All over the world, people have left a mark upon the earth and the size of the ‘dump’ continues to grow as we produce more and more trash every year. Americans generate twice the amount of garbage as the rest of the world. The EPA estimates that we produce 4.6 pounds per day per person, which translates to 251 million tons per year that end up in the landfill.
How to turn all that trash into treasure? Enter: the solar landfill projects
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency there are 100,000 landfills across the nation that could benefit from the solar landfill projects. The Re-Powering America’s Lands Initiative from the EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) has identified the following reasons for placing renewable energy facilities on contaminated lands:
Thousands of acres of open space in areas where solar installations may be less likely to involve community concerns over aesthetics.
Contaminated lands have environmental conditions not well suited for commercial or residential zoning and are in low demand by real estate developers.
Electricity generated from renewable energy projects on contaminated or remediated lands can be used onsite, sold or credited for offsite use.
Turning a landfill into an energy producer is not a futuristic project as it is already taking place in many states. You can look here to read an article on waste management and clean energy that is being produced in Atlanta.
If you have ever visited a landfill or a dump and thought about the waste of land from all of our trash, you may take comfort in knowing that solar covers may convert that landfill into a renewable energy source.
Turning trash into energy.
You can watch the Youtube video here.
Sources:
NEWS
http://www.solarintegrated.com/landfills.html
http://www.getsolar.com/News/Solar-Energy-Facts/General/NRG%27s-Crane-Speaks-Up-for-Solar-Power-800641186
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/01/28/trash-today-electricity-tomorrow/#ixzz1CdQANr56