Identifying Land For Energy Production

The public can determine the potential of contaminated properties to become wind or solar energy sites by using tools unveiled by EPA and the Department of Energy last week. The online tools will help local governments, property owners, and others identify desirable and economically sound sites for renewable energy production without the need to hire technical experts, EPA says. The tools combine DOE’s know-how about renewable energy technology and EPA’s experience in returning polluted sites to productive use. “Opportunities to install renewable energy systems on vacant properties can be found in every community,” says Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest. Tapping sun and wind at abandoned industrial lands, hazardous waste sites, and landfills, as well as parking lots and commercial and industrial rooftops, could provide gigawatts of clean energy, Blumenfeld says. The agency estimates that the U.S. has some 15 million acres of contaminated lands at 490,000 sites.