Danskammer claims that their proposed energy center would produce 40 to 50% less emissions in comparison to the current plant. However, the current facility only runs about 20 days, or 5%, of the year. Considering that Danskammer advertises that their new plant would be expected to operate at 70% capacity, or 250 days of the year, the resulting local emissions would increase by over 7 times! (Photo: Jeff Anzevino)

Bio-mass is considered to be a renewable resource because the production-and-use cycle is continuous and doesn't generate any net carbon dioxide. Meanwhile, fossil fuels such as natural gas produce over 20 times the amount of CO2 emissions! Bio-energy solutions also produce relatively no SO2 and significantly less NOx. Therefore, our cleanest power solutions are ones that incorporate bio-mass. (Source: Researchgate.net)

The Danskammer proposal projects that a modernized facility would have more than $50 million tax impact over 15-20 years. That equates to an estimated $2.5 to 3.3 million per year. This represents a small fraction of former tax obligations.

A bio-gas facility requires a large amount of water to operate with the input amount being about twice that of the volume of other raw bio-fuel material. Most of the sewage sludge output from municipal waste plants (MWP) is water and would therefore be able to subsidize a majority of the plant's requirements. The Hudson River is also a potential source for this water, but an environmental impact study would need to be conducted to assess the potential water footprint and potential species depletion. There is also a municipal water supply available, but it is not ideal to use treated drinking water for this purpose. Other factors to consider for water sources include the inherent content in other raw material inputs. For example, bio-crops would contain a high amount of water depending on how it is stored and processed. Internal networks can also be designed to re-utilize water within the system.

There may be times when it may be economically attractive to run the bio-gas production facility off of electricity. In this scenario, the most sustainable solution is to use electricity that is created by renewable energy. Marcy South is composed of two 345 kV power lines that connects upstate to downstate New York. One circuit runs from Fraser Substation in Delaware County to March Station in Oneida County, and the other circuit runs from Coopers Corners Substation to the Marcy Substation. Therefore, hydropower, wind power, and solar power produced north of the city has the potential to drive the production of bio-gas. A strategic plan would allow the plant to take advantage of an excess renewable energy supply if there is a financially viable opportunity. The plant could take advantage of rate changes and be able to sell power back to customers on the grid at a higher price via renewable bio-gas energy.