Central New York might soon have a 'green' power plant to provide cheaper energy to the city and school district and also work towards lowering pollution.
The Siemens Corp. is planning to build the plant which will use willow trees to extract energy. The process for extraction is called gasification and willow trees are a sound choice for it owing to the fact that they can be harvested within 3 years of planting.
Mayor Driscoll said New York would sign a 20-year contract to buy power from the plant which is projecting savings of 30 percent over current electricity rates. Siemens is still awaiting approval from the Syracuse Common Council and environmental permits.
The proposed facility will also significantly reduce carbon pollution to the tune of if 40,000 cars were removed from the road.
Siemens has also built a gas-fired plant for Monroe County and a gasification plant in Georgia that extracts gas from carpet scraps!
Siemens is partnered on the New York green plant project by the State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry that will help Siemens acquire fuel for the plant.
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