Borough Proposal For NYC Public Schools To Use Rooftop Solar Power To Lower Energy Costs

Public school rooftops in New York City are a vast untapped resource for generating solar power that could be used to lower yearly city energy costs by millions of dollars, according to a new report by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.                  

Tom’s River, N.J. regional school powered by solar energy. New Jersey government policies have created renewable energy credits that have spurred public-private partnerships for solar projects. These policies are being looked at by New York State legislators as possible models for similar future initiatives. Photo courtesy of Mathew Engle, Science and Technology Advocate.

Under the current system – using fossil fuel – the New York Department of City Administrative Services is expected to allocate $240 million, or 27.5 percent of the city’s municipal electricity budget to meet the electricity demands of buildings within the Department of Education for fiscal year 2012, said the report.

The borough president’s report estimates that with about 21 million square feet of usable public school rooftop space for solar panels, “the city could increase its solar energy by an estimated 2,507 percent.”

Using information from the City University of New York’s NYC Solar Map, the report also showed that even the solar installation on a partial number school rooftops in the city (1,094 public school buildings) could “host 169.46 megawatts of clean, renewable electricity and eliminate 76,696 tons of carbon from the air each year – the equivalent of planting over 400,000 trees.”

The NYC Solar Map is an interactive online tool that allows users to estimate the solar energy potential for every building in the city’s five boroughs by putting in an address.

The map also highlights existing solar installations; displays real-time solar energy production citywide; and allows users to estimate the costs, incentives, and payback period for an investment in solar power.

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Energy Kids Online Platform Revamped For More Interactive Learning and Fun

Graphic courtesy of Mineral Mangement Services Kids’ Page.

In all its forms, energy is what makes the world go ‘round. An amazing fact, but for most kids it’s a big yawn unless they can see how it relates to their own lives in fun and interesting ways.

This was the catalyst idea behind the redesigning of the Energy Information Administration’s Energy Kids website. “We’re making energy fun so young people develop an understanding of energy and its increasingly important role in our daily lives, economy, and environment,” said Richard Newman, EIA administrator.

Among its plethora of components, the site has a basics section that branches energy into its different forms, including: heat, light, motion, electrical, chemical, nuclear, and gravitation. Also, for today’s eco-conscious world, there is considerable information about renewable energy.

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Grants For Training the Green Workforce of the Future

Stock graphic.

WASHINGTON, D.C.- The United States Department of Labor has just announced the availability of several new grants totaling about $500 million to fund projects that prepare workers for green jobs in the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.

The grant programs being offered are primarily for organizations, companies, and government agencies that would like to the opportunity to train groups of people for the jobs in green industries.

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$750 Million to the National Parks Creating Jobs in a Variety of Fields

At the Dinosaur National Monument and Quarry, visitors can watch paleontologists remove fossils in a three-story glass building attached to a mountain, according to Dinosaurland KAO, Vernal, UT. Photo courtesy of Dinosaurland KAO.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congress has directed $750 million toward national park infrastructures projects through the Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C..

“Investments in national park infrastructure will help to improve safety and public access; restore our national heritage; and bring immediate economic benefits—including thousands of new jobs in rural and urban communities nationwide,” said Karen Hevel-Mingo, Southwest regional program manager of the National Parks Conservation Association, Washington, D.C.

Nearly 800 projects are planned, which the National Parks Service, Washington, D.C., plans to use to create jobs in areas including: construction, deferred maintenance, energy efficiency equipment replacement, trails maintenance, abandoned mine lands safety projects, and road maintenance.

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Obama Signs Multifaceted Legislation Covering Land, Water, and Paralysis

Little River Canyon National Preserve will benefit. Photo Courtesy of National Parks Traveler.

WASHINGTON, D.C.- President Barack Obama has signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, incorporating 150 bills that cover legislative matters including: designating 2 million acres of new wilderness areas, authorizing the various Bureau of Reclamation water projects and water settlements, and creating The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act.

Among the president’s remarks at the signing of the bill, he said, “This landmark bill will protect millions of acres of Federal land as wilderness, protect more than 1,000 miles of river through the National Wilderness and Scenic River System, and designate thousands of miles of trails for the National Trails System.

“This legislation also makes progress for which millions of Americans have long waited on another front. The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act is the first piece of comprehensive legislation aimed at improving the lives of Americans living with paralysis.”

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