Midtown fuel cell may be glimpse of the future

New York City’s latest foray into alternative energy looks more like a construction trailer than a 21st century technological breakthrough. But the beauty of a 28-foot-long white box atop a terrace in midtown Manhattan is much more than meets the eye.

This new type of fuel cell, humming above 52nd Street, generates 10 percent of the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers’ electricity while serving as a backup supply in case of a blackout. In doing so, it creates less than 7 percent of the pollution and greenhouse gases given off by a typical New York City power plant. It’s also engineered for efficiency, cannibalizing its own heat to create hot water for hotel guests and the laundry.

About half of the fuel cells in the city use a truly renewable fuel — human waste. Eight fuel cells at four city-owned wastewater treatment plants, located in Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx, are powered by a gas that is produced when bacteria break down sewage.

New York Newsday