Major cities around the world keep impressing us with incredible initiatives and long term commitments to sustainability and renewable energy. The latest comes from New York City, where the Mayor’s office has committed to installing rooftop solar panels on 24 public schools, no later than 2016.
New York City is only one of the many metropolitans around the world that have made ambitious plans for eco-friendly future. What makes it stand out, however, is that NYC’s projects are always within reach and involve the whole community. Following the brilliant and numerous waste disposal and recycling initiatives, now it is time for NYC to conquer yet another sector- that of solar.
The city Mayor Bill de Blasio released a statement, promising to install $23 million-worth of solar panels on public school rooftops, which will produce 6.25MW of clean solar energy as early as in 2016. The initiative is part of two much bigger plans, one to install solar panels on 300 public and many more private properties, which will generate a total of 350MW of clean energy in the coming decade, and second to cut down the emissions of the city by the incredible 80% by year 2050.
There are already 9 schools and 19 other buildings in the city that have been equipped with solar panels through this program. According to the statistics, each school is generating the modest 5% of the energy that it consumes. Yes, the number does sound quite small, but it is a major step forward.
As de Blasio states in his speach, the panels are not only contributing to the total clean energy production of the country, but they also serve as an example to youngsters. He also states that together with the investors and the partners from the state government, the city is getting much closer to reaching the seemingly over-ambitious goals.
Promoting clean energy technology is best done through schools, where kids are actively involved. After all, it is their future that we should be most concerned about. With such great initiatives, we actually help children learn from our mistakes, and show them that we are trying to fix the damage we have already done. Other cities should definitely take example.
Image (c) Reuters
