Green Ossining Committee

Back The Future: Hydro-Power For Today’s Ossining

by Miguel Hernandez

For much of the second half of the 19^th century, a water wheel that stood alongside the Kill Brook in downtown Ossining supplied power for a steel file  manufacturing company.

Another one at the now abandoned Brandreth Pill Factory on North Water Street,

provided power for the machinery at that company. However with the advent of cheaper and more efficient power supplied by the precursors of Con Edison these water wheels fell into disuse and are long-gone. However, generation of electricity from essentially free renewable energy sources like solar, wind and water are becoming increasingly popular ways for cash strapped local governments try to reduce their dependence on polluting fossil fuels and reduce the money they spend on utilities.

Even a small stream like the Kill Brook can generate consistent, clean, free, and renewable electricity at a price per watt lower than solar or wind. Community scale hydro projects, especially “streaming,” or “run of the river”  hydropower (which allows rivers to run their natural course is a feasible and practical solution for  reducing the Ossining Village budget. It  only takes a small amount of flow (as little as two gallons per minute) or a drop as low as two feet to generate electricity with micro hydro. Electricity can be delivered as far as a mile away to the location where it is being used. Streaming hydro power is clean, reduces  efficiency losses incurred during transmission across long-distance power lines is safer and costs far less than conventionally powered energy. According to a 2005 study conducted by the U.S. DOE, energy can account for as much as 10 percent of a local government’s annual operating budget, a proportion that is likely to grow as energy prices rise. Hydro produces a continuous supply of electrical energy in comparison to other small-scale renewable technologies. The peak energy season is during the winter months when large quantities of electricity are required.

I urge Ossining Village officials to seriously investigate the possibility of installing a “run of the river” micro-hydro turbine generator” at the Kill Brook to provide enough electric power for the Joseph Caputo Community Center. Another option would be to have one at the Indian Brook Reservoir’s dam to power the Village’s Water Filtration plant.  In addition to energy savings, a water-powered generator there would always assure the continual operation of the plant instead of relying on conventional electric power that could fail during a storm. It is my understanding that this plant was in imminent danger of failing during Hurricane Sandy but that the sudden arrival of an emergency diesel gasoline powered generator saved the day.

There is funding for the community-scale hydro-power projects discussed above under the auspices of the U.S. EPA’s State and Local Climate and Energy Program.

This program assists state, local, and tribal governments in meeting their climate change and clean energy efforts by providing technical assistance, analytical tools, and outreach support.

The Mid-Hudson Regional Energy Solutions Road Map

Why is energy such an important driver in economic development?
The Mid-Hudson region’s households spend $2.4 billion on utilities per year ($3,000 for space heating and appliances per household per year). If just 5% savings were achieved through common energy upgrades, the residential sector alone would save $119 million annually.*

Every business sector in the Mid-Hudson Region needs energy and incurs energy-related expenses. Operational or mechanical inefficiencies exist in every sector of commerce. Therefore, each sector has significant energy savings opportunities. Energy solutions have powerful cross-cutting benefits for economic development and can often be funded out of net savings realized–making available operating capital for staff and business reinvestment. In a typical community, the business sector’s aggregate utility expenses are about two-thirds that of the aggregate residential sector. On that basis, the Mid-Hudson region’s businesses may spend as much as $1.6 billion on utilities per year, yielding $80 million in easily achievable savings to reinvest.  In short, energy efficiency alone could make available $220 million per year or more in private capital for job retention and creation in our seven counties.
Read the Summary: EnergySolutions_Mid-Hudson_RoadMap_2011_10_26_Summary.

This road map presents five interlocking and mutually reinforcing energy solution paths–the first of which is energy efficiency–with deep potential for the Mid-Hudson’s seven counties. The high level overview in this road map invites more detailed examinations of each of these four solution paths in the future.

• Solution paths 1, 2, and 3 address the demand side of the energy ledger, respectively: energy efficiency, demand response,  and microgrid.
• Solution paths 4 and 5 address the supply side of the energy ledger, respectively: distributed generation (including renewables) and energy storage.

It is important to note that a fuller examination will point out significant resource efficiencies and self-financing upgrades are achievable in water consumption and waste stream management as well.

* See Table 1 in the complete Road Map here:

EnergySolutions_Mid-Hudson_RoadMap_20111026_pp01-18

EnergySolutions_Mid-Hudson_RoadMap_20111026_pp19-24

EnergySolutions_Mid-Hudson_RoadMap_20111026_pp26-32

This article originally printed on NWEAC.org website…
http://www.nweac.org/2011/10/26/the-mid-hudson-regional-energy-solutions-road-map/

See video “What is Nature Worth?” : http://www.worldwildlife.org/sites/videos/nature-worth.html?enews=enews1201t&vid&utm_source=enews&utm_medium=email&utm_content=2012jan&utm_campaign=enews

“Our natural resources continue to be degraded because decision makers do not have a reliable way to assess the true value of the services that ecosystems provide. The Natural Capital Project, [http://www.naturalcapitalproject.org/ ] a partnership among WWF, The Nature Conservancy, University of Minnesota and Stanford University, is working to align economic forces with conservation by mainstreaming natural capital into decisions. Learn more  [http://www.worldwildlife.org/science/naturalcapitalproject/index.html]“

Natural Capital Project

Aligning Economic Forces with Conservation

Capital has often been thought of narrowly as physical capital – the machines, tools, and equipment used in the production of other goods, but our wealth and well being also relies on natural capital.  If we forget this, we risk degrading the services that natural ecosystems provide, which support our economies and sustain our lives.  These services include purifying our water, regulating our climate, reducing flood risk, and pollinating our crops.

One reason why our natural resources continue to be degraded is that decision makers do not have a reliable way to assess the true value of the services that ecosystems provide.  The Natural Capital Project, a partnership among WWF, The Nature Conservancy, University of Minnesota and Stanford University, is working to align economic forces with conservation by mainstreaming natural capital into decisions.

Developing tools that make it easy to incorporate natural capital into decisions

An essential element of the Natural Capital Project is developing tools that help decision makers protect biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Demonstrating the power of these tools in important, contrasting places

InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs) is a unique software tool that models and maps the delivery, distribution, and economic value of ecosystem services and biodiversity.  InVEST helps decision-makers visualize the impacts of potential decisions and identify tradeoffs and compatibilities between environmental, economic, and social benefits.

InVEST is being used to integrate ecosystem services into decision-making in a variety of places around the world through the WWF network and partners:

Sumatra, Indonesia
In Sumatra, commercial logging and conversion to agriculture are risking the home of thousands of rare species, including tigers, orangutans, and rhinos.  With support from the Natural Capital Project, WWF Indonesia is working with regional government authorities to map the distribution and economic value of ecosystem services in priority watersheds under current and proposed land use plans.  The results will provide input to land-use planning.

Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania
Agricultural development, logging, and fires have reduced the forests of the Eastern Arc Mountains by 70% over the past decades, threatening thousands of rare species, people’s livelihoods, and water and power resources. The Natural Capital Project is currently working with over 40 collaborators in Tanzania, the UK, and South Africa to map and value the mountains’ many ecosystem services. WWF will use the maps to steer decisions and resources toward forest conservation and watershed management.

Albertine Rift (Uganda, Rwanda, & Democratic Republic of the Congo)
The Albertine Rift is a transboundary, biogeographic region containing rich forest ecosystems and a system of lakes and rivers that are critical for water provision and community livelihoods.  Encroachment, illegal logging, pollution, and mining threaten biodiversity and livelihoods in this region.  The Albertine Rift Conservation Society (ARCOS) hopes to use InVEST outputs to gain government and stakeholder support for biodiversity conservation and to disseminate lessons learned across the countries of this region.  The phases for the project include: quantifying and valuing ecosystem services, assessing how amounts and values of services will change under future climate change and development scenarios, and creating incentives for conservation.

Colombian Amazon
The Amazon Piedmont of Colombia is one of the most biologically outstanding areas of the Northern Andes, and also a landscape of great cultural significance as the ancestral home to several indigenous groups. This region is under threat from climate change and infrastructure development. Starting in 2010, the Natural Capital Project will collaborate with WWF Colombia to map the distribution and economic value of ecosystem services in the Mocoa Forest Reserve in the Amazon Piedmont. This project, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, will provide critical information for developing environmentally sensitive infrastructure projects, and for maintaining ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change.

The Natural Capital Project’s tools are also being used in a variety of other locations, including:

• Sierra Nevada Region, California, USA
• Upper Yangtze River Basin, China
• Hawaiian Islands, USA
• Northern Andes and Southern Central America

Conservation Cafe discusses “Pedaling Off Our Carbon Footprint” this Friday at Pace University

Find out how you can help reduce carbon emissions in the environment and get on track to a healthier lifestyle by bicycling instead of driving during the Conservation Café on Friday, September 16, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., at Pace University in Pleasantville.

Speakers for the program will be:

• Luke Tonachel, a Senior Analyst from the Transportation Program at the National Resources Defense Council, who will discuss the impact of vehicle emissions on the environment and human health.
• Naomi Klein, Westchester County Department of Transportation, who will discuss the “Safe Routes to Schools” initiative that encourages communities to establish kid-friendly routes so they can ride their bikes to and from school safely;
• Hayes Lord, Program Director of the New York State Department of Transportation’s bicycle division, who will discuss the development of New York City’s program that enables and encourages bicyclists of all ages and abilities to navigate safely and successfully across the city and through its boroughs;
• Steve Kahn from Danny’s Cycles in Scarsdale, who will discuss bike safety and the latest in equipment.

Pre-registration is requested by calling Mindy Swope Quintero at (914) 864-7326 by September 13.

Registration will take place from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on the day of the event. Beverages will be served; participants should bring their own coffee mug.

Carpooling is encouraged.

Conservation Café programs provide a forum for dialogue about current environmental issues. Sponsors are Westchester County’s Parks and Planning departments, Pace University, Friends of Westchester County Parks, Con Edison, Grassroots Environmental Education, Teatown Lake Reservation, the Greenburgh Nature Center, Federated Conservationists of Westchester County and Mianus River Gorge.

Pace University is located on Bedford Road (Route 117) in Pleasantville. Go to www.pace.edu.

http://www.pace.edu/about-us/all-about-pace/directions-to-all-campuses/pleasantville-campus/

Governor David A. Paterson has set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in New York State by 80 percent below levels emitted in year 1990, by year 2050. He directed the New York State Climate Action Council to identify actions that can achieve that goal, adapt New York to the effects of unavoidable climate change and stimulate the growth of a clean energy economy.

Energy Independence Day – October 6th

Israel Plans to End its Dependence on Oil by 2020. Can We?

Join us for an important panel discussion led by former CIA Director R. James Woolsey in conversation with experts from the nuclear, biofuel, wind, solar and natural gas industries as we explore the viability of alternative sources of energy. We will also be giving our coveted “Green Award” to the Jewish institution in Westchester County that has done the most to “go green.” This event is free and open to the public, but please consider a donation to help us defray costs. Sponsorship opportunities available.

DATE: Wednesday, October 6th at 7:30 p.m.
PLACE: The Larchmont Temple
RSVP required by visiting www.ajc.org/westchester/energyday2

For more information, send an e-mail to westchester@ajc.org or call 914.948.5585.

Download/Print the event flyer…