At the Alternative Energy Investment Symposium in New York this morning, Jonathan Mir, a director at Lazard's global power and energy group, spoke about his firm's participation in the development of
Plan NYC 2030, Mayor Bloomberg's blueprint for upgrading New York's infrastructure and environmental plan as the city grows over the next 20 years.
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Among the issues that the plan addresses are:
- reducing energy consumption by making government more energy efficient
- devote resources to pulling in renewable energy projects
- cleaning up wastewater
- electrical grid upgrades
- initiatives that improve transportation such as making all taxis hybrid vehicles
Mir said there is a "groundswell of support for renewable energy resources at the local and state levels in the U.S." to fueling changes at the Federal level. He added that older cities are great places to implement plans like NYC 2030 due to their density and because the age of their infrastructures makes retrofitting yield immediate.
"The benefits of upgrading are so large that it creates its own economic incentives," he said. "The benefits of upgrading a five-year-old boiler are slim, but the benefits of upgrading a 100-year-old boiler are enormous."
Mir said that changes made by New York City reap large rewards because "everything that New York City does is on a big enough scale that it immediately begins to spur change." He also thinks that "Plan NYC will serve as a road map for other municipalities around the country because it's so comprehensive." — George White
See Plan NYC 2030
See additional coverage of the Alternative Energy Symposium
