The possibilities for Hudson Valley”™s economy could fall into the once-spurned adage, something from nothing: from below-ground energy to the wind and sun and even the profitable potential of bio-mass, which used to be called garbage.
With generous incentives being offered to businesses and residences, business can look to profit by upgrading their own facilities to be more energy efficient and by serving a growing market in weatherization and renewable energy products and projects. Â
That was the message April 6 at a conference examining ways the Hudson Valley can be a leader in developing a thriving economy based on renewable energy. The potential for numerous well-paying jobs is real, but the time to act is short because this area is not the only region that sees it, said experts gathered at the “Prospering in a Green Economy” conference Monday, hosted by the Orange County Citizens Foundation at the Graham Skea Lodge at Thomas Bull Memorial Park.
Federal stimulus money totaling at least $700 million, and potentially much more, that is coming to New York for green projects could spark activity.
Perhaps the most intractable impediment to economic growth from progressive energy policy is the volunteer-driven approval processes inherent in New York state, where town- and village-level zoning and planning boards decide projects.
Throughout the half-day conference speakers ranging from attorneys to contractors to planners spoke of the difficulty getting volunteer planning or zoning board members to effectively work through plans for renewable or energy efficient designs that may not be neatly pigeonholed in rigid zoning rules. The delays, expense and misunderstandings that are built in to New York”™s system threaten to stifle any economic stimulus that green energy could potentially create, they warned. Â
Solar power is the most publicized possibility for local economic growth, due in large part to The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC), a nonprofit private-public partnership that has been actively fostering investment in solar businesses in the Hudson Valley for the last 18 months, and which is showing some success in creating jobs.
Vincent Cozzolino, CEO of TSEC, said that traditional solar panels are only part of the emerging industry. A lucrative future also can be powered by “solar appliances,” that could be manufactured in this region. “Solar appliances are going to be ubiquitous among us,” said Cozzolino, citing his solar phone charger on the dashboard of his car, or “solar signage” that soaks up sunshine and illuminates businesses cost-free at night. He also cited solar hot water heaters for comfortable bathing without burning fuel or cash.
Cozzolino also suggested that this region will begin to see “solar farms,” large arrays of solar panels that serve as power plants that are already being constructed in Europe and parts of the western United States. And in a potentially revolutionary idea, he said there is talk that New York state will once again allow its regulated utilities such as Central Hudson or Con Ed to own power generating stations, as they did before deregulation of the state electric industry in the 1990s. The caveat, Cozzolino said, is they would have to be renewable source power stations.
Geothermal heating was also cited as an economic and environmental plus to this region by Paul Auerbach, founder and managing director of Monroe-based Total Green L.L.C. He said that using a hybrid approach of geothermal heating and cooling and electricity provided by solar or wind power technology, businesses and homes could effectively operate without fossil fuels. “They are called fossil fuels because they are prehistoric,” said Auerbach. His company recently retrofitted a 2,800-square-foot home with a geothermal system and cut their fuel bills from $5,000 annually to $1,200 in electricity to run the compressor.
Auerbach said systems can be designed for homes as small as 1,500 square feet. The natural subsurface temperature of about 53 degrees is used to warm interiors in winter and cool them in summer. For new construction projects, the system pays for itself compared to traditional energy costs in five years, he said, based on current fuel prices. For retrofits the payback time might stretch to eight years.
While geothermal may still seem novel it is positively mainstream compared to making energy, and cash, from garbage. But that is the plan outlined by Jim Taylor of Taylor Biomass L.L.C., who has a gasification project planned for the Taylor Recycling property on Neelytown Road, just down the road from the conference. It would transform waste into a natural-gas substitute that can be burned in industrial processes or to generate electricity. The plan is being reviewed by the Montgomery town board.
Taylor told the conference, “Our waste is a resource and it is among the most abundant resource we generate.”
Taylor already operates a recycling operation, but said his gasification business could be paid to accept solid waste from the local communities, obviating the expense and fuel of sending garbage to distant landfills. The company would also receive money for the gas it produces. “This is one of those business models where you get paid for everything coming in the front door and for everything flowing out the back door,” Taylor said.
