In the past few years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified over 80,000 brownfields and municipal solid waste landfills across the country that could be used for renewable energy facilities. There are many benefits to reusing contaminated land for renewable energy, such as greater community support, protection of open space and valuable farmland and possibly shorter project approval timeframes. Many developers have adopted strategies to cost-effectively provide engineering controls, as well as activity and land use limitations that allow for safe redevelopment.

To support the redevelopment of brownfield sites, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched RE-Powering America’s Land, an initiative that encourages renewable energy development on current and formerly contaminated land, landfills, and mine sites when such development is aligned with the community’s vision for the site. 

In 2021, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law delivered the single-largest investment in U.S brownfield infrastructure ever. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests more than $1.5 billion through the EPA’s highly successful Brownfields Program. 

With federal support and many states passing legislation for aggressive renewable energy development goals, the country’s brownfields and closed landfills are sitting ripe for redevelopment.

That’s why instructors Lucia Woo, Darrell Thornock, and Lauren Rodriquez created the free course, Solar Development on Brownfields and Landfills

In this course, students will learn about:

  • The reasons to site renewable energy projects on contaminated land 
  • An overview of landfills and brownfield sites
  • Remediation and clean up requirements
  • Permitting requirements
  • Engineering design considerations 
  • Construction considerations
  • Successfully installed brownfield projects and key takeaways 

Ready to enroll? Sign up today for this informative free course on Solar Development on Brownfields and Landfills.