New York City is making a substantial effort to reduce their level of greenhouse gasses and harmful toxins that pollute the city’s air. Could they be catching up to Oregon as one of the leaders in the green revolution?
According to the Christian Science Monitor, a small cooperative in Manhatten’s lower east side is using a Biodiesel blend to create the building’s heat supply. The city plans to follow suit by heating all the city buildings with a 20% Biodiesel blend (B20) by 2012. There is also a plan (called PlaNYC) in place stating that by 2013 all people using fuel oil for heating (about 1 million households) must use B20, and the Biodiesel must be obtained from a sustainable source, such as waste vegetable oil from fast food joints.
There is a plan to construct a Biodiesel refinery in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, where it will process some of the millions of gallons of waste vegetable oil collected in the city. If the city is successful in implementing its plans in the upcoming years, other cities in the surrounding area may follow suit, warming up to the idea of using Biodiesel blends to heat their buildings.
The question remains however, will they be ready for EcoShuttle?
Leave a Reply