New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and other city leaders unveiled a pollution abatement program at the city’s wastewater treatment plants that uses fuel cells to convert waste gas into energy that can power the facilities. The Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP’s) 26th Ward wastewater treatment plant in Brooklyn has been equipped with two 200-kW fuel cells that provide a significant portion of the facility’s electricity needs. The two fuel cells are among eight that the New York Power Authority (NYPA) partnered with DEP to install at wastewater treatment plants in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. The fuel cells are designed to operate an anaerobic digester gas (ADG), a byproduct of the wastewater treatment process, primarily made up of methane and carbon dioxide. The fuel cells harness the ADG to produce electricity and thermal energy through a chemical reaction rather than combustion.

— compiled by J.J. Siegel

Publication date: 03/22/2004