Benefits of a 100% renewable New York

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News and analysis by Dan Telvock, Investigative Post's environmental reporter

How does this sound for New Yorkers: saving $2,000 in annual energy costs.

Or saving $4,100 per person in energy, health and climate costs each year?

Those are just two estimates the Solutions Project presents if New York were to rely 100 percent on renewable energy by 2050.

Sound crazy?

Well, it isn’t. At least not to Mark Jacobson, a senior fellow at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, who partnered with scientists at Cornell University and University of California-Davis to research how feasible it would be to convert New York’s energy infrastructure to renewable wind, water and solar.

Their conclusion: it is feasible by 2030, and in doing so, could save a lot of money and energy, while creating more jobs.

If New York were to transition to 100 percent wind, water, solar energy by 2050, the graph below explains some other benefits.

Dan Telvock