Locating Renewable Energy Facilities on Brownfield Sites

DOE's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and USEPA  are actively promoting the redevelopment of Brownfield sites for renewable energy projects. The program goes by the name of "RE-Powering America's Land: Siting Renewable Energy on Potentially Contaminated Land and Mine Sites" (RE-Powering America's Land).  See web page at http://tinyurl.com/lefkry
An excellent overview article by Sari Kreiger appeared in the WSJ earlier this week:  http://tinyurl.com/38lryaa. 

This two-for-one campaign is a reincarnation of the "Brightfields" program of 10 years ago, which did not attract much attention.  It merits attention this time around because it is supported by a number of federal grant and loan programs, including substantal Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.  Combining renewable energy with Brownfields redevelopment therefore opens the door to diversified and potentially significant project funding resources  . 

As part of the program, EPA is conducting an evaluation of numerous  traditional Brownfield sites as well as abandoned mining properties, to determine the type and extent of renewable energy development that would be sustainable at each.  This effort has already produced an inventory of such sites which can be accessed on line by potential developers.

EPA Region III sites being evaluated include: 1) The Jeddo Tunnel in Drums, PA, which receives contaminated runoff from several abandoned mining areas(Evaluation for hydro-turbine facility); and 2) Several former chemical plant properties in Nitro, WV (Evaluation for solar facility).

The program is also considering the feasibility of including former gasoline service stations, with a feasibility study due to be completed later this year.