The use and progression of eco friendly products must be considered first to curb the results of global warming around the world. If you take all the abandoned and categorized former industrial sites and dumps throughout the U.S. and put them together, you get 14 million acres of inexpensive, accessible land that could be used as sites for brand new solar installations as well as wind farms. Right now the U.S. EPA is pushing ahead with just such a plan, with the National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL) helping to assess brownfields and Superfund sites for renewable power. The program is called Re-Powering America’s Land. It also has a green jobs angle, through Recovery Act financing. Many of the potential places can be found in or near existing communities and could provide new work opportunities for local residents.

But wait, there’s more. In addition to supplying brand new green jobs and thoroughly clean power for local use or perhaps the wider grid, the program additionally targets eco-friendly remediation, which makes use of renewable energy to power up products used for site clean-up. When you add that up – gathering clean power from land that is blighted and functional for nothing much otherwise, while generating jobs and restoring the particular site, you gotta wonder why anybody would like to keep on blowing up America’s mountain tops, compromising our water supply, and doing damage to the Gulf of Mexico in pursuit of fossil fuels.

Getting Back Land for Renewable Power

Among the actual fourteen million acres of classified land inside the U.S., conditions in the sites can differ widely. Along with brownfields and Superfund sites, EPA and NREL are looking at terrain classified within the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. That means the actual sites could range from individual abandoned factories with minimum hazardous resources involved, to a part of a toxic stew which blights a whole region, like the Hazleton area in Pennsylvania that includes the Jeddo Mine Tunnel, infamous for releasing countless gallons of contaminated water from abandoned mines every day for the past century.

Finding a Spot for Solar Arrays and Wind Farms

In addition to evaluating the places for factors that would enhance (or impede) power harvesting from the sun as well as wind, EPA along with NREL are also looking at the type of installation that a particular site could host. The conventional solar installation, for instance, doesn’t need a cornerstone to be dug, so it could very easily be installed on top of a capped land fill. For wind turbines, a system of concrete footings and supporting cables can be built, rather than burrowing directly into polluted ground.

A Brand New Energy Potential

It may be stated – so I’ll say it – that at one time non-renewable fuels rescued the U.S. from becoming a barren wasteland devoid of trees. Seriously, it is hard to think about how we could have powered up until now without burning each and every stick of wood across the nation. But times shift, and our traditional fuel friends have outlived their stay. They were of marginal use at the start of this country, and as we push into a brand new energy future they will return to that status. It’s merely a question of when, not if.

If you truly value your future, be eco friendly. We all could do this by using eco friendly products and engaging in environment helpful pursuits. We only have one world to exist in so we should stand up for it!

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