Renewable Energy
St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project
- hydroelectric generating facility on the
St. Lawrence River in NYS
(Photo courtesy of New York Power Authority)
Renewable resources -- wind, water power, solar, geothermal and biomass - already meet approximately 11 percent of New York's projected primary energy needs, and could come close to 40 percent as early as the end of the decade, according to the Renewable Energy Assessment of the 2009 State Energy Plan (link at right).
Substituting renewable energy for fossil fuels can mean crucial benefits for New Yorkers:
- Significantly lower emissions: With life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions only a fraction of those from fossil fuels, renewable energy technologies are essential to stabilize atmospheric GHG levels worldwide. Locally, reducing air pollution from fossil fuel combustion will improve public health.
- Accessible, reliable, affordable energy: Renewable energy can help to reduce net retail electricity prices and fuel price volatility. Renewable technologies can help balance the electric grid (think solar power on hot, sunny days). Small-scale renewables can meet certain energy needs cheaply and simply.
- Economic prosperity: Local economies keep more of the dollars spent for renewable energy than for fossil fuels. Stable, well-paid jobs in grid-scale renewables can help sustain local economies. Growing markets for renewable technologies play to New York's technical, industrial, commercial and financial strengths.
Deploying renewable energy presents technological and institutional challenges, along with significant opportunities. In particular, the project of integrating renewable energy sources into existing energy supplies and end use sectors could lead to important new products and systems. Only renewables have virtually untapped potential to deliver non-polluting energy that meets the needs of growing populations and economies.
Today's Renewable Energy Picture in New York
Solar panels generate electricity on a roof in the
New York City metro area
The 2009 New York State Energy Plan Renewable Energy Assessment contains the most up to date and comprehensive description of New York's renewable energy use and potential. (The 2013 plan is now under development. New Yorkers can sign up through the 2009 and 2013 NYS Energy Plans link at right to receive information as the planning process moves forward.)
Renewable Energy Use
In 2007 (the last year for which figures are currently available), approximately 28,067 gigawatt hours or 16.8 percent of the state's total electricity generation came from renewable sources. Nine-tenths of this was generated by conventional hydropower, with small amounts from biomass (5.6 percent), wind (3.1 percent) and biogas (1.3 percent). New York also has seen modest adoption of solar photovoltaic electricity and of solar thermal and geothermal technologies for space heat and hot water in homes and other buildings.
State Policies Promote Renewables
Several important state policies are specifically targeted to promote adoption of renewable technologies and development of renewable energy sources:
Renewable Portfolio Standard
The state Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) has a goal of at least 30 percent of renewable electricity by 2015 (sometimes referred to as '30 x 15'). Renewable electricity generators compete for state production incentives and, in exchange, guarantee delivery of renewable electricity to ratepayers. RPS provisions and performance are described in the Renewable Energy Assessment.
Renewable Energy Incentives
State government offers grants and loans to help New Yorkers adopt renewable energy technologies or develop renewable energy businesses. The NYS Energy Research and Development Authority offers renewable energy incentives and opportunities for individuals, businesses and institutions. (See NYSERDA link at right.)
Renewable Energy Roadmap
This comprehensive policy roadmap for increasing renewable energy generation, developed about five years ago, recommends significantly greater development of solar energy, along with business incentives to attract renewable energy technology firms, statutory changes that allow companies to produce their own distributed forms of energy and development of a "green collar" workforce for the renewables industry.
Net Metering
The state's recently-adopted net metering law makes it easier for residences and businesses to use solar photovoltaic (PV) technology. Under net metering, homes, businesses, farms and institutions can feed excess electricity generated by renewable technologies such as photovoltaics, wind, biomass, fuel cells, anaerobic digestion, small hydroelectric and microturbines back into the electric power grid and receive credit from their power suppliers.
Executive Order 111
Three of the turbines being
installed here will provide 40
percent of the power used
regularly at Union College's
athletic complex in Schenectady.
EO 111 sets forth an energy purchasing goal to meet 20 percent of the annual electricity requirement of buildings occupied by state agencies through renewable technologies.
New York's Renewable Energy Industry
New York's clean energy leadership is underscored by its growing renewable energy industry. When the 2009 State Energy Plan was compiled, more than 50 companies in the state manufactured renewable energy technologies or related products; more than 90 New York companies were certified to install solar-photovoltaic systems, and several corn-based and advanced cellulosic ethanol plants and numerous ethanol and biodiesel distributors and retailers were located in the state.
Since the assessment was published, battery storage technology research has been initiated in New York and the General Electric Company has dedicated its Renewable Energy Global Headquarters here. The 2013 State Energy Plan will include an updated description of renewable energy research and manufacturing in New York.
For a report examining the implications of renewable energy for rural communities and economies, see Transitioning to Renewable Energy: Development Opportunities and Concerns for Rural America, available from Cornell Cooperative Extension Community and Regional Development Institute (CARDI), link at right.
Primary energy refers to energy forms found in nature that have not been subjected to any conversion or transformation process, such as energy contained in raw fuels.
Watt is a measure of how much electricity a generator can produce, so it is used to express the capacity of power sources, usually in megawatts (million watts), or gigawatts (billion watts).
Watt-hour measures electric power, or the rate at which electric energy is generated or consumed. A watt-hour means one kilowatt of power generated or used for one hour. Electric companies usually bill consumer electric use by the kilowatt-hour (1,000 watt-hours); megawatt-hours or gigawatt-hours would be used for large amounts of power, such as annual power generation or consumption for states and nations.
More about Renewable Energy:
- Solar Energy in New York - Information about incentives for solar energy installations and programs for educating children about solar energy
- Water and Tidal Power - Information about hydropower and energy generated by tidal action
- Biofuels - Information about biofuels, including the benefits of using biofuels as well as the concerns associated with them
- Geothermal Energy - Information about using the temperature of the earth for heating and cooling
- Wind Power - Information about wind energy's development as an important component of New York's clean renewable energy initiative and the state's ability to achieve the RPS described above
