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Executive Speeches
Remarks of Eugene W. Zeltmann, president & chief executive officer of the New York Power Authority, at the New York Aquarium, Brooklyn, New York May 15, 2002 (Introduced by Dr. Paul Boyle, aquarium director) Thank you, Dr. Boyle, and good morning. It’s great to be at the New York Aquarium on this special occasion. Given the Aquarium’s commitments to environmental protection and technological innovation, I can think of no more fitting location for a clean, efficient power source that carries so much promise for the future. We believe this is the first aquarium in the world to have a fuel cell on the premises. That’s a distinction this marvelous facility and its superb staff richly deserve. The New York Power Authority couldn’t have carried out this project without the outstanding cooperation of Dr. Boyle, Deputy Director Cynthia Reich and the Aquarium staff. Our thanks as well to a number of people in the city government and the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office, and to the U.S. Department of Energy—which has provided part of the funding for the $1.1 million project. Of course, the Power Authority itself might not be in the fuel cell business without the extraordinary leadership of Governor George Pataki. Since the Governor took office in 1995, the Power Authority has more than doubled its annual investment in energy efficiency and clean energy technologies. Fuel cells meet two of Governor Pataki’s most important objectives—cleaner air and a reliable, economical electricity supply for all New Yorkers. They’re also very much in line with the Power Authority’s efforts to work closely with our valued government customers in New York City to meet their needs. The beauty of a fuel cell is that it makes electricity through chemistry—rather than combustion. This happens when hydrogen—extracted in this case from natural gas—combines with oxygen from the air. There are virtually no emissions. The only by-products are heat and hot water. This 200-kilowatt unit can meet 20 percent of the Aquarium’s power needs. That’s electricity that doesn’t have to come from more expensive or less environmentally sensitive sources. In addition, the heat produced by this fuel cell helps to provide hot water for the Aquarium’s Osborn Laboratories. This is the Power Authority’s fourth fuel cell. One—at a wastewater treatment plant in Yonkers—is the first in the world to run on waste gas produced in the treatment process. Two others—like the Aquarium project—use natural gas and are here in the city, at the New York Police Department’s Central Park Station and North Central Bronx Hospital. As our next big step toward a cleaner, greener energy future, the Power Authority will install eight more fuel cells in the city. They’ll all be at wastewater treatment plants, with two of them next to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Like the Yonkers project, they’ll use the waste gas produced at the treatment plants, turning an old source of pollution into a new source of power. These fuel cells are part of our voluntary program to more than offset the minimal emissions from the 10 small natural-gas-fueled power plants we installed in the city last year. Those plants—as intended—have helped to prevent brownouts, blackouts and price spikes. Plus, they’ve improved air quality by displacing units that would have produced far greater emissions. The projects I’ve been talking about illustrate the Power Authority’s role in serving the City of New York under Governor Pataki’s leadership. That role, in essence, is to provide reliable, lower-cost electricity while protecting the environment. Our economical electricity powers the city’s public schools, government buildings, hospitals and museums. It lights the city’s streets and runs the subway and commuter trains. And it saves taxpayers and commuters at least a quarter of a billion dollars each year. Our energy-efficiency projects—at more than 800 public facilities—save millions of dollars more annually. They also help to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The Power Authority administered Governor Pataki’s Clean Air for Schools Program, in which old, polluting coal-burning furnaces were removed from close to 80 New York City public schools. And we’re nearing completion of a program to put new super-efficient refrigerators—which use roughly a third of the electricity of older models—into all 180,000 of the city’s public housing apartments. We recycle the old refrigerator parts, which also benefits the environment. We’ve helped to put about 200 electric or hybrid-electric vehicles on New York City streets and have installed three solar energy projects on city rooftops. And—for good measure—our low-cost electricity supplied under Governor Pataki’s Power for Jobs program and other initiatives helps to protect close to 160,000 jobs at businesses and non-profit groups in the five boroughs. The Power Authority is proud to serve New York City—and to add to that service with this fuel cell at one of the city’s premier attractions. The New York Aquarium, by playing host to this project and putting it to such excellent use, clearly is helping to advance an exciting and important technology. As I said at the start, that’s only fitting. Thank you all for joining us this morning. |
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