1. New
York
City’s
Solar
Energy
Programs
Help
New
York
State
Become
a
Model
in
Energy
Efficiency
By
Sara
Warnock
A picture of solar panels on a rooftop in New York City
More
than
a
total
of
316
megawatts
of
solar
energy
has
been
installed
or
is
under
contract
in
New
York
state
as
of
June
2014,
which
will
help
remove
about
116,000
tons
of
greenhouse
gas
emissions
from
the
earth.
This
is
partially
thanks
to
New
York
City’s
aggressive
installation
of
solar
panels
to
meet
its
goal
of
producing
an
additional
100
megawatts
of
solar
energy
on
public
buildings
and
250
megawatts
on
private
buildings
by
2025.
For
New
York
City
to
reach
its
target,
it
had
to
fight
barriers
to
the
use
and
creation
of
technology
that
went
back
as
far
as
1961.
The
city
created
a
Green
Code
Task
Force
to
find
ways
around
these
obstacles:
in
2010,
it
released
111
proposals
to
help
the
city
meet
its
solar
energy
objectives
and
contribute
to
the
state’s
2012
NY-­‐Sun
initiative.
Since
December
2014,
fifty-­‐two
of
the
task
force’s
recommendations
have
been
fully
or
partly
realized:
this
includes
a
2011
and
2012
edit
of
the
city’s
outdated
zoning
laws,
which
were
written
in
1961,
to
allow
the
installation
of
large
solar
panels
on
city
rooftops
and
those
in
areas
governed
by
the
Landmarks
Preservation
Commission.
It
also
streamlined
the
city’s
process
for
using
green
technology
and
funding
innovative
projects
and
established
education
programs.
These
new
laws
encouraged
projects
that
enabled
New
York
City
to
better
utilize
available
solar
energy
resources.
For
example,
the
City
University
of
New
York
created
the
NYC
Solar
Map,
which
helped
them
determine
that
the
city’s
eligible
roofs
are
a
valuable
resource
that
could
generate
up
to
5,847
megawatts
of
solar
energy.

2. In
2012,
a
landmark
report,
“Rooftop
Revolution,”
estimated
that
school
roofs
in
particular
could
increase
the
city’s
solar
capacity
by
2,500%.
Mayor
Bill
De
Blasio
also
understood
their
potential:
in
September
2014,
he
revealed
a
plan
to
spend
$23
million
dollars
to
install
solar-­‐
paneled
roofs
on
the
tops
of
twenty-­‐four
public
schools
by
2016.
In
addition,
the
city
selected
SunEdison
to
develop
its
largest
solar
energy
system
at
the
former
Freshkills
Park
in
Staten
Island,
which
will
increase
the
city’s
energy
capacity
by
fifty
percent.
These
and
other
projects
have
already
helped
New
York
City
reduce
citywide
carbon
emissions
nineteen
percent
from
2005
levels.
This
turned
New
York
State
into
a
powerhouse
in
solar
energy
usage:
in
two
years,
it
jumped
in
rank
from
#12
in
nationwide
solar
power
usage
to
#9.
It
is
also
helping
New
York
State
maintain
the
fifth
largest
number
of
solar
jobs
in
the
nation,
with
over
400
companies
employing
5,000
workers.
New
York
City
and
New
York
State
show
no
plans
of
slowing
down,
as
Governor
Cuomo
recently
expanded
the
state’s
NY-­‐Sun
Initiative
until
2030
to
help
New
York
to
become
an
enduring
solar
state.
Although
New
York
City
is
one
of
the
nation’s
leading
energy
consumers,
it
is
becoming
a
model
for
energy
efficiency
and
is
showing
other
cities
how
they
can
help
their
state’s
to
reverse
the
effects
of
climate
change
and
global
warming.