Alternative Energy Technologies Proposal for The State of New York

Alternative Energy Technologies Proposal for The State Of New York

Prepared by Ayman Helo ENGY 775 Professor Elijan Avdic New York Institute of Technology 1

Table of Contents

1. Paper introduction Energy data and analyses in the State of New York.

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2. Waste-To-Energy

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2.1-

Introduction

2.2-

The components of a W2E power plant.

2.3-

Analyzing the W2E plant from an economic perspective.

2.4-

The environmental impacts of this technology.

2.5-

Pros and Cons of this technology.

2.6-

Case study

3. Biogas production from wastewater treatment plants 3.1-

Introduction

3.2-

The components of a biogas power plant.

3.3-

Analyzing the biogas plant from an economic perspective.

3.4-

The environmental impacts of this technology.

3.5-

Pros and Cons of this technology.

3.6-

Case study.

4. Small scale hydro turbines on the sides of rivers in NYS. 4.1-

Introduction

4.2-

The component of small hydro turbines and how they work.

4.3-

Analyzing the small hydro turbines from an economic perspective.

4.4-

The environmental impacts of this technology.

4.5-

Pros and Cons of this technology.

4.6-

Case study

5. Summary and Conclusion

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1.

Paper introduction Energy data and analyses in the State of New York.

New York State is the fourth largest state in the US with a population of more than 20 million residents. According to EIA estimates in 2019, New York ranking was 49th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia with 198 (million Btu) total Energy Consumed per Capita. Only California and Rhode Island score better than the state of New York. Net generation (between utilities, IPP & CHP) in the state of New York in 2020 was 129,430,271 (megawatt hours) according to EIA data.

Based on the 2021 Load & Capacity Data Report in NY (Gold Book), the energy growth rate in the 2021 baseline forecast is lower than the rate published in the 2020 Gold Book. The report relates this reduction to the efficiency programs and incentives to reduce energy consumption in the state besides some other factors. On the other hand, the energy growth rate in the 2021 baseline forecast is significantly higher than the rate published in the 2020 Gold Book.

Resource: https://www.nyiso.com/documents/20142/2226333/2021-Gold-Book-Final-Public.pdf/b08606d7-db88-c04b-b260-ab35c300ed64

The future projection for the energy baseline for energy demand to grow more in the new report makes a lot of sense especially when we add the expectation of climate change impacts. I believe the federal Covid-19 recovery plans and the new infrastructure federal plan will increase the energy demand in the short term. New York is expecting electrification of all thermal systems, appliances, and most the services in the coming years. For example, in the field of architecture design, which

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is my field of work, I see almost all new kitchens designed to use electricity instead of natural gas for ovens and cooktops. Heat pumps are replacing older heating and cooling systems.

Electric vehicles data in the US shows that the EVs market has grown up to 7% of the vehicles in the US by the end of 2020. The market trends show that the EVs market will grow to more than 50% of the vehicles in the US by 2040. To be prepared for all these trends and changes in the energy market, we must be planning and preparing to meet the demand very soon.

According to the 2021 Gold Book data, the existing NYCA generating capability includes renewable resources totaling 6,428 MW. This total includes wind generation (1,818 MW), hydro (4,259 MW), large-scale solar PV (32 MW), and other renewable resources (319 MW).

Resource: https://www.nyiso.com/documents/20142/2226333/2021-Gold-Book-Final-Public.pdf/b08606d7-db88-c04b-b260-ab35c300ed64

The state of New York still depends on fossil fuels, especially natural gas, to meet a large percentage of the energy demand in the state. The GHG emissions in the state are still high especially in New York City and Long Island. New York has been facing an increased level of extreme weather phenomena and that was related, according to many experts, to climate change because of the problem of global warming. These storms and extreme weather phenomena caused many casualties and huge financial damage across the state.

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In 2019, the State of New York revised the energy policy and approved a new energy plan to become carbon-free power generation from both renewable sources and nuclear energy by 2040.

The State of New York set a goal to reach 70% renewable energy by 2030. This goal is just nine years from today. With this decision, New York has followed Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Washington, and California to approve 100% renewable energy sources between 2040 and 2050.

The State of New York has no plans to give any permission to build new nuclear energy plants in the state. The State is planning to invest more in wind energy especially the offshore wind 30 miles from the east end and 15 miles south of Long Island. The state also is planning to buy hydropower from Quebec, Canada to replace the fossil fuel plants in the state as part of the 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040. New York must add a great amount of renewable clean energy in a very short time without any delays.

It is very important to have multi-renewable energy resources to secure the rate of electric generation and its renewability. The policy of depending on different energy resources seems to be more logical and practical as they say you can’t put all your eggs in one basket. It is a fact that wind, solar, tidal, or wave energy can’t generate the same rate all the time. In the summer-long days, solar energy can generate more than winter short days, on the other hand, wind energy can generate more energy in winter. Some other types of renewable energy such as hydro energy may lose the capacity of supply because of some natural phenomena or because of disasters. I believe we should use every possible renewable clean resource of energy to build a better future.

This important transition should have happened many years ago. Politics and lobbyists’ pressure made such a transition far from reality for a long time. The public awareness and the facts on the ground especially since hurricane Sandy in 2012 made most of the public believe in science 5

and support clean renewable energy to replace the non-clean fossil fuel energy in the state. As they say to better late than never.

My goal in this paper is to propose three new renewable energy technologies to be alternative solutions for the fossil fuel plant when it is time to put an end to the era of fossil fuels in the State of New York. I want to propose what I believe could support the State of New York in its goal to reach 100% renewable energy by 2040. I feel very motivated and enthusiastic about such a plan because I believe we must reduce the greenhouse emissions and other impacts on the environment from our energy generation. We can’t afford more health problems, more extreme weather damage, more casualties but we can afford 100% carbon-free energy in the State of New York.

When I started to think about my choices for this paper, I decided to choose some renewable resources and achieve goals beyond electric generation. I want to use some local resources in the State of New York and try to reduce the environmental impact of our daily waste. I have in mind three alternative energy plant technologies that I like to concentrate on in this paper. My first choice is generating energy from solid waste. I chose the incineration method because it doesn’t need a large land area as biogas from solid waste generation. I am personally convinced that the technology of waste incineration has developed, and we have better solutions to control the emissions and the byproducts from these plants.

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2. Waste-To-Energy 2.1- Introduction Waste-To-Energy technology is my first choice. W2E can be simply described as a process of incinerating solid waste material to generate heat or electricity. I Believe waste incineration power plants as a type of W2E are a necessity for urban communities, in general, because it has multiple benefits for the community, the economy, and the environment. W2E Plant can provide the communities with electric power and help solve the problem of solid waste. Municipalities and local authorities have been trying to solve the problem of solid waste through many different waste management methods, especially landfills and burning solid waste. Solid waste and industrial waste have caused a lot of environmental crises and become major issues to solve especially in large cities and communities.

The components of the W2E power plant.

Traditional Waste-TO-Energy plants are built by different manufacturers and share some common design features: Waste bunkerThis is the first section is where the solid waste is delivered and stored in a large pit, often followed by shredding, removal of magnetic materials, and drying before loading onto a stokergrate bed. The size of this section is designed based on the capacity of the plant.

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Combustion chamberWaste is transferred to a combustion chamber where self-sustaining combustion is maintained using negative pressure for odor control. Mixed waste enters the combustion chamber on a timed moving grate, which turns it over repeatedly to keep it exposed and burning—the way turning over or poking a fireplace log brightens the fire. A measured injection of oxygen and fumes drawn from the receiving area makes for a more complete burn. This process burns the solid waste at 15002500 F degrees and reduces the solid waste by 90 percent by volume and 70 percent by weight.

This high degree of heat guarantees the total burning of all waste components inside the combustion chamber.

Boiler with heat exchanger The intense heat generated from incinerating the waste is transferred through a series of chambers inside the boiler. Heat exchangers inside the boiler are designed to chapter the maximum amount of heat and heat the water in the boiler to generate steam. Highly efficient superheated steam powers the steam turbine generator. The cooling steam is cycled back into the water through the condenser or diverted as a heat source for buildings or desalinization plants. The cooled stream is reheated in the economizer and superheater to complete the steam cycle.

Air pollution controller chamber Waste-to-energy plants are designed to reduce the emission of air pollutants in the flue gases exhausted to the atmosphere, such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulates, and to destroy pollutants already present in the waste, using pollution control measures such as baghouses, scrubbers, and electrostatic precipitators. High temperature, efficient combustion, and effective scrubbing and controls can significantly reduce air pollution outputs. No smoke flue of the chimney and what we see coming out of a chimney at the WTE plant is mostly steam from the burned waste.

For example, the acidic combustion gasses are neutralized with an injection of lime or sodium hydroxide. The chemical reaction produces gypsum. This process removes 94 percent of the hydrochloric acid. Nitrogen oxide in the rising burn gases is neutralized by the injection of ammonia or urea. Dioxins and furans are destroyed by exposing flue gases to a sustained temperature of 1,562°F/850°C for two seconds. This process removes more than 99 percent of 8

dioxins and furans. Activated carbon (charcoal treated with oxygen to increase its porosity) is injected into the hot gases to absorb and remove heavy metals, such as mercury and cadmium.

In the United States, the law requires that the ash be tested for toxicity before disposal in landfills. If the ash is found to be hazardous, it can only be disposed of in landfills which are carefully designed to prevent pollutants in the ash from leaching into underground aquifers.

Turbines The super-heated steam is sent to run the turbines. A turbine is a mechanical device that converts the kinetic and pressure energy of steam into useful work. When the superheated steam goes to the turbine where it expands and loses its kinetic and pressure energy and rotates the turbine blade which in turn rotates the turbine shaft connected to its blades. The shaft then rotates the generator which converts this kinetic energy into electrical energy.

Electricity generating powerhouse A turbine feeds the generator with (mechanical) kinetic and makes the shaft in the generator spins through a magnetic field. This is the most used form for generating electricity and is based on Faraday's law. It can be seen experimentally by rotating a magnet within closed loops of conducting material (such as copper wire). Almost all commercial electrical generation is done using electromagnetic induction, in which mechanical energy forces a generator to rotate. This generator is connected to transformers and a transmission station that feeds the public grid with electric power to deliver to other substations closer to the consumers.

Control room The control room is responsible for the safe and proper operation of power plants, switchyards, meters, computers, and associated control structures. The staff of this room is required for monitoring, analyze, repair, and maintain the involved machinery and equipment to ensure the plant's efficient operation and to tackle emergencies such as blackouts.

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2.3- Analyzing the W2E plant from an economic perspective.

From the perspective of waste management and economy side, incineration is an ideal waste treatment method that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials.

Incinerating solid waste converts the waste into ash, flue gas, and heat. The ash and other solid bypass or recovered metal materials formed by burning the waste at high temperatures can be used in other useful products such as building materials and agriculture. The flue gases get filtered and cleaned of gaseous and particulate pollutants before they are released into the atmosphere. In other words, this waste management principle can eliminate the need for landfills and other large landconsuming facilities to treat solid waste.

The environmental impacts of this technology.

From an environmental perspective, incineration has a very small carbon footprint. Burning solid waste eliminates the issue of Leachate and other contaminants that are related to landfills and other methods of solid waste treatment. Combustion of solid waste means extracting the maximum amount of the stored chemical energy in the components of that waste. The bypass materials and production materials from the process of incineration are non-hazardous neutral and have minimum environmental impacts.

After recycling the recyclable materials, reusing all reusable materials, and composting organic components of solid waste, the leftover of that solid waste should be turned into energy or any other useful form. Transferring solid waste for long distances to relocate a waste treatment facility is another environmental hazard and pollution cause that can be eliminated by having the W2E plant technology. On average one ton of solid waste produces 20 kg- 30 kg of ash.

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Waste-To-Energy plant uses solid waste to generate energy. Solid waste is a sustainable material and a sustainable resource of energy. Incinerators can also use biomass, biogas, bio-oil as combustion fuel, or any other clean sustainable energy resources.

Pros and Cons of Incineration Pros of IncinerationIncineration is more efficient with how we use space.

Eliminating the issue of groundwater contamination around a landfill.

W2E is a better waste management option because it provides a power-generation opportunity.

W2E creates a lower carbon footprint for communities.

W2E plants recover all metal mixed with solid waste.

Byproduct ash can be reused in other products like building materials.

Flexibility places waste incinerators almost anywhere.

Filters can help to trap many of the dangerous compounds that incinerators release.

Cons of IncinerationThe capital cost of building a waste incineration facility is quite high.

There is still the possibility of hazardous or toxic pollutants.

The use of incineration could create double disposal charges.

If not planned well, it would discourage the idea of recycling.

Like any other plant that uses steam turbines, W2E technology needs a large amount of water.

Case study The Department of Sanitation in New York City handles 12,000 tons of solid waste (garbage) daily. This amount of solid waste collected in NYC can generate about 6- 8 GWh of electrical 11

energy per day (340 MW of electrical power continuously for 24 hours) and 24 GWh of district heating energy each day. (I calculated this result based on scaling a precedent project estimating that incinerating about 600 metric tons (660 short tons) per day of waste will produce about a minimum of 400 MWh of electrical energy per day (17 MW of electrical power continuously for 24 hours) and 1200 MWh of district heating energy each day.

I found a good precedent project to study in the City of Spokane in the state of Washington.

The Waste to Energy (WTE) facility in Spokane can handle up to 800 tons of municipal solid waste daily and can generate 22 megawatts of electricity. The energy generated from the city’s solid waste is enough to power 13,000 homes. The facility sells the power to Spokane's Avista Utilities and earns about $5 million in power sales annually.) The typical range of net electrical energy that can be produced is about ⅔ MWh (megawatt-hours) of electrical energy and 2 MWh of heat energy per ton of waste incinerated. The cost to build that plant was about $30 million.

The simple calculation for payback time for the W2E plant at the city of Spokane project was six years. I didn’t include the financial savings of treating solid waste without using a landfill. The financial cost of these plants is high because they must include air quality filters and monitors and other expensive components that cost more than what we have at traditional power plants. IF we consider updating the existing fossil fuel plans in New York to turn them into W2E plants, then the financial cost wouldn’t be too expensive.

Most of these plants have a payback time of over 10 years. I found that the main reason that affects the payback time for these plants is the sustainability and the quality of the solid waste supply. We spend a lot of money on managing our solid waste without any significant energy recovery from this waste. I see that to spend that much money on building an incineration plant that operates for 30- 50 years is a better investment because of the energy recovery from that waste One ton of waste can power a household for a month. If combined with a cogeneration plant design, WTE plants can, while producing electricity, also supply heat for nearby businesses, desalination plants, and other purposes.

Landfills are very expensive to build and maintain and need a large area of land which has a great financial value in large cities and communities like Long Island. W2E can save all the costs and time-consuming which landfill method needs.

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3- Biogas production from wastewater treatment plants3.1. Introduction My second choice is still from Waste-To-Energy technology. This technology can be described simply as using biological hydrolysis to generate biogas from sludge or any other biowaste that can be used to generate energy. One ton of wastewater can generate between 100–and 140 m³ of biogas.

I was inspired by an experience I saw at an off-grid farming community in Nicaragua. I was there in 2018 on a volunteering mission and I helped build a small simple biodigester that generates biogas from sewage to serve a house's demand for cooking and water heating. This technology was very common in that community and the people liked it because it saves cutting and burning tree wood.

Biogas is a clean and renewable energy resource that may be an alternative to natural gas for heating, or it can be transformed into any kind of thermal, electrical, or mechanical energy. The calorific value of biogas is about 21-23.5 MJ/m³, or about 6 kWh/m³, which corresponds to about 0.5 – 0.6 of a liter of diesel oil. Biogas can be refined to clean up from CO2, Steam, and other components, and then it would be called renewable natural gas (RNG).

Components and process of work at biogas generation plant and how it works

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The process of work and technology for a modern sewage plant that generates electricity is very similar to a standard wastewater plant. Besides the primary treatment and the biological treatment, biogas energy plants have some additional components. After the standard treatment processes, the sludge goes through mixing and heating an extra process to neutralize the pathogens and produces an enhanced biosolid product.

Biogas generation from wastewater treatment plants’ main process occurs inside a biodigester unit. Inside this digester, anaerobic bacteria feed on the enhanced biosolid mix and generate biogas at an optimal rate. A new generation of more efficient biodigesters can generate more biogas in a shorter time than ordinary digesters. The energy generation process in a biogas plant depends on a biogas tank to collect and store biogas generated at the digester and an electric generator. CHP gas engines are typically used to generate steam to run the turbines and generate electricity.

Analyzing biogas plants from an economic perspective.

We must responsibly manage our sewage waste. This service costs a serious amount of money and effort and takes a lot of monitoring to avoid any impacts on the environment. Most of the wastewater plants we have do not have energy generation services.

I propose the technology of generating biogas at every wastewater treatment plant in the state of New York to make use of the potential energy that can be recovered from the sewage. Since we need wastewater treatment plants and we spend a lot of money on treating sewage, I believe generating biogas from these plants is a good investment. These plants can support the field of energy generation in New York since sewage is a sustainable resource of energy.

I tried to summarize the economic benefits of generating biogas from sewage plantsGreat investment and money-making business.

Financially helping the community & the country by using renewable local energy resources.

Creating more opportunities for work.

Generate electricity to be used at the facility and to feed the public grid.

Useful byproducts that can be sold.

Tax credits and financial rebates.

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Encouraging more people to own electric or hybrid vehicles.

Extracted heat from the CHP engines can be used for district heat and other applications at the wastewater treatment plant.

The environmental impacts of this technology.

Sewage has been a serious polluting issue and in many cases, sewage pollution has reached and destroyed natural resources, especially the bodies of water. Sewage treatment is a very essential service every community must do to protect residents, and nature from the harm of sewage to health and living conditions. Treating sewage at traditional wastewater plant still generate GHG emissions, especially methane gas. Treating the leftover solid biowaste at these plants is also another issue and causes more pressure from the environmental perspective.

The technology of generating biogas at wastewater treatment plants has many environmental benefits. I tried to summarize it asReducing pollution from sewage and other organic waste materials.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, especially Methane.

Less depending on fossil fuel.

Protecting groundwater and aquifers resources and recharging them.

Greats social responsibility culture and conscientiousness.

Water conservation and enabling safe reuse of wastewater.

Generate biofertilizers to be used instead of chemical fertilizers.

3.5- Pros and Cons of biogas from sewage plants - Pros of biogas from sewage plantsThe generation of renewable energy increases our energy security.

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Biogas is a flexible use fuel suitable for transport, heating, or electricity.

Protecting bodies of water from pollution and improving water quality.

Preventing Health Problems & Biodiversity Loss Economic benefits.

- Cons of biogas from sewage plantsThere are still some GHG emissions from these plants.

The efficiency is not as high as in other technologies.

This technology is not possible for Large-scale production in metropolitan areas.

Biogas still contains impurities.

Biogas generation is affected by the weather. The optimal temperature to digest waste is around 37°C.

3.6- Case study Average estimates a single-family house in the US produces 360 gallons of sewage daily.

Studies showed that sewage production of a house can generate up to 20% of the energy consumption of that house. According to the NYC website, New York City’s 14 Wastewater Resource Recovery Facilities together treat 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater daily. NYC also produces about 1,400 tons/day of biosolids or about 60 truckloads. The potential energy that can be recovered from this amount of wastewater is very beneficial commercially. The amount of wastewater treated in the city of New York has the potential to generate about 45 million cubic feet of biogas daily if treated in biogas generation plant technology.

In 2020, EIA estimated that 61 waste treatment facilities in the United States produced a total of about 1 billion kWh of electricity. Biogas has been generated also from landfills and animal waste plants in the US. In 2020, EIA estimated about 256 billion cubic feet of landfill gas were collected at 327 U.S. landfills and burned to generate about 10 billion (kWh) of electricity or about 0.3% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation in 2020. EIA also estimated that 20 large 16

dairies and livestock operations in the US produced a total of about 173 million kWh of electricity from biogas.

I found The Encina Wastewater facility in the County of San Diego, California, an interesting project to study. This facility treats 22 million gallons of wastewater every day. It generates 750,000 cubic feet of biogas every day from wastewater. This biogas is used to run four 750 kW electric generators. The facility generates 70% of the electrical demands of the facility from that biogas and sells 30% of that generated electricity to the public grid. All the waste heat from the combustion engines is used to sustain the digester’s heat temperature. One-third of the wastewater that gets treated at this facility is reused for irrigation and further purifying water. At the end of the digestive process, the biosolids can be sold and used as biofertilizers.

The primary financial studies I saw online for building such a new project showed an expected lifetime of 20 years and a simple payback time of 10 years. Unfortunately, I could not find any reliable study to show the cost and payback time for upgrading an existing wastewater treatment facility. I made a quick project study for upgrading the facility at the NYIT campus in Long Island two years ago and I came up with an estimate of between 5.7 – 6.9 years of payback time.

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4- Small scale hydro turbines on the sides of rivers in NYS. 4.1. Introduction The state of New York has more than 70,000 miles of rivers and streams. Roughly 52,000 miles of them are wild. Many major cities in the State of New York are located on or close to major rivers. Hydro energy provides the State of New York with more than 26% of its electricity.

This green and sustainable resource of energy still have more energy potentials that could help the State of New York increase its supply of renewable energy in the future.

The heavy environmental impacts and the high cost of building dams on rivers are not encouraging the State of New York to build more dams to generate more electricity. On the other hand, this great potential of free energy from a renewable natural resource is worth finding an alternative technology to convert this energy into electricity.

During my search this semester for new hydro-energy technology, I came across an ecofriendly new micro hydro-power turbine technology that has been used and succeeded. The Turbulent Company from Belgium was behind this dam-free new high-quality technology to produce clean and decentralized energy at a low cost. They called their turbine vortex (whirlpool) turbine. These microturbines can generate electricity from rivers, canals, and streams without interfering with the ecosystems.

These turbines were described as the most eco-friendly hydropower generation method available today. They have almost zero emissions and high energy output compared with other micro-turbine systems. The design of these turbines and the slow rotation of the blades make these turbines very safe for fish and other aquatic life when they pass through these turbines.

I propose using this technology because it perfectly fits the State of New York's special standards and the need for more renewable energy resources. This technology is affordable, sustainable, safe for the environment, and very practical to install without a special or a complicated structure to build. The turbines have a long life span low maintenance cost, no operational cost, and very little human intervention.

4.2- Components of the micro-hydro turbine and how it works

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This technology is neither complicated nor oversize. The simplicity of its design and how practical it is made this technology easy to install and run almost anywhere we can find flowing water. The main components are the blades that must be installed in the core of a concrete basin.

The rotating blades are connected to a generator and the generator feeds a transformer which injects that energy into the grid.

These turbines depend on the natural flow of water to run the blades of the turbine and generate electricity from this rotational energy. The size of a turbine depends on the flow rate and the slope of running water. The smallest size of these turbines can be powered by a small drop of a onemeter difference in the water levels. The manufacturing company has 4 different power turbine scales: 5kW system, 15 kW system, 30 kW system, and 100 kW system.

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This type of microturbine system runs on diverting water from the mainstream to a bypass canal which feeds the turbine continuously with water flow at a steady rate. Water must go through a trash rack to prevent large objects like logs and rocks from going through the turbine’s blades.

The pressure of the passing water makes the blades of the turbine slowly rotate and that water returns to the mainstream.

4.3- Analyzing the micro-hydro turbines from an economic perspective.

These turbines are designed to work in waterways with low flow water with a minimum of 35 cubic feet per second, and a drop or inclination of 5 to 16 feet. They are easy to install and can be a great solution for off-grid and rural or isolated communities. In the case of the state of New York, we have many rivers that can power this turbine and generate electricity 24/7 all year long.

Depending on the size of the turbine, each turbine can generate 120,000 to 560,000 kWh per year, which is equivalent to powering 50 to 500 households. If the conditions are right, a network of multiple turbines can be installed along the same waterway. Based on the manufacturer’s website, the Turbulent turbine reached double the energy production as the same size turbine from other manufacturers. A larger-scale turbine that can generate between 100kW – and 200 kW can work with a higher flow rate.

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4.4- Analyzing the micro-hydro turbines from an environmental perspective.

This technology is still relatively new it was promoted in 2015. The reputation of this technology is excellent, and the feedback confirmed it is environmentally safe and no real impacts have been reported. They do not need to use any abstraction structure, no water storing and changing to natural water flow rate may occur because of using this technology, 4.5- Pros and Cons of micro-hydro turbine technology - Pros micro-hydro turbine technologyFlexible and simple design that could be installed without many skills.

A reliable source that can generate energy 24/7 under all conditions.

Efficient energy source.

Cost-effective energy solution.

Integrate with the local power grid.

Hydropower is natural and free.

- Cons micro-hydro turbine technologyLow energy generation in the dry months.

Can’t be centralized large-scale generation.

These turbines may get damaged by flooding and severe weather events.

4.6- Case Study I found the chase of the Green School in Bali, Indonesia a good example of using a microturbine Vertex technology. The school hosts a community of over 700 people, including the teachers, staff, and students, providing world-class education in the unlikeliest of places – in the middle of the rainforest on the island of Bali. Using a combination of height difference and flow of the site, the Turbulent vortex turbine is capable of generating an average of 13 kW of electric power. This generated energy is more than enough to power the school’s lights, fans, laptops, and

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other kitchen appliances. The river runs 24/7, so the Turbulent turbine keeps generating reliable power, using the minimal height difference in the Ayung River of just 1.5 meters.

Micro-hydro power projects using vortex turbines around the globe include: 600 kW of continuous energy is injected into the grid in Taiwan with a network of turbines along the Anong River.

A 5.5 kW turbine provides electricity to a wastewater treatment plant in Versailles, France.

120 kW to 150 kW of continuous energy for 3,000 people in a remote part of Mindanao, Philippines Micro hydropower turbines are very efficient and can deliver local renewable and reliable energy without any impact. Vortex turbines can provide a return on investment between 4 - 8 years, with a faster payback period where the turbines are used to replace diesel generators in remote communities. Starting at $60,000, their cost is competitive with a solar plant with batteries. The payback time if connected to a grid is between 4 - and 6 years.

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5- Summary and Conclusion I chose to study energy management because I have a personal passion for this field and because I believe this field needs more attention and needs to develop. We have got a great improvement to our energy technology and the alternative renewable energy solutions. This technology is good enough to replace the fossil fuel energy technologies we have been using without much respect for the health of the environment and the future of humanity on this planet.

Energy generation has direct impacts on the health of humans and the health of the environment. I believe solid waste and sewage shouldn't be a problem anymore. We will see more waste generation in the future and more sewage to manage in the future. We invest a lot in waste management, I believe we could merge waste management with energy generation to achieve many beneficial goals.

According to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which regulates many types of solid waste facilities, there are 2,745 solid waste facilities in the State of New York. The data of 2014 showed that the state of New York has generated 37 million tons of solid waste. By the end of 2017, there were in total of 180 active MSW landfills in the state. Landfills have generated a lot of environmental and health issues besides the reputation of toxic Landfill leachate that has reached even our aquifers. The environment has been tested harshly for a very long time and it is time to reduce our damaging activities and habits without any more delay to give nature the chance to fix the damage we have caused.

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In my rough calculations, the state of New York can generate about 25-megawatt hours of electricity every year from solid waste incineration. Instead of treating 37 million tons of waste, incineration can reduce this amount to 1.1 million tons of ash. The ash generated at the incineration W2E plant can be reused and that saves our state a lot of money and reduces the environmental impacts of solid waste on our environment. The state of New York and many other states are running out of available landfills and it is very hard to get permission to build new landfills.

This electric energy equals about 2% of electricity generation in the State of New York plus a district heat. W2E plants can be powered also by other types of biomass waste to increase the energy output from these plants. The existing coal plants can be upgraded to W2E plants with a little cost compared to building new plants. The residents of the state pay taxes and fees for the service of municipal solid waste treatment, so if this waste could be useful for energy generation, then the final cost of electricity should become cheaper for the residents.

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I found that the state of New York has treated 6.5 billion gallons, (equals 24,605,176.6 tons) of wastewater in 2018. The potential biogas that can be generated from this much wastewater annually is about 3.5 billion m³. This generated biogas can generate 20.7 billion kWh of electric energy. This electricity can replace 1.6% of electricity generation in the State of New York plus many other financial, health, and environmental benefits. Such a plant does not have a high cost if the existing wastewater treatment plants across the state get upgraded to add a biogas generation section.

In my proposal for using micro-hydro turbines on the sides of the rivers across the state, it is enough to use part of the 18,000 miles of rivers that are not marked as wild areas. We can add as many as we need based on the population and the consumption rate. If we use only 20% of these non-wild riversides on both sides of each river within a one-mile distance that means we can easily install 7,200 microturbines. With an average of 100 KW generator size for these turbines, we can generate more than 6.3 million MWh of electricity every year. This generated electric energy equals almost 5% of our total energy generation in the state.

I understand that my proposal did not bring even 10% alternative energy generation for the State of New York, but my vision was to solve the issue and the impacts of waste generation in the state. As I mentioned before, waste should not be impacting our health and our nature anymore.

It is time to bring all technological solutions to eliminate all impacts from solid waste, industrial, and wastewater responsibly and beneficially that concentrates first on protecting the environment and making beneficial use of these types of waste. In my perspective, this is a good method to reuse our waste and a better waste management method.

The State of New York has already a very great plan to use wind, solar, and hydropower to generate alternative clean and renewable energy in a short term. This plan must inspire all of us to be more creative and to get more involved in achieving these goals of the state sooner and smoother. This is about every one of us, about our environment, about our future, and about securing a safe sustainable future for generations to come. Our mission is possible, and it is a very noble mission that would have great benefits which would not stop by the borders of the State of New York. I would like to repeat the words I heard from one of the officials on Long Island, when New York starts many others always follow.

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I want to thank Professor Elijan Avdic who guided me through this outstanding course to gain more knowledge and a better understanding of the field of renewable energy. I would like to thank all my amazing colleagues at the ENGY 775 course for making this course a very special opportunity to learn more about this field. I appreciate the great quality of their posts which helped me a lot.

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References: Works Cited Appropedia. www.appropedia.org/Biogas_from_human_waste.

Bio Gas Channel. www.biogaschannel.com/en/video/industry-and-wwt/5/encina-wastewaterauthority-750000-cubic-feet-of/1196/.

Environmental

and

Energy

Study

Institute.

www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-

biogasconverting-waste-to-energy.

Ideas Online. www.ideassonline.org/public/pdf/TurbulentTurbine-ENG.pdf.

New York ISO. www.nyiso.com/.

Office of the NEW YORK STATE COMPTROLLER, www.osc.state.ny.us/files/localgovernment/publications/pdf/landfills2018.pdf#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Department%20of%20Environmental%20Conser vation%20%28DEC%29%2C,landfills%20%2847%20percent%2C%20or%2085%20out%20of %20180%29.

Spreds. www.spreds.com/en/compartments/3663-turbulent.

US Energy Information Administration. www.eia.gov/state/rankings/.

US Energy Information Administration. www.eia.gov/energyexplained/biomass/landfill-gasand-biogas.php.

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