New York City is moving on cleaner heating fuels, solar power plants and an energy efficiency corporation. Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday added all three initiatives to his signature PlaNYC ‘s sustainability plan, which is aimed at cutting the city’s carbon-gas emissions 30% by 2030.
That begins, said the mayor, by eliminating two kinds of low-grade heating oils used by thousands of buildings throughout the city. These oils, known as Number 6 and Number 4, produce more soot than all the cars and trucks in New York City,
While I am not a fan of using product bans to stimulate change, I do like the idea of migrating heating to more efficient and cleaner solutions. Finding a productive use for brown field sites is also a welcome idea instead of leaving them to sit as eye sores.
It would be nice if the energy efficiency element of the program focused on incentives for replacing those oil systems with more efficient and cleaner combined-heat-and-power systems that could produce heat, hot water, and electricity from natural gas. Perhaps a creative person could even figure out how to combine that type of power system upgrade with charging stations for hybrid cars.
