A New Green Industry is Popping up to reduce Environmental Hazards
April 20, 2009 by Megan Hahn
Filed under Pollution
Unless you were to scratch and sniff a newly patched pothole, you wouldn’t necessarilyrealize what a dirty little business it is to mend the road ruptures.
You also might not know that a new “green” industry is popping up to reduce environmental hazards, while resulting in pothole repairs that are durable and cost-effective, according to satisfied customers at highway departments in other regions of the U.S.
Traditional cold-patch asphalt mixtures, which are used in winter to fill potholes, consist primarily of stone, sand, a liquid to bond the ingredients as well as petroleum products and other substances that are known human carcinogens.
Thousands of gallons of diesel fuel, kerosene, naphthalene and other petroleum derivatives run off into the environment or evaporate into the air when the coldmix asphalt hardens. The toxic substances are needed to keep the patching material pliable while it is being placed into potholes and tamped down to bond with the existing pavement.
Looking for a cleaner way to go, some transportation agencies are monitoring experiments with alternative materials in other cold-weather climates in the hope of reducing emissions of pollutants to safeguard public health, animals and plants.
At least three manufacturers of cold-mix asphalt that contains safe, biodegradable materials instead of traditional oil-based chemicals approached Chicago officials over the winter offering samples for the city to test.
“This is the first year we have been contacted by the ‘green’ manufacturers,” said Brian Steele, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Transportation.
One ton of conventional cold-mix asphalt contains about 5 gallons of petroleum derivatives on average, according to industry experts. Some of it runs off into sewers, seeps into the ground near roads, leeches into lakes and other waterways or evaporates.
In Chicago last winter, about 400,000 potholes were filled from December 2007 through April, according to CDOT.
That means an estimated 43,000 gallons of petroleum derivatives were “spilled on Chicago streets,” said Warren Day, chief of quality control and product development at Cofire Industries, a Flushing, N.Y., company producing a new environmentally friendly cold asphalt mixture.
Day based his calculation of 43,000 gallons of fuel products used on CDOT disclosing that it put down 8,600 tons of conventional cold-mix asphalt during the five-month period.
Cofire’s product, called GreenPatch, uses biodegradable plantbased solvents instead of fuel, said Glenn Shapiro, chief of product development and marketing.
New York City and others on the East Coast have awarded Cofire contracts to provide GreenPatch.
“We got the New York contract strictly because we were the low bidder, not because GreenPatch is better for the environment,” Shapiro said, adding that GreenPatch has a low vapor pressure, which minimizes the production of ozone.
Consolidated Edison Co. of New York has been using GreenPatch for six months to repair pavement that was cut for utility work, officials said.
“I was very suspect at first, but it sets up beautifully and stands up to Manhattan traffic as well as the stuff we used in the past,” said Mark Sullivan, field operations planner for Con Edison.
“The cost is about the same, maybe a dollar more per bag. But for a buck more to save the environment? It’s a home run. We are developing a pilot program to make GreenPatch our stock material,” Sullivan said.
LIPA and Con Edison to Move Forward with Plans for Major Offshore Wind Initiative
April 7, 2009 by Administrator
Filed under Energy Conservation News
Governor Paterson Commends LIPA and Con Edison for Leadership on Renewable Energy Initiative May be the Country’s Largest Offshore Wind Project
Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) President and CEO Kevin S. Law and Consolidated Edison (Con Edison) Chairman and CEO Kevin Burke have announced that their public-private partnership is moving forward with plans for a new phase of study on a major offshore wind farm.
A joint feasibility study released today by the two utilities concluded that an interconnection of up to 700 MW of wind power, located at least 13 miles off the Rockaway Peninsula in the Atlantic Ocean, would be feasible with upgrades to their respective transmission systems.
The proposed “LIPA/Con Edison Offshore Wind Farm” would likely be designed for 350 MW of generation, with the ability to expand it to 700 MW, giving it the potential to be the largest offshore wind proposal in the country. The concept for the offshore wind project emanates from New York State Governor David A. Paterson’s Renewable Energy Task Force and is consistent with the Governor’s “45 by 15″ program, which establishes the goal for the State to meet 45 percent of its electricity needs through improved energy efficiency and renewable sources by the year 2015. LIPA and Con Edison have also filed an application to interconnect the offshore wind project with the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) for up to 1400 MW by 2020, which would permit a future expansion beyond the 700 MW.
“As a state and as a nation, we must find alternative solutions to traditional fossil fuel sources. By taking advantage of the natural resources that New York has to offer, we will position ourselves to be the national leader in renewable and alternative energy as our economy emerges from the current crisis,” said Governor David A. Paterson. “LIPA and Con Edison have partnered to take a lead role in wind power, successfully completing the first phase of this joint partnership with their study of the technical aspects of connecting off-shore wind energy to the state’s electricity system.”
“I am strongly encouraged by the preliminary analysis which demonstrates a large offshore wind project can work in our service territory,” said LIPA President and CEO Kevin S. Law. “As a member of Governor Paterson’s Renewable Energy Task Force, I remain committed to not only continue with the next phase of the process, but also to bring this wind project to fruition if we can make it cost effective for our customers.”
“We are committed to helping the state meet its renewable energy goals, while continuing to support efforts that provide a clean environment for our customers,” said Con Edison Chairman and CEO Kevin Burke. “An offshore wind farm would be an exciting project for New York, and we will work closely with federal, state and municipal leaders to move this process along in a responsible way.”
The formation of the Con Edison and LIPA interdisciplinary working group was announced by the Governor last fall with a goal of studying, among other things, suitable locations for an offshore wind project, transmission and interconnection capabilities, and the availability of wind as an energy source. The information gathered was used to provide a better understanding of the opportunities for such a project and, if feasible, the development of jointly issued request for proposals whereby both utilities could share the cost of the project, as well as the power it generates.
As the second phase begins for the wind project, LIPA and Con Edison will work with the state, the New York Power Authority, New York City, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and the Port Authority to issue a request for expressions of interest (RFEI) for off-shore wind development. The RFEI serves as a precursor to a Request for Proposals (RFP) to be issued later this year. It is anticipated that other interested state and city agencies will be invited to participate in the project’s next phase and/or the RFP process.
Additional next steps include:
- creation of a joint LIPA/Con Edison Web site to keep the wind industry, communities and stakeholders informed of the project’s progress; and
- working with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to develop a Meteorological Tower to assess wind strength in the proposed project location.
In addition, both utilities will begin another round of due diligence that will concentrate on the economics and feasibility of the actual offshore wind farm, including: determining if there is sufficient wind resources to meet the scope of the project; an avian (bird impacts) study, further environmental impacts, economic costs, community impact and the potential number of jobs the project could create.
The offshore wind-power working group marks the first regional partnership project between LIPA and Con Edison.
A copy of the interconnect study may be obtained by following either of the following links:
http://www.lipower.org/newscenter/pr/2009/032009-windstudy.pdf
