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He cautioned, however, that conventional generating sources “have already begun to bump into fuel-supply constraints or possibly even to threaten the global environment” and called for greater resource diversity “to combat these limitations to the benefits of ever-wider global electrification.”

To that end, EPRI has provided support for a number of Power Authority projects, including the world’s first commercial fuel-cell power plant to run on a gas produced as a byproduct of wastewater treatment, in Yonkers.

“Renewable energy is already beginning to ameliorate power generation’s environmental impacts as well as the economic disruptions caused by over-reliance on traditional fuels,” Yeager said. “Not only do renewable technologies have little or no fuel costs, providing a hedge against the price volatility of traditional resources, but they are also much more uniformly distributed around the globe, abundant and, in many cases, very close to potential load centers, thus reducing costs of transmission and distribution.”

He said limitations of some of today’s renewable-energy technologies are being steadily resolved through technical progress.

“These technologies’ inherent lack of harmful effluents, potential for cost reductions and outstanding flexibility—coupled with the continued application of human ingenuity and commercial experience—can be expected to tip the balance decisively in favor of their widespread use over the coming decades,” Yeager said.

ENERGY FROM LANDFILLS...

The Power Authority launched a major initiative in 2002 to capture the energy in gases that are produced by solid waste or are byproducts of wastewater treatment.

Such gases are free, readily available and, if used to generate electricity instead of being flared into the air, the only renewable energy sources that directly reduce pollution.

In the Town of Colonie, north of Albany, NYPA is working with local officials on plans for a $5million “green energy” project to harness greenhouse gases, primarily methane and carbon dioxide, from the town’s landfill. Opened in the early 1960s, the landfill currently collects and flares about 600 million cubic feet per year of landfill gas (LFG), enough to produce about 3,000 kilowatts (kw) of electricity.

The power will be generated by three reciprocating-engine generators, which will be installed by NYPA and owned and operated by the town.

The Power Authority more than quadrupled funding—to $26 million—for its LFG Power Generation Program in 2002. Also as part of the program, NYPA studies have shown the feasibility of waste-to-energy projects at landfills in several Central and Northern New York counties, and studies in other areas are planned.

The LFG projects are right in step with NYPA’s efforts to develop clean, technologically advanced renewable energy sources that will lessen the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. In the spirit of the green-power requirements set by Gov. George E. Pataki, the Power Authority’s program also recognizes the need to assist municipalities.

...AND WASTEWATER PLANTS
The promise of fuel cells as an environmentally friendly power source—even as a replacement for the internal combustion engine—has increasingly attracted attention.

The Power Authority began tapping the potential of the technology in 1997, when NYPA developed the first commercial fuel-cell power plant to run on a gas produced in wastewater treatment.

The project, at the Westchester County Joint Wastewater Treatment Plant in Yonkers, captures the energy in anaerobic digester gas (ADG), primarily a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide, to produce electricity through a virtually emission-free chemical reaction without combustion.

Building on that effort, NYPA in 2001 announced a program to install and operate eight ADG-powered fuel cell power plants at New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) wastewater treatment plants in the Bronx and Brooklyn and on Staten Island.

When completed in 2003, the eight facilities together will be the world’s largest ADG-based fuel-cell installation.

Some 17 New York State suppliers of fuel cell components will contribute to the project, ensuring a prominent role for the state in the further development of the technology.

Each year, the DEP fuel cells will eliminate close to 9,800 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, produce 1,600 kw of renewable electricity and generate thermal energy for use by the wastewater facilities.

The Power Authority ranks among the nation’s leading developers of fuel cell technology, generating over 10 million kilowatt-hours through 2002 at the Yonkers facility and natural gas fuel-cell power plants at the New York Police Department’s Central Park precinct, North Central Bronx Hospital and the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn.

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