pollution
Air pollution
High cancer risk from airborne chemicals
According to the most recent Environmental Protection Agency National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment study, residents of New York County, NY (Manhattan), have the third highest cancer risk caused by airborne chemicals of all counties in the United States (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands), following only Tippah County, Mississippi (highest risk), and Boyd County, Kentucky (second highest risk). Bronx and Kings Counties rank 8th and 9th out of the 3223 counties and county-equivalents in the United States. Queens County ranks 13th nationwide.
Particle pollution.
The 2009 annual report of the American Lung Association ranks the New York City region as 22nd among the top 25 regions in the United States most affected by year-round particle pollution, and 17th of the top 25 most ozone-polluted cities.
The city has made efforts to reduce particle pollution with measures like fitting catalytic converters to the exhausts of diesel city buses.
Emissions management.
New York has the largest hybrid bus fleet in the country, and some of the first hybrid taxis. A large percentage of the city-owned vehicle fleet, including the personal cars of top city officials, are required since 2005 to be fuel efficient hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius or Honda Accord gas-electric sedan that produce minimal particulates and carbon dioxide emissions. In 2005 the city's vehicle fleet had 6,000 alternative fuel and 70 electric vehicles. A bio diesel processing plant will soon open in Brooklyn that will process 2.5 million US gallons (9,500 m3) of bio diesel a year and distribute it to conventional gas stations in the city.
The Department of Sanitation, which has 1,500 trucks of its 2,200-vehicle fleet on the streets each day, is working with truck manufacturers to introduce gas-electric hybrid garbage trucks. The Department switched to using low-sulfur fuel in 2001 and uses corn-based ethanol in 500 of its 1,500 light-duty trucks.
New York City has more than 2,000 hybrid taxis as of mid 2009, more than any other city in North America.
Air pollution is an ongoing political issue in neighborhoods that contain bus depots.
High cancer risk from airborne chemicals
According to the most recent Environmental Protection Agency National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment study, residents of New York County, NY (Manhattan), have the third highest cancer risk caused by airborne chemicals of all counties in the United States (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands), following only Tippah County, Mississippi (highest risk), and Boyd County, Kentucky (second highest risk). Bronx and Kings Counties rank 8th and 9th out of the 3223 counties and county-equivalents in the United States. Queens County ranks 13th nationwide.
Particle pollution.
The 2009 annual report of the American Lung Association ranks the New York City region as 22nd among the top 25 regions in the United States most affected by year-round particle pollution, and 17th of the top 25 most ozone-polluted cities.
The city has made efforts to reduce particle pollution with measures like fitting catalytic converters to the exhausts of diesel city buses.
Emissions management.
New York has the largest hybrid bus fleet in the country, and some of the first hybrid taxis. A large percentage of the city-owned vehicle fleet, including the personal cars of top city officials, are required since 2005 to be fuel efficient hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius or Honda Accord gas-electric sedan that produce minimal particulates and carbon dioxide emissions. In 2005 the city's vehicle fleet had 6,000 alternative fuel and 70 electric vehicles. A bio diesel processing plant will soon open in Brooklyn that will process 2.5 million US gallons (9,500 m3) of bio diesel a year and distribute it to conventional gas stations in the city.
The Department of Sanitation, which has 1,500 trucks of its 2,200-vehicle fleet on the streets each day, is working with truck manufacturers to introduce gas-electric hybrid garbage trucks. The Department switched to using low-sulfur fuel in 2001 and uses corn-based ethanol in 500 of its 1,500 light-duty trucks.
New York City has more than 2,000 hybrid taxis as of mid 2009, more than any other city in North America.
Air pollution is an ongoing political issue in neighborhoods that contain bus depots.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The city's unique density, encouraged by much of it being surrounded by water, facilitates the highest rate of mass transit use in the United States. New York is one of the most energy efficient cities in the United States as a result.
Gasoline consumption in New York is at the rate the national average was in the 1920s. The city's mass transit system, multifamily housing, mixed neighborhoods and the fact that greenfield land is no longer available to development, make building in New York very energy efficient. New York City has a larger population than all but eleven states, and consumes less energy per-capita than any.
The average New Yorker consumes less than half of the electricity of someone who lives in San Francisco and nearly one-quarter the electricity consumed by someone who lives in Dallas.
Nevertheless, New York faces growing energy demands and limited space. The city has introduced a series of environmental policies since the 1990s to address these problems. Detailed measures include switching more than 11,000 traffic lights and "Don't Walk" signals in the city to new energy-efficient light-emitting diodes that use 90% less energy than conventional fixtures. The city will also replace 149,000 "cobra head" street lights with new energy efficient designs by 2008.
Over 180,000 inefficient refrigerators in public housing projects have been replaced with new ones that use a quarter of the power of the old ones. By law, the city government can purchase only the most efficient cars, air-conditioners and copy machines. The electricity used to power the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and 22 other federal buildings in New York City, an annual electricity demand of roughly 27 million kilowatt hours, is provided by wind power.
New York City is home to several clean energy projects. Two attempts to provide electricity to Roosevelt Island by installing underwater turbines in the East River failed when the turbine blades were torn off by currents. An improved turbine design proved to be successful and on 23 January 2012 FERC issed a 10-year pilot commercial license to Verdant Power’s RITE Project – the first commercial license for tidal power in the US. Under the license, Verdant Power expects to generate up to 1 megawatt after a staged installation of up to 30 turbines.
Planning is also underway to construct windmills on a hill in the former Fresh Kills Landfill. The wind energy project would power 5,000 homes on Staten Island
Gasoline consumption in New York is at the rate the national average was in the 1920s. The city's mass transit system, multifamily housing, mixed neighborhoods and the fact that greenfield land is no longer available to development, make building in New York very energy efficient. New York City has a larger population than all but eleven states, and consumes less energy per-capita than any.
The average New Yorker consumes less than half of the electricity of someone who lives in San Francisco and nearly one-quarter the electricity consumed by someone who lives in Dallas.
Nevertheless, New York faces growing energy demands and limited space. The city has introduced a series of environmental policies since the 1990s to address these problems. Detailed measures include switching more than 11,000 traffic lights and "Don't Walk" signals in the city to new energy-efficient light-emitting diodes that use 90% less energy than conventional fixtures. The city will also replace 149,000 "cobra head" street lights with new energy efficient designs by 2008.
Over 180,000 inefficient refrigerators in public housing projects have been replaced with new ones that use a quarter of the power of the old ones. By law, the city government can purchase only the most efficient cars, air-conditioners and copy machines. The electricity used to power the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and 22 other federal buildings in New York City, an annual electricity demand of roughly 27 million kilowatt hours, is provided by wind power.
New York City is home to several clean energy projects. Two attempts to provide electricity to Roosevelt Island by installing underwater turbines in the East River failed when the turbine blades were torn off by currents. An improved turbine design proved to be successful and on 23 January 2012 FERC issed a 10-year pilot commercial license to Verdant Power’s RITE Project – the first commercial license for tidal power in the US. Under the license, Verdant Power expects to generate up to 1 megawatt after a staged installation of up to 30 turbines.
Planning is also underway to construct windmills on a hill in the former Fresh Kills Landfill. The wind energy project would power 5,000 homes on Staten Island