Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Attributed to the Building Sector in New York City

Author(s):  
John Lee ◽  
Carter Strickland ◽  
Jennifer Bienemann
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jen Roberton ◽  
Stephan Schmidt ◽  
Rodney Stiles

<p>The launch of app-based for-hire vehicle (FHV) services like Uber and Lyft has led to increased mobility options, but the associated increase in vehicular traffic has also presented challenges. In New York City, the number of FHVs tripled between 2010 and 2019, to over one hundred thousand, due to the advent of such companies. This study seeks to understand the impact this increase in FHV usage has had on greenhouse gas emissions in New York City. The study uses data collected by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, which regulates the FHV and taxi industries, and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, which publishes the City’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory. The main result of the study is that although the overall per-vehicle efficiency of the fleet has improved, the high growth in registered vehicles has led to emissions from FHVs and taxis increasing 66 percent from 2010 to 2018. Electric vehicles present an opportunity for emissions reductions in New York City’s FHV fleet if barriers to vehicle adoption are adequately addressed and if adoption of EVs does not outpace vehicle attrition. </p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jen Roberton ◽  
Stephan Schmidt ◽  
Rodney Stiles

<p>The launch of app-based for-hire vehicle (FHV) services like Uber and Lyft has led to increased mobility options, but the associated increase in vehicular traffic has also presented challenges. In New York City, the number of FHVs tripled between 2010 and 2019, to over one hundred thousand, due to the advent of such companies. This study seeks to understand the impact this increase in FHV usage has had on greenhouse gas emissions in New York City. The study uses data collected by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, which regulates the FHV and taxi industries, and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, which publishes the City’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory. The main result of the study is that although the overall per-vehicle efficiency of the fleet has improved, the high growth in registered vehicles has led to emissions from FHVs and taxis increasing 66 percent from 2010 to 2018. Electric vehicles present an opportunity for emissions reductions in New York City’s FHV fleet if barriers to vehicle adoption are adequately addressed and if adoption of EVs does not outpace vehicle attrition. </p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hsu ◽  
Ting Meng ◽  
Albert Han ◽  
Daniel Suh

Buildings and energy systems are shaped within many different kinds of departments and agencies throughout local governments. This article argues that further opportunities exist to reduce the energy use of buildings and their associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through the existing powers and jurisdiction of local governments. We use the example of New York City, where buildings produced 73 percent of all GHG emissions in 2014. By analyzing a data set of almost four thousand large buildings, we identify new opportunities for planners and other professionals to reduce energy use and GHG emissions by focusing on different mechanisms and/or collaborations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raghul Elangovan ◽  
Ondrea Kanwhen ◽  
Ziqian Dong ◽  
Ahmed Mohamed ◽  
Roberto Rojas-Cessa

New York City’s food distribution system is among the largest in the United States. Food is transported by trucks from twelve major distribution centers to the city’s point-of-sale locations. Trucks consume large amounts of energy and contribute to large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, there is interest to increase the efficiency of New York City’s food distribution system. The Gowanus district in New York City is undergoing rezoning from an industrial zone to a mix residential and industrial zone. It serves as a living lab to test new initiatives, policies, and new infrastructure for electric vehicles. We analyze the impact of electrification of food-distribution trucks on greenhouse gas emissions and electricity demand in this paper. However, such analysis faces the challenges of accessing available and granular data, modeling of demands and deliveries that incorporate logistics and inventory management of different types of food retail stores, delivery route selection, and delivery schedule to optimize food distribution. We propose a framework to estimate truck routes for food delivery at a district level. We model the schedule of food delivery from a distribution center to retail stores as a vehicle routing problem using an optimization solver. Our case study shows that diesel trucks consume 300% more energy than electric trucks and generate 40% more greenhouse gases than diesel trucks for food distribution in the Gowanus district.


Climate Law ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Zahar

Despite the hopeful prediction in the New York Times story, we are very far from being able to use satellites to verify compliance with the Kyoto Protocol’s caps on greenhouse gas emissions of Annex I states. The problem is not only one of insufficiently developed or installed technology. “Satellite verification” would also mean changing the current system of reporting-and-review of state emissions, opening it up to independent scrutiny, and making it less forgiving of state evasiveness and ambiguity about emissions than it is now. Some states will be interested in this proposal and others will not. In any event, the current MRV system, built on bottom-up state reporting, will remain the dominant framework of international GHG emissions knowledge for the foreseeable future. To safeguard its own credibility, it must progressively be strengthened. In this article I outline the existing verification regime’s main shortcomings and argue that the most efficient way around them is to incorporate into the current MRV system top-down (satellite and surface) measurements, resolved by modeling software at the state level, and produced by independent scientific experts in cooperation with the UNFCCC.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document