Empire State Building Now Wind Powered

empire-wind
The Empire State Building has become a symbol of what's possible in building energy makeovers. The huge skyscraper has undergone extensive retrofits, installed energy management systems, all while proving the energy savings and environmental benefit of making these changes.

Now, to really seal its status as a beacon of green potential, the building will be getting all of its electricity from wind power via a huge purchase of renewable energy certificates.

The building managers entered into a two-year deal with Green Mountain Energy which secures the purchase of 55 million kWh worth of renewable energy certificates per year, enough to fully cover the building's yearly electricity use. Those certificates are sourced through NRG Energy's wind power facilities and make the building the largest commerical purchaser of renewable energy in New York state.

via NY Times

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All of its electricity?
written by Keith, January 10, 2011

Unless the wind energy is stored to be used when needed or they only use electricity when the wind is blowing, wind turbines are paired with fossil turbines when attached to the grid. The fossil fuel of choice is gas. Ever hear of fracking? http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/

-3

...
written by treestoryguy, January 10, 2011

I think that this is a great step forward. The more well-known green buildings there are the more momentum we'll build in that direction.

renewable energy certificates?
written by seamusdubh, January 11, 2011

Really.
This is one of my biggest pet peeves to the whole eco/green movement. Unless you are directly connected to the farm of have the generation on site, you are not getting the power from green/renewable sources. You getting from the grid which is getting it from producers from all over the state. Most of which are coal and nuclear. All this say's is I'm paying in to a green project to sway my guilt or to greenwash away the reality of power generation and usage.
This kind of thought reminds me of the scandal of the Enron days and the rolling blackouts it caused across California.
I have nothing against the improvements to the Empire States Building, heck I was quite impressed at how there window replacement project went.
But saying you're using a resource you are not directly connected to, even in the loosest sense of the word, is one lie I cant swallow.

-1

Think of the grid as a pool...
written by Arne, January 11, 2011

with many tributaries. What goes out must be refilled, from whatever source there is. If you purchase green power, you make sure that the amount of energy you take from the grid is refilled by clean power. You are right in saying that you can't get 100% clean power from the grid today, but with every watt bought from sustainable sources the pool becomes a little cleaner.

Your REC purchase...
written by User your head, January 11, 2011

finances a project that is built somewhere else. That purchase makes power that feeds the national grid come from wind. The actual electron in your building may come from coal, gas, nuclear, wind, etc - but your offset - your REC is making sure someone elses electron is wind. This isn't a scam, it's an investment.

And FYI - every coal plant we get off the grid in the midwest makes our air in the northeast that much cleaner. So, snark all you want, but you might want to start believing in RECs or else asthma rates and cancer will just continue to rise out of control...

Wind energy must be stored
written by Keith, January 11, 2011

If wind energy is not stored we actually increase our dependency on fossil fuels. The natural gas industry knows this:

Robert F Kennedy Jr. - Solar Thermal and Utility Scale Wind are Gas Plants

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcm1gmPL50s

http://bpeg.ca/b2blog/index.php?blog=6

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