After being briefed recently by the Union of Concerned Scientists about the impacts of global warming on New Jersey and the Northeast, the Governor noted that individual action was as important as the policy initiatives states like New Jersey are now implementing. "Citizens must know that they can make a tremendous difference by simply driving less, using mass transit and switching to energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs," he said at a Statehouse press conference.
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Sophisticated computer modeling is one of many tools and resources playing an important role in the formulation of the New Jersey Energy Master Plan.

Data on energy consumption, pricing, demographics, environmental factors, and supply and demand information are just some examples of the inputs being supplied for the EMP computer analysis. Its outcomes, expected in the coming weeks, will help inform the energy policy decisions Governor Corzine makes that are to become part of the draft scheduled for release and public comment in September.

My agency is working closely with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, the Center for Energy, Economic and Environmental Policy (CEEEP), the NJ Department of Transportation and the Rutgers Economic Advisory Service and other entities both in and out of government on the modeling efforts. Later this summer, we will begin to discuss the outcomes of the computer modeling within the main energy categories of electricity, space heating and transportation.
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The challenge leverages the resources of the NJBPU Office of Clean Energy with a partnership between NJDEP and Liberty Science Center, and its message to kids is: "Learn to change your energy habits! Your actions have potential!"

The challenge began July 16 and runs through Friday, Aug. 31. Students and guardians/parents work together, first to learn more about global warming at the State’s global warming website, then to put this knowledge to work to directly benefit their families and the world.

Participants conduct their own home energy analysis, using the step-by-step home energy audit at the BPU’s Clean Energy website. Then applying what they have learned about global warming and using the audit, they fill out the New Jersey Global Warming Summer Challenge submission form.

In July, revised, tougher regulations to curb vehicle idling, reduce a dire threat to public health and help us save fuel energy became effective.

Idling contributes to health problems. Soot from diesel exhaust is harmful because it penetrates into the lungs where it is linked to asthma, bronchitis, lung cancer, heart disease and premature death. Through the tougher rules, we expect to see a decrease in diesel emissions by 100 tons per year. The new regulations will also help New Jerseyans save on fuels costs.

The new rules eliminate most exemptions to the "three-minute" idling rule and impose penalties of $250 to $1,000 per day for each vehicle. They provide some special exemptions for in-service emergency vehicles such as police, fire and military vehicles.

Learn more about the DEP's diesel program (including grants for technologies proven to reduce idling and save fuel).

Member, EMP Committee

We at the NJDOT are taking an active role in working to minimize air and water pollution, reduce smog and save fuel energy.

On the Road. With rising gas prices and traffic volume on major roads predicted to grow 15-18 percent by 2015, we spun into an all-inclusive fuel saving mode last year, using a set of transportation initiatives to help commuters reduce auto trips and traffic congestion, improve ride sharing and provide new travel choices through our NJ Smart Workplaces and Best Workplaces for Commuters programs.

On the Job. We installed a one-megawatt back-up generator to supply uninterrupted power to a DOT facility in Cherry Hill that doubles as a disaster recovery site. The back-up generator allows the building to run "off-grid" during peak load periods when power is more expensive. In Elmwood Park, a new natural gas internal combustion engine will generate 750kW for uninterrupted power to the Traffic Operations North Control Center, which will also allow off-grid operations. At DOT headquarters, we are analyzing the overall lighting scheme to maximize efficiencies.

Around the state. Mark Stout, Assistant Commissioner for Planning and Development, heads our EMP team that includes NJ Transit and technical staff from the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University. Based significantly on the input of stakeholders who participated in the transportation working group workshop last February, the team has recommended a three-pronged strategy: First, that NJ support efforts to improve individual and whole-fleet efficiency. Second, that NJ promotes biofuels (such as ethanol) made from renewable sources. Third, that NJ continue to promote efficient, sustainable transportation choices including public transit and alternatives to cars such as walking, biking, and sharing rides. Another important element involves integrating land use with transportation planning.

Green engineering. Our planners and engineers are applying new solutions to a number of projects in which live plant materials mitigate impacts of roadway runoff, control erosion, stabilize stream banks and slopes and help restore landscape. Bioengineering can enhance a new alignment of a waterway after needed structural repairs so that ultimately fish and wildlife have a better habitat.

For the past year, representatives from the departments of Agriculture, Environmental Protection, and Commerce/Office of Economic Growth and Tourism Commission, the Board of Public Utilities, the Governor’s Office of Economic Growth and Rutgers University have studied issues that could help spur development of alternative fuels.

We have heard from a number of entrepreneurs about their ideas for creating bio-fuels, substances that can replace fossil fuels, or at least help stretch those disappearing resources, while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that fossil fuels add to our air.

While some are centered on growing crops to turn into energy, others seek to incorporate the vast waste streams that a densely populated state like New Jersey inevitably will produce.

We have seen the Danish company that specializes in turning trash and manure into electricity and biogas; the biodiesel producers working to turn waste grease into fuel; the new technology by which fast-growing algae can be turned into biofuels or used as a method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from other fuel-producing processes; and the prospective ethanol producer who plans to supplement the corn needed in his process with sugar-rich waste from beverage manufacturers.

Considering it wasn’t that long ago that our nation seriously began pursuing fuels from corn and soybeans, these new approaches to find even more sources of energy don’t seem all that far-fetched.

They also demonstrate why the Governor’s approach to the Energy Master Plan will be a key factor in its success. From the beginning, the resources of both the private and public sectors were engaged in a series of stakeholder meetings, from which an array of ideas on our state’s energy future have generated. Once the draft plan comes together in the coming weeks, another series of meetings will elicit additional public input.

Whether they are environmental or economic, energy from crops or from our current sources of waste, the effects of the Energy Master Plan will reach far into the next generation and beyond. We owe it to the current and future residents of this state to create a new reality of energy that is both economically and environmentally more secure.