Upgrading New York City鈥檚 wastewater plants could produce clean energy, slash greenhouse gas emissions, divert food waste from landfills and generate savings and revenue for the City,聽聽a new聽report聽by the NGO聽Energy Vision聽(EV) finds.聽Entitled 鈥淕otham Gas Goes Green,鈥� the independent report assesses the benefits of applying innovations piloted at Newtown Creek, the City鈥檚 largest wastewater plant, to more of its 14 wastewater resource recovery facilities (WRRFs).
Operated by the city鈥檚 Department of Environmental Protection, these WRRFs have a total of 75 anaerobic digesters which break down sewage sludge and capture the methane biogases emitted as it decomposes. Historically, WRRFs have flared this methane as a byproduct of the digester process.聽聽But it鈥檚 a potentially valuable energy resource.
To realize that potential, DEP and its project partners upgraded the Newtown Creek plant.聽聽Food waste collected and supplied by Waste Management now augments the sewage sludge the digesters process, boosting methane production. A聽new facility built on site by National Grid then refines this methane into renewable natural gas (RNG) fuel. RNG is chemically similar to fossil gas and usable in all the ways fossil gas is used, but has much lower GHG emissions. Newtown Creek RNG will be injected into National Grid鈥檚 pipelines and used to heat over 5,000 Brooklyn homes.
This waste-to-renewable energy model (also known as 鈥済as to grid鈥�) has big potential benefits. If more of DEP鈥檚 14 WRRFs adopted it, they could produce enough RNG to power the City鈥檚 entire fleet of heavy-duty trucks, EV鈥檚 report finds.聽聽This would cut GHG emissions from City operations 15%, generate up to $80 million a year in cost savings or new revenue, and process 30% of New York鈥檚 1.2 million tons of food waste annually, keeping it out of landfills. Using RNG fuel in City trucks or buses could displace 25 million gallons of diesel fuel, avoiding pollution and health damage from diesel exhaust.
鈥淣ew York has a golden opportunity here,鈥� said Matt Tomich, president of Energy Vision. 鈥淕enerous tax credits and incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act could help finance WRRF upgrades. DEP is seeking partners to put WRRF biogas to use, and private capital is interested in renewable energy projects. Between diverting food waste from landfills, capturing WRRF methane,聽补苍诲听replacing fossil natural gas, the climate benefits of these projects are immense.鈥�