OPINION: Protecting Brooklyn jobs, environment: Biodiesel fuel plant to open in Greenpoint
Many would be surprised to learn that the oil used to cook french fries can be turned into a safer fuel that can supply diesel vehicles. By spring 2015, we expect to open New York City’s first large scale biodiesel fuel production facility in Greenpoint. This new facility will produce a cleaner and safer domestic fuel, while also protecting more than 125 jobs.
The company that owned this facility on Newton Creek went bankrupt, and I acquired it last year. It was important to save these jobs and continue with plans to produce biodiesel fuel, which cuts emissions of harmful pollutants and also reduces our dependence on foreign oil. In addition, as Richard Mazur, executive director of the North Brooklyn Development Corporation recently publicly stated, “This facility is essentially taking industrial wasteland and turning it into a productive use of the land.”
Biodiesel is already being used by our New York City Parks Department to power their diesel-operated vehicles and equipment, and is also being used by the Departments of Sanitation and Transportation. Biodiesel recycles used vegetable oils and fats that is less toxic to our environment. Compared to petrodiesel, biodiesel contains less sulfur dioxide (a cause of acid rain), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (a pollutant that is linked to cancer), unburned hydrocarbons (a cause of smog that damages the lungs and aggravates respiratory problems), and carbon monoxide (a poisonous, colorless, odorless gas that causes smog).