but only a supplement in the summertime, when demand is at its highest.

Another point the Mayor wants to check on his list is getting rid of heating oils. Apparently, this is something that needs to be done as soon as possible, because they are most polluting: “This #4 and #6 oil produces more soot pollution every year (!) than all cars and trucks in New York City combined, and is a major contributor to deadly respiratory diseases,” according to Bloomberg.

These are gloomy statistics, but the city couldn’t just wake up one day and cut on heating oil. Instead, what i’s going to do is drop them gradually while helping the buildings and neighborhoods switch to cleaner systems.

So far the plan looks pretty good, with progress being made every year: since 2005, New York has lost 13% of its greenhouse gas levels. So if it keeps up like this, difficult will not mean impossible.

[via Gothamist]

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