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New York State’s Largest Rooftop Solar Installation Ever

Posted on November 23, 2023November 23, 2023 by dishanth

New York State has taken a big renewable step forward with its largest rooftop solar installation yet. Recently, the state unveiled its largest rooftop solar project stationed atop the Medline Industries distribution center. This landmark achievement not only fortifies New York’s commitment to green energy but also serves as a beacon for other states to follow.

Tucked away at the expansive Medline Industries distribution center, this massive project is a testament to clean energy’s tangible benefits. With the capability to power an impressive 1,600 homes annually, the project is undeniably significant; it is the largest rooftop solar installation in New York state. This initiative boasts a production capacity of 7.2 megawatts to break down the numbers derived from its 17,000 solar panels.

Furthermore, the environmental implications of this largest rooftop solar installation project are profound. New York State expects to reduce its annual carbon footprint by 6,000 metric tons by harnessing the sun’s energy. To contextualize this, it’s akin to removing several thousand cars from the roads each year, paving the way for cleaner air and a healthier environment.

While individual projects like the one at Medline Industries are pivotal, they form part of a much grander scheme in New York’s green energy blueprint. Under the New York Climate Act Goal, the state has set its sights on an ambitious target: generating 6 gigawatts of solar energy by 2025. The largest rooftop solar installation in NY goes beyond just energy production—it’s about redefining the state’s relationship with power consumption and making clean energy an accessible commodity for all.

No significant venture comes to fruition without solid financial backing, especially the state’s largest rooftop solar installation. With its $8 million price tag, the Medline project required considerable investment. PowerFlex, a renowned entity in the clean energy domain, took the lead with a hefty $5 million investment. Their faith in the project’s potential was echoed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which further infused $3 million through its NY-Sun initiative. Such investments underscore the belief that sustainable projects are ecologically beneficial and economically viable.

Solar energy, while beneficial, remains elusive to many due to the upfront costs associated with panel installation and maintenance. This is where community solar projects step in as game-changers. These initiatives eliminate the need for individual households to install their own panels. Instead, they allow consumers to benefit from solar power by tapping into a shared grid, which receives energy from community-based solar installations.

By integrating solar power into the local grid, residents, irrespective of their housing situations or financial standings, can access clean energy. This communal approach democratizes solar energy access and fosters a sense of community collaboration towards a sustainable future.

New York’s endeavors in solar energy have solidified its reputation as a frontrunner in the U.S. community solar market. The statistics are telling: since 2012, the state has witnessed an astonishing 3,000% surge in solar access. Beyond the environmental accolades, this growth trajectory has ushered in economic prosperity. Over 13,400 individuals now find employment in the solar sector in New York. Additionally, as technologies and methodologies have improved, there’s been a notable 72% decrease in costs associated with solar energy, making it even more accessible.

The unveiling of Medline Industries’ largest rooftop solar installation is not merely a testament to New York State’s green ambitions; it’s a clarion call for other regions to intensify their renewable energy pursuits. As New York strengthens its renewable energy portfolio, its strategies and successes offer valuable insights for broader national and global adoption.

For stakeholders, investors, and the general public, there’s never been a more opportune time to delve deeper into the realm of solar energy. By understanding its intricacies and potential, one can contribute to and immensely benefit from the burgeoning solar sector.

Source Happy Eco News

Vattenfall and electric bike firm Cake team on ‘fossil-free’ motorcycle

Posted on October 4, 2022October 17, 2022 by dishanth

European energy giant Vattenfall and Swedish electric bike manufacturer Cake have teamed up to build an entirely “fossil-free” electric motorcycle using an innovative production process that will deliver “the cleanest dirt bike ever.”

The companies said they plan to use the project to highlight the climate impact of producing one of Cake’s Kalk OR electric off-roaders by presenting it in an 8.6 meter cube — creating a space equivalent to the CO2 emissions the bike will save.

According to the companies, the 8.6-meter cube reflects the volume of carbon emissions emitted during the production process, which comes to 637 cubic meters, equal to 1,186 kilograms of carbon dioxide, or the same amount of emissions produced from someone taking a flight from London to New York and back twice.

Vattenfall and Cake are teaming up to decarbonize the production process for Cake’s Kalk OR dirt bike. Image courtesy of Cake

In order to make the bike “fossil-free,” the companies said that they are exploring the use of alternative materials such as green aluminum, steel, plastic and rubber, as well as looking at how they can reduce the carbon emissions of the bike’s motor, battery, brakes, suspension and electronics.

Stefan Ytterborn, chief executive and founder at Cake, described “fossil-free” as a production process that has been fully decarbonized, regardless of the fuel that the bike will be running on.

“It’s unlikely that many companies are aware of the carbon footprint of their own products,” he said. “To understand and tackle our own impact, we have measured the emissions from our entire production chain for one Cake Kalk OR and started to decarbonize every step to a minimum by 2025. By doing so, our second most important contribution to the planet is to inspire other manufacturers to step up and do the same.”

Annika Ramsköld, head of corporate sustainability at Vattenfall, added that the partnership was in support of Vattenfall’s vision to enable fossil-free living within one generation, as well as showcasing its dedication to new partnerships that “inspire and break barriers.”

“This is one such project where our main contribution is the broad knowledge in fossil free solutions and electrification of industries we have acquired over decades from our own as well as other industries,” she said.

The partners said that they have been collaborating on the project since 2021 with a view to producing the first “fossil free” off-roader by 2025. They added that they have also been working with a consortium comprising Cake’s existing suppliers, as well as a number of innovative makers of alternative components and materials, which the companies said they hoped would offer the possibility of further emissions reductions.

Source GreenBiz

New York could pass the Nation’s first sustainable fashion law

Posted on January 21, 2022 by dishanth

A new bill in the state of New York could require fashion brands to disclose social and climate impacts as well as order these global companies to work toward reducing their environmental impact.

The bill, if passed, requires major fashion retailers that make over $100 million in revenue globally and operate in New York “to disclose environmental and social due diligence policies [and] establishes a community benefit fund for the purpose of implementing one or more environmental benefit projects that directly and verifiably benefit environmental justice communities,” the bill states. That includes luxury brands, like Prada and Armani, alongside fast-fashion retailers, like Shein.

Under the proposed Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act, retailers that do not disclose environmental and social policies nor work toward environmental benefit projects would face penalties of up to 2% on revenues of $450 million or higher. All fines collected from companies violating the law would go into a fund used to support projects for environmental justice.

If the new law is passed, fashion brands would need to show at least 50% of their suppliers by volume, Bloomberg reported, as well as the type and materials used to make apparel and how much of the materials are recycled. The companies must also identify impacts based on their emissions, water consumption and chemical use.

The law would also hold companies accountable for reporting wages paid to suppliers, with analyses on how that pay compares to minimum wages and living wages. All of these disclosures would need to be listed on the brands’ websites. New York’s state attorney general would then create an annual report listing any brands that do not comply with the law, and citizens could then file civil suits against the retailers.

“As a global fashion and business capital of the world, New York State has a moral responsibility to serve as a leader in mitigating the environmental and social impact of the fashion industry,” said State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, co-sponsor of the bill. Biaggi also noted that the law would make the state a leader in holding the fashion industry accountable and that the law would prioritize “labor, human rights, and environmental protections.”

As reported by The World Bank, the fashion industry is responsible for about 10% of all annual emissions globally. Fashion consumption is only speeding up, too, and experts estimate that the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions will surge 50% before the end of the decade.

The law, first introduced in October 2021, is currently in committee..

Source Eco Watch

Rare orchids to flood resilience: How can green roofs help to tackle the climate and nature crisis?

Posted on June 28, 2021June 28, 2021 by dishanth

Eleven stories high in the heart of the City of London, there is a hidden haven for wildlife. Around 159 species of plants are flourishing on the rooftop of Nomura, a Japanese bank. By day, orchids, daisies and wild herbs provide food to 17 species of bees. At night, the bright yellow flowers of mullein plants bloom in the moonlight, tempting London’s moths.

It is here that an orchid thought to be extinct in the UK was recently discovered growing among the roof’s solar panels. The small-flowered tongue orchid – so named because its flowers resemble protruding tongues – has only been found growing wild in the UK once before, in 1989.

It’s still a mystery how the orchids made it onto the roof, though ecologist Mark Patterson, who manages the bank’s 10-year-old rooftop garden, suspects that the flowers’ seeds hitched a ride on winds blowing over from the Sahara.

“Orchid seeds are as small as specks of dust,” he tells The Independent. “So my theory is they blew over before establishing themselves.” On the Friday morning when The Independent visited Nomura’s green roof, he was collecting leaves from the flowers to send to experts at Kew Gardens. “They’re going to analyse the DNA from the samples. That might be able to tell us what region the seeds originated from,” he explains.

A colony of small-flowered tongue orchids (centre and right) were discovered on a London rooftop after not being seen in the UK since 1989. SOURCE: Daisy Dunne

Nomura’s green roof is one of 700 spread across central London, with the capital boasting more such idylls than other parts of the country. According to the Greater London Authority, a “green roof” is a “a roof or deck where vegetation or habitat for wildlife is deliberately established”.

As well as providing a safe space for rare wildlife, building green roofs in cities can offer a host of other benefits, ranging from improving local air quality to helping build resilience against worsening extreme weather events, says Dr Michael Hardman, a senior lecturer in urban geography at the University of Salford.

“There’s clear evidence out there that green roofs can mitigate against things like the urban heat island effect and flood events,” he tells The Independent. “In terms of climate change, they are definitely an important tool.”

The “urban heat island effect” is a term for how cities are typically hotter than rural areas. Major UK cities, such as London, Manchester and Birmingham, can at times be up to 5C hotter than their surrounding rural areas, research shows. The effect is caused by a combination of densely packed buildings and roads, which trap in heat, as well as air pollution, industrial activity and high amounts of energy use by homeowners.

Research shows that the urban heat island effect is likely to intensify in UK cities as the planet continues to warm.

Green roofs can help to tackle urban heat by providing a local cooling service. This is largely because plants naturally absorb water through their roots and later release it into the air as moisture, which has a cooling effect on the surrounding area.

At Nomura’s rooftop garden, this cooling effect is largely enough to allow the bank to cut back on the use of air conditioning in the summer, Mr Patterson says. “If all the buildings in this area had green roofs, it would probably reduce the temperature on a hot day by a degree or two,” he adds.

Tortoiseshell butterflies are one of many insects found on Nomura’s green roof. SOURCE: Mark Patterson

The bank’s green roof also plays a role in reducing flood risk in the city. “Every inch of soil you have on a green roof absorbs five per cent more water, so that’s five per cent less water that’s running off into drains,” he says.

A study conducted in Newcastle in 2016 found that a “city-wide deployment of green roofs” could reduce travel disruption from flooding by around a quarter. The authors of the research say that green roofs, along with more traditional defences such as flood walls, must be part of plans to cope with more extreme downpours.

The need to prepare for worsening heatwaves and floods in the UK is greater than ever. Earlier this month, the UK’s independent climate advisory group, the Climate Change Committee, warned that the country is now less prepared for the climate crisis than it was five years ago as a result of government inaction in the face of rising risks.

Increasing the number of green spaces in cities will be key to helping the country’s urban populations cope with increasing heat and worse floods, according to their assessment.

Despite recognising the benefits of green roofs, the UK is currently behind other countries when it comes to building them, says Dr Hardman.

“We need to look to countries, like Denmark, which have both the financial incentives and the planning incentives,” he says. “In Denmark, if a building’s slope angle is under a certain amount, it’s actually mandatory to put a green roof on. We need to be more innovative with our policies.”

He added that, at present, not enough is being done to ensure that the social benefits of green roofs can be accessed by disadvantaged groups.

“All the green roofs in Manchester that I know of are very inaccessible, they are closed to the public and you need a health and safety person to take you up there,” he says. “To me that’s a huge barrier to green roofs. The social benefits just aren’t there at the moment, as they are for other types of green infrastructure like parks”.

Source Independent

New York bans mini toiletry bottles from hotels, saving tons of plastic from the ocean

Posted on June 2, 2021June 2, 2021 by dishanth

The State of New York has passed legislation that will eliminate millions of single-use plastic toiletry bottles from hotels. Bills S543 and A5082—led by State Senator Todd Kaminsky and Assemblymember Steve Englebright—prohibit hotels and motels from providing single-use plastic toiletry bottles smaller than 12 ounces in guest rooms. The hotels are expected to switch to larger, refillable dispensers, thereby reducing both the amount of unused liquids discarded and the amount of plastic waste generated during every guest visit. The new laws take effect January 1, 2024 for all hotels with more than 50 rooms and one year later for all smaller hotels.

Approximately 8 to 10 million tons of plastic ends up in the world’s oceans every year where it threatens marine life. In recent years, reports and images of suffering animals have flooded the Internet, many showing whales with stomachs full of plastic, turtles with plastic straws stuck in their nostrils, and fish wrapped in plastic six-pack rings. A famous photo posted to Instagram in 2017 showed a seahorse off Indonesia clutching a plastic swab in his/her tail.

“Reducing single-use plastics is vital in the fight against the climate crisis—plastic is a major source of carbon emissions and a financial anchor to the fossil fuel industry. This new law tackles the ever-growing problem associated with plastic waste and will prevent tens of millions of plastic bottles from becoming a waste burden in New York every year,” Eric A. Goldstein, Senior Attorney and New York City Environment Director at Natural Resources Defense Council, said. “The Kaminsky-Englebright toiletry bottle ban legislation is a step forward in its own right and emblematic of emerging efforts to break away from all throw-away plastics made from fossil fuels.”

Hotel chains ditch single-use plastic

Once it is signed into law, New York will become the second state in the nation to enact such a ban. In 2019, the State of California enacted a ban on single-use plastic toiletry bottles, set to take effect beginning in 2023.

In recent years, several large hotel chains have begun embracing reusable alternatives. In 2019, Marriott, the world’s largest hotel chain, committed to stop its use of plastic mini toiletry bottles in all of its 7,000 properties by December 2020. The company estimates that it will prevent around 500 million small bottles, or 1.7 million pounds, of plastic waste every year. The announcement followed a similar commitment by InterContinental Hotels Group, which owns the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza chains, as well as Walt Disney Co. and Hyatt Hotels.

By Nicole Axworthy

Source Veg News

Biden boosts offshore wind energy, wants to power 10 million homes

Posted on March 30, 2021March 30, 2021 by dishanth

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is moving to sharply increase offshore wind energy along the East Coast, saying Monday it is taking initial steps toward approving a huge wind farm off the New Jersey coast as part of an effort to generate electricity for more than 10 million homes nationwide by 2030.

Meeting the target could mean jobs for more than 44,000 workers and for 33,000 others in related employment, the White House said. The effort also would help avoid 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, a key step in the administration’s fight to slow global warming.

President Joe Biden “believes we have an enormous opportunity in front of us to not only address the threats of climate change, but use it as a chance to create millions of good-paying, union jobs that will fuel America’s economic recovery,” said White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy. “Nowhere is the scale of that opportunity clearer than for offshore wind.”

The administration’s commitment to the still untapped industry “will create pathways to the middle class for people from all backgrounds and communities,” she added. “We are ready to rock-and-roll.”

The administration said it intends to prepare a formal environmental analysis for the Ocean Wind project off New Jersey. That would move Ocean Wind toward becoming the third commercial-scale offshore wind project in the U.S.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it is targeting offshore wind projects in shallow waters between Long Island and the New Jersey coast. A recent study shows the area can support up to 25,000 development and construction jobs by 2030, Interior said.

The ocean energy bureau said it will push to sell commercial leases in the area in late 2021 or early 2022.

The administration also pledged to invest $230 million to upgrade U.S. ports and provide up to $3 billion in loan guarantees for offshore wind projects through the Energy Department’s recently revived clean-energy loan program.

“It is going to be a full-force gale of good-paying, union jobs that lift people up,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Ocean Wind, 15 miles off the coast of southern New Jersey, is projected to produce about 1,100 megawatts a year, enough to power 500,000 homes, once it becomes operational in 2024.

The Interior Department has previously announced environmental reviews for Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts and South Fork wind farm about 35 miles east of Montauk Point in Long Island, N.Y. Vineyard Wind is expected to produce about 800 megawatts of power and South Fork about 132 megawatts.

Biden has vowed to double offshore wind production by 2030 as part of his effort to slow climate change. The likely approval of the Atlantic Coast projects — the leading edge of at least 16 offshore wind projects along the East Coast — marks a sharp turnaround from the Trump administration, which stymied wind power both onshore and in the ocean.

As president, Donald Trump frequently derided wind power as an expensive, bird-slaughtering way to make electricity, and his administration resisted or opposed wind projects nationwide, including Vineyard Wind. The developer of the Massachusetts project temporarily withdrew its application late last year in a bid to stave off possible rejection by the Trump administration. Biden provided a fresh opening for the project after taking office in January.

“For generations, we’ve put off the transition to clean energy and now we’re facing a climate crisis,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, whose department oversees offshore wind.

“As our country faces the interlocking challenges of a global pandemic, economic downturn, racial injustice and the climate crisis, we have to transition to a brighter future for everyone,” Haaland said.

Vineyard Wind is slated to become operational in 2023, with Ocean Wind following a year later.

Despite the enthusiasm, offshore wind development is still in its infancy in the U.S., far behind progress made in Europe. A small wind farm operates near Block Island in waters controlled by the state of Rhode Island, and another small wind farm operates off the coast of Virginia.

The three major projects under development are all owned by European companies or subsidiaries. Vineyard Wind is a joint project of a Danish company and a U.S. subsidiary of the Spanish energy giant, Iberdrola. Ocean Wind and South Fork are led by the Danish company, Orsted.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday it is signing an agreement with Orsted to share data about U.S. waters where the company holds leases. The data should aid NOAA’s ocean-mapping efforts and help it advance climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, the agency said. NOAA also will spend $1 million to study the impacts of offshore wind operations on fishing operators and coastal communities.

Wind developers are poised to create tens of thousands of jobs and generate more than $100 billion in new investment by 2030, “but the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management must first open the door to new leasing,″ said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association.

Not everyone is cheering the rise of offshore wind. Fishing groups from Maine to Florida have expressed fear that large offshore wind projects could render huge swaths of the ocean off-limits to their catch.

Source US News

New York’s plastic ban begins on March 1st

Posted on March 4, 2020March 3, 2020 by dishanth

A year after New York passed a ban on grocery store plastic bags — the law is going into effect on March 1st 2020.
Retailers violating the ban will first receive a warning, followed by a $250 fine, leading to a $500 fine.

Nearly one year after New York became the second state in the nation to pass a ban on grocery store plastic bags — the law is going into effect on Sunday.

In accordance with the budge bill passed last year, New York State retailers will be banned from doling out single-use plastic bags, starting on March 1. California and Hawaii already have their ban in place and now New York is one of eight states inching toward implementing the ban, as Gothamist reported.

York is one of eight states inching toward implementing the ban.
Image: National Conference of State Legislatures

Some New York municipalities will also charge a five-cent fee for people who want a plastic bag, though that fee will be waived for customers using food stamps to make their purchases. The five cents will be used as a tax, with two cents going to local governments, and three cents going to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund, as the New York Post reported.

The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, tweeted when the ban was first set to pass, “Plastic bags have blighted our environment and clogged our waterways. By banning them, we will protect our natural resources for future generations of New Yorkers,” as EcoWatch reported.

Now Cuomo is looking forward to seeing the bags gone.

“It’s no doubt that this is smart; you see these bags all over the place,” Cuomo, who added that the bags hang in trees like “bizarre Christmas ornaments,” said as WRVO Public Media reported. “I’ve been 30 miles out in the ocean and you see garbage floating and plastic bags floating. It’s terrible.”

The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has recently increased its efforts in recent days to help New Yorkers understand the new rules. The department has run ads on social media and videos on its website and YouTube channel, according to WRVO Public Media. The DEC is also distributing 270,000 reusable bags to low and middle-income families to help them ease into the transition.

The plastic bag ban will apply to all retailers that collect sales tax, including grocery stores and bodegas. The DEC claims that currently more than 23 billion plastic bags are used each year and only for 12 minutes, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, as the New York Post reported.

There are exceptions to the ban. According to Gothamist, plastic bags can still be used for:

Uncooked animal products or other non-prepackaged food
Flowers, plants, or other items that require plastic to avoid contamination, prevent damage, or for health purposes
Bulk packaging of fruits, vegetables, grains, candy, hardware products like nuts, bolts, and screws, live insects like crickets, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, or other items that require a waterproof bag
Sliced food or food prepared to order
Newspapers for subscribers
Prepackaged plastic bags sold in bulk, such as garbage bags, sandwich bags, or bags used for pet poop pick-up
Dry-cleaner or laundry service clothing bags
Pharmacy bags for prescription drugs

While the law goes into effect on Sunday, the DEC will actually not enforce it for a few more months as stores and customers adapt to their plastic bag-free shopping. Once it does enforce the law, retailers violating the ban will first receive a warning, followed by a $250 fine, leading to a $500 fine for subsequent violations in the same calendar year, as Gothamist reported.

Environmental advocates are pleased with the ban, but worry about a loophole that allows for thicker types of plastic bags. While they are not yet commercially made, environmental advocates worry the plastic bag industry will start to manufacture the thicker type of plastic bags.

“It was most unfortunate,” Judith Enck, who runs Beyond Plastics at Bennington College and worked at the EPA under President Obama, said to WRVO Public Media. “Why even open the door to that?”

Written by

Jordan Davidson, ,

This article is published in collaboration with EcoWatch

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.