Colonie

Right now, you can drive your electric car to the Albany International Airport, where it'll be charged while you're away.

But that's only the beginning. Sometime in the future, you'll board your commuter flight on an all-electric aircraft called Alice, while an electric tug, already in service, brings your checked bags planeside to be loaded on board.

Solar-powered LED lights will illuminate the airport's parking garage and terminal, while charging stations for your laptop and smartphone will also be powered by electricity produced by solar panels on the terminal rooftop and elsewhere on airport grounds.

In short, it will be a journey free of greenhouse gases. At least, that's the hope.

Climate change remains an existential threat to the planet, and initiatives such as those mentioned above may already be too little, too late.

But researchers, including many in the Capital Region, continue to pursue ways to ease those threats. Here's a sample of those efforts.



CDTA

Electric transit

The first of four electric buses ordered by the Capital District Transportation Authority arrived earlier this month, and the other three are expected imminently. The vehicles, at $900,000 apiece, are about $450,000 more expensive than the typical diesel bus. CDTA is getting assistance from the state to cover the additional cost.

But operating costs are expected to be considerably lower, with fewer moving mechanical parts and no need to pay for diesel fuel.

CDTA will put the new buses through their paces later this fall, operating them at all times of day, on all routes and in all conditions, said CDTA spokeswoman Jaime Watson.

Among the challenges: Cold weather and steep hills, both of which would drain the batteries more quickly, and the time it takes for the batteries to recharge.

The buses, manufactured by New Flyer of America, are expected to average from 160 to 200 miles between charges. For now, charging stations will be at CDTA's Albany bus garage.

CDTA CEO Carm Basile is considering making the new River Corridor Bus Rapid Transit route connecting Albany to Watervliet, Troy, Cohoes and Waterford, an all-electric route, because of the flat terrain that would boost the range between charges.

Power chips

Range is always a concern with an electric vehicle. Will it be able to reach the next charging station? What if it runs into a traffic jam or a detour?

Raleigh, N.C.-based Cree, which last week announced plans for a $1 billion production plant in the Utica suburb of Marcy, plans to produce silicon carbide power chips that could extend the range of an electric vehicle by 6 to 10 percent, said Howard Zemsky of Empire State Development. Alternatively, it could let the vehicle travel the same distance with a smaller battery.

Initially, production of the power chips will take place at an existing chip fabrication facility at SUNY Polytechnic Institute's Albany campus. It will move to SUNY Poly's Marcy campus following completion of its building there.

Aircraft inverters

General Electric's Global Research Center in Niskayuna will partner with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under a $12 million program to develop a one-megawatt inverter that would provide power to a single-aisle aircraft such as a Boeing 737.

An inverter basically turns direct current power from a battery or other source into alternating current that can be used by on-board motors or other equipment.

"We're essentially packing 1 MW of power into the size of a compact suitcase that will convert enough electric power to enable hybrid-electric propulsion architectures for commercial airplanes," said Konrad Weeber, Chief Engineer of Electric Power at GE Research, in a press release announcing the program.

"We'll use that lightweight motor and inverter to increase the efficiency of that aircraft through the air," said Kathleen O'Brien, GE technology director for electric power at the Niskayuna laboratory. "It'll take some time and changes in battery technology," she added, to make an all-electric aircraft in the scale of a 737.



Bloomberg photo by Jasper Juinen.

Electric aircraft

Cape Air, a Hyannis, Mass.-based commuter carrier that has a maintenance base at Albany International Airport, in June placed the first order an all-electric aircraft being developed by Israel-based Eviation Aircraft. Alice, as the aircraft is called, will have room for 10 people, a pilot and nine passengers.

That's the capacity of the fleet of Cessna 402 aircraft that Cape Air currently operates throughout the Northeast.

A spokeswoman for Eviation told the Times Union last week that Alice hasn't yet flown.

"We are currently in the process of gaining certification through the FAA and will be conducting test flights later this year," said spokeswoman Margaret Mouat. "Following test flights this year and certification in 2021, Eviation will begin shipping the aircraft for commercial use in 2022."

Cape Air spokeswoman Trish Lorino in June had called that timeframe "very ambitious," and said integrating Alice into the Cape Air fleet is much further down the road.

On Thursday afternoon, she said the carrier was no further in its Eviation project.

An Alice prototype was on display last June at the Paris Air Show.

Electric trains

Jeff Greenberg/UIG via Getty Images

On the Northeast Corridor, Acela trains zip along at 125 mph. New models being built at the Alstom Corp. plant in Hornell, Steuben County, will be able to reach 160 mph.

The first of the trains are expected to enter service in 2021, with the rest in place by 2022, replacing the first generation of Acela trains that have operated since 2000.

Might we someday see Acela-like trains on the Empire Corridor? Maybe.

More Information According to NYSERDA, here's the current registrations of battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles by local county and the market share of vehicle registrations: •Albany - 1,136 (0.59%)

•Rensselaer - 395 (0.39%)

•Saratoga - 843 (0.51%)

•Schenectady - 573 (0.5%)

•Schoharie - 57 (0.26%) See More Collapse

The draft environmental impact statement accompanying the state's high-speed rail initiative includes an alternative that would be electrified with overhead catenary lines, similar to what's in place now on the Northeast Corridor from Washington, D.C. to Boston.

That alternative, with a price tag in the $14 billion range, is unlikely to be built, observers say. But might the heavily traveled section between Albany and New York City be electrified someday?

That's something that has been discussed, said Bruce Becker, former head of the Empire State Passengers Association and currently vice president of operations at the Rail Passengers Association.

"Historically, the New York Central was looking at electrification" in the 1920s, he said last week. "During the Conrail era, there was a look at electrification, too, around the time of the energy crisis."

Both railroads previously owned the line up the Hudson to Albany.

Going electric would have a number of advantages: eliminating the moving parts of the diesel engine that drives a generator that produces electricity to power the motors that drive the wheels, as well as the need to refuel.

Locomotives are essentially "power stations on wheels," Becker said.

The upfront cost is a big disadvantage, however.

The tracks as far north as Croton are electrified with third-rail power. But trains typically can't travel faster than 80 mph on third-rail power, said Jack Madden, a retired employees of the state Department of Transportation. Currently, trains top out at 110 mph along the route just south of Rensselaer.

"Catenary is the way to go," Madden said.

Electric vehicles

Lori Van Buren

Tesla has installed a series of charging stations at both Colonie Center and at Guilderland's Crossgates Mall. The Albany County Airport Authority is preparing to add more charging stations to those it already has in place.

But there's still a price premium on electric vehicles, despite fewer moving parts and lower operating costs. And some may appear rather plain next to a Tesla or to Porsche's new electric model. Major manufacturers, however, continue to announce plans for a wider selection of electric vehicles.

Charging stations, while increasing in number, remain far fewer than what would likely be needed to make any inroads on the Capital Region's vehicle fleet.

And that's not even looking at the grid capacity needed to supply the extra demand, as well as new control systems to efficiently move renewable power from wind and solar farms in rural areas to where it's needed in towns and cities, according to O'Brien of GE in Niskayuna.

Electric sources

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's Green New Deal calls for 70 percent of New York's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030. That's up from 28 percent in 2017, the most recent figure available, said Doreen Harris, vice president of large-scale renewables at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

In an eight-county region including the five-county metropolitan area, more than 12,000 solar projects, many funded by Cuomo's $1 billion NY-Sun solar initiative, have been completed since the end of 2011.

Incentives also cover such equipment as electric-powered heat pumps that can warm or cool buildings efficiently.

And while proposals for new pipelines carrying fracked gas have faced stiff opposition, supporters have seen natural gas as an interim step to removing dirtier fossil fuels -- coal and oil -- from the environment.

There's an economic benefit to switching to renewable energy sources. Job growth in the clean energy sector has outpaced overall job growth, up 8.9 percent since 2016, said NYSERDA's Harris.

Locally, the Ports of Albany and Coeymans will serve as staging sites for two massive offshore wind projects in the Atlantic Ocean. The Port of Albany already serves as a transhipment point for wind turbine blades, nacelles and other equipment manufactured by General Electric in Florida and unloaded in Albany to be trucked to wind projects in the Northeast.

The offshore projects are expected to create 1,600 jobs, according to Cuomo, although those will be spread among several worksites.

The outlook

While New York is seeking to limit greenhouse gas emissions and get more of its electricity from renewables, the Trump administration is rolling back environmental standards that critics say will open the way to new coal plant projects.

Meanwhile, wind and solar have been growing more cost-competitive.

"From a climate perspective, (the offshore) wind projects bring great value to New York," Harris said. "It's technology that's driving these cost reductions, but also scale."

Battery technology is improving, enabling wind and solar farms to store electricity for when the wind isn't blowing or the sun isn't shining.

"Using battery energy storage to increase the energy capacity of (power) lines" can provide the power when it's needed, said O'Brien.

Are all these efforts enough? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will meet beginning Monday in New Delhi to look at how efforts to mitigate climate change through reductions of greenhouse gases are progressing. The first draft of their report, perhaps with some answers to that question, will be available in January.

This past week saw 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg taking world leaders to task for not doing more to tackle climate change.

"I'm a parent of four kids about Greta's age. Her energy is inspiring," Harris said. "She wants us to do something."

And, "rather than talking," Harris said, in New York "we're doing."