Through the RE-Powering Americas Land Initiative, EPA is encouraging the development of renewable energy on contaminated land and mine sites that have been cleaned up and revitalized, as an alternative to developing renewable energy on previously undeveloped land.EPA is taking a multi-pronged approach to encourage the reuse of contaminated land and mine sites for renewable energy production, by:
-Demonstrating the potential of contaminated land and mine sites for renewable energy.
-EPA has partnered with the Department of Energys National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop criteria to evaluate contaminated land and mine sites across the country for wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and landfill gas methane development potential.
Using this criteria, EPA has evaluated EPA tracked Brownfields, RCRA, Superfund, landfill, and abandoned mine sites for renewable energy potential. EPA has evaluated more than 11,000 EPA-tracked sites and nearly 15 million acres with potential for developing solar, wind, biomass and geothermal facilities.
In partnership with NREL, supporting pilot projects at assessment sites to evaluate the feasibility of developing renewable energy at EPA contaminated land and mine sites. Projects at assessment sites are being conducted to determine the best renewable energy technology for the site, the optimal location for placement of the renewable energy technology on the site, potential energy generating capacity, the return on the investment, and the economic feasibility of the renewable energy projects. Identifying state and federal incentives for developing renewable energy facilities and revitalizing contaminated land that can be layered upon one another.
Promoting success stories where renewable energy production facilities have been sited on contaminated land and mine sites.
Estimating the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that could be achieved from siting renewable energy on contaminated land and mine sites.
Conducting outreach to highlight how EPA can support renewable energy development on contaminated land and mine sites.
In addition, since the Initiatives launch in 2008, EPA has been seeking input from stakeholders to determine opportunities and barriers to reusing contaminated land and mine sites for renewable energy. During the fall and winter of 2009, EPA met with stakeholders from state and local government, the renewable energy sector, finance, utilities, land owners, parties responsible for cleaning up sites, community organizations and nonprofits to hear feedback on barriers to using contaminated sites for renewable energy and how to overcome those barriers. In 2010, EPA released the RE-Powering Americas Land Initiative Management Plan (PDF) (10 pp, 138K, About PDF), which describes activities EPA can take to build upon the progress that the initiative has achieved and will serve as a two-year roadmap to guide the initiatives activities.
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