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Frequently Asked Questions on Renewable Energy on Contaminated Land and Mining Sites
- What is Renewable Energy?
- What are contaminated lands and mining sites?
- Why does it make sense to site renewable energy on contaminated lands and mining sites?
- What is EPA's RE-Powering America's Lands Initiative?
- What are the EPA Renewable Energy Maps and Data?
- What process did EPA use to develop these maps?
- What are the Incentive Fact Sheets?
What is Renewable Energy?
Renewable energy is energy obtained from sources that can be continually replenished, such as solar, wind, and biomass. Unlike fossil fuels - which will eventually be depleted - renewable energy technologies provide a lasting source of energy. Use of renewable energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions, decreases dependence on foreign oil, and provides domestic economic development opportunities. Renewable energy technologies discussed on these pages include wind, solar (Photovolatics and Concentrating Solar Power), and biomass (biorefinery and biopower). Other clean and renewable energy sources include hydropower, geothermal, tidal power, methane gas to energy, and biomass direct-combustion and other biomass to energy conversion technologies. You can read more about renewable energy on EPA's clean energy page.
What are contaminated lands and mining sites?
Over time, hundreds of thousands of properties and millions of acres across the country have been damaged by pollution. In many places, government, private, and non-profit organizations are working with each other to assess, restore, and return these unproductive properties to sustainable and beneficial uses that are protective of health and the environment. EPA and other government agencies manage multiple programs to cleanup and revitalize contaminated properties. You can learn more about EPA's cleanup programs on EPA's Cleanup page.
Why does it make sense to site renewable energy on contaminated lands and mining sites?
The Department of Energy's U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that renewable energy demand will grow by 31% over the next 25 years. Renewable energy generation is projected to increase by 45 percent over that same period. Where will these new renewable energy facilities be built, and what will the demands be on green space? There are several reasons why contaminated lands and mining sites make exceptional locations for clean and renewable energy development. Those reasons include:
Many EPA tracked lands, such as large Superfund and RCRA sites, and mining sites offer thousands of acres of land, and may be situated in areas where the presence of wind and solar structures are less likely to be met with aesthetic opposition.
These EPA tracked lands have existing electric transmission lines and capacity and other critical infrastructure, such as roads, and are adequately zoned for such development. The avoided new infrastructure capital and zoning costs is often significant.
Whether it is a long-term lease or outright purchase, EPA tracked lands may have lower overall transaction costs than greenfields due to the relative ease of acquisition of large swaths of land from one or few owners, versus acquisition of greenfields from potentially numerous landowners.
Redevelopment of EPA tracked lands for "green" energy production can help reduce the stress on greenfields for construction of new energy facilities, and can provide clean, emission-free energy.
Many EPA tracked lands are in areas where traditional redevelopment may not be an option because the site may be remote, or may simply be saddled with environmental conditions that are not well suited for traditional redevelopment such as residential or commercial.
Some EPA tracked lands such as industrial, manufacturing, and mining sites were once operations that provided jobs for the local communities. However, once these facilities ceased operations, these same communities were left with fewer jobs. The development, operation and maintenance of renewable energy facilities on these same sites may reintroduce job opportunities.
EPA tracks approximately 489,000 sites and 14.9 million acres of potentially contaminated land and abandoned mine land across the United States. Cleanup goals have been achieved and controls put in place to ensure long-term protection for more than 917,000 acres of this EPA tracked land. Some of EPA's tracked land includes abandoned mine lands; preliminary analysis has shown that there are at least 3.2 million acres of abandoned mine land tracked by EPA and other sources. This leaves open many potential opportunities to develop renewable energy facilities on these sites, and coordination and partnerships among federal, state tribal and other government agencies, utilities, the private sector and communities, will only help advance renewable energy production.
What is EPA's RE-Powering America's Lands Initiative?
EPA is taking a multi-pronged approach to encouraging reuse of EPA tracked land and mining sites into clean and renewable energy production facilities, by conducting the below activities. These activities and tools are useful for: developers, environmental managers, land managers, private industry, communities, local, state, and federal energy officials, or anyone with an interest in promoting renewable energy projects on contaminated lands and mining sites.
Working with the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) to identify Brownfields, RCRA, Superfund and mining sites with wind, solar, and biomass development potential;
Outlining state and federal incentives for developing clean and renewable energy facilities and utilizing contaminated lands;
Supporting pilot projects that assess potential wind and solar generation potential at EPA contaminated lands and mining sites;
Estimating the greenhouse gas benefits from siting clean and renewable energy on contaminated lands and mining sites;
Seeking input from stakeholders to determine the need for additional site redevelopment and reuse tools such as liability release provisions; and
Conducting outreach to highlight how EPA can support clean and renewable energy development on contaminated properties and mining sites.
What are the EPA Renewable Energy Maps and Data?
EPA has developed maps showing contaminated lands and mining sites with renewable energy generation potential for siting energy production facilities and incorporating smaller-scale renewable energy production as part of another type of redevelopment, such as housing, commercial or industrial projects. US and state-specific maps of each renewable energy type are available on the Renewable Energy Mapping and Data page and site-specific information is available through an interactive Google Earth tool on the Renewable Energy Interactive Mapping Tool page.
What process did EPA use to develop these maps?
To develop the maps, EPA worked closely with the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). NREL and EPA collected renewable energy resource information and merged it with EPA and state data on contaminated lands and mining sites across the country. The mapping analysis applied basic screening criteria such as distance to electric transmission lines, distance to roads, renewable energy potential, and site acreage, in order to identify EPA tracked lands that might be good candidates for solar, wind, or biomass energy production facilities. This is an important but high-level screening analysis, designed as an entry to those interested in conducting detailed site-specific evaluations of development potential.
The complete methodology behind this project is available on the Renewable Energy Mapping and Data page.
What are the Incentive Fact Sheets?
The Incentive Fact Sheets page provides information on renewable energy generation and EPA-tracked land redevelopment incentives in each state.