[Judy Pino] 
As rising energy costs continue 
to grab headlines, 
Americans are paying more 
attention to alternatives 
to fossil fuels.
Renewable energy sources such as 
solar, wind, and biomass power 
hold great promise, 
but communities struggle 
with where to build 
these facilities. 
Hello and welcome 
to Green Scene, 
EPA's environmental podcast 
series that you can take 
with you.  
I'm Judy Pino.
EPA has recently developed 
a series of state maps that 
show thousands of contaminated 
properties across the country  
that have potential to host 
renewable energy facilities.
And here to tell us more about 
this very interesting project 
is Penny McDaniel from EPA's 
Office of Solid Waste 
and Emergency Response.
Penny, welcome.
[Penny McDaniel] 
Thank you.
[Judy Pino] 
Well, let's start with 
the basics, shall we? 
Let's explain to the audience 
just what is renewable energy.
[Penny McDaniel] 
Well, renewable energy 
comes from sources 
that are readily 
replenished.
They are continually 
replenished, 
and we are familiar 
with some of those, 
such as wind and solar and 
some forms of biomass. 
[Judy Pino] 
That's right.
You mentioned solar, 
wind, and biomass.
Let's talk about 
how these work.
[Penny McDaniel] 
Okay, well, the general concept 
is that we can take -- 
using various technologies, 
we can take the energy 
that's stored in sun and in the 
wind and in various sources 
of biomass and we can convert 
those into usable sources 
of energy, like electricity 
and fuels. 
[Judy Pino] 
And that works the same 
for wind and biomass? 
[Penny McDaniel] 
Well, there are different 
technologies to harness 
that energy. 
So, for solar, for example, 
you can use photovoltaic 
panels to take the sun and 
convert that into electricity.
For wind you can use wind 
turbines to capture the 
wind, if you will, 
the motion of the wind, 
and turn that into 
electricity as well.
And biomass comes from sources 
of biological material, 
organic material that can 
be harnessed in a variety 
of ways to produce electricity 
and fuels, alternative fuels.
[Judy Pino] 
Now, why is renewable energy 
important right now? 
We hear about it all 
the time, right? 
[Penny McDaniel] 
Well, renewable energy 
is important right now 
because as traditional sources 
of energy are rising in costs, 
as we've seen a lot in 
the news these days, 
it makes other non-traditional 
sources of energy such as 
renewable energy, solar, wind, 
biomass, more cost effective.
In addition, we hear a lot 
in the news about energy 
independence and 
energy security, 
and -- yeah, and these -- 
you know, development of 
renewable energy.
And adding that to our 
portfolio of energy 
in this country really lends 
itself to getting us to that 
point of energy independence 
and security.
[Judy Pino] 
And of course, the concern 
of greenhouse gas emissions. 
[Penny McDaniel] 
Of course.
So, using renewable energy 
is a much cleaner way 
of providing energy to homes 
and to our businesses.
They have fewer 
greenhouse gases, 
and in a time of concern about 
the effects of climate change, 
it's ever more important 
to explore those options.
[Judy Pino] 
And we all know that renewable 
energy technologies 
are becoming more 
and more efficient.
[Penny McDaniel] 
They are.
The technologies are improving 
all the time and they 
are becoming more efficient and 
therefore more cost effective. 
[Judy Pino] 
Now, your office has been 
looking at contaminated 
lands as sites for 
renewable energy. 
What is the connection between 
contaminated lands 
and renewable energy? 
[Penny McDaniel] 
Well, to site a renewable 
energy production facility, 
say, for example, a solar 
field or a wind farm, 
you need land.
And many of these EPA-tracked 
sites or contaminated lands 
offer a lot of the amenities, 
if you will, 
that are necessary for citing 
these types of energy 
production -- renewable energy 
production facilities.
[Judy Pino] 
Now, Penny, let's define 
"contaminated lands." 
If they're contaminated, 
are they safe?
[Penny McDaniel] 
So, contaminated lands are 
lands that have been used 
in the past by industry and 
mining operations that have 
led to releases of hazardous 
substances into the environment 
that pose a risk to human health 
or the environment and require 
that EPA get involved 
and clean them up. 
So, what we have done is 
in many of these -- 
in many of these sites we have 
cleaned them up and gotten 
them to a point for reuse 
so that they are ready for 
reuse and redevelopment with 
facilities such as renewable 
energy production 
facilities. 
[Judy Pino] 
And what makes these lands 
better than any other type 
of land to be used for 
renewable energy?
[Penny McDaniel] 
Well, they're a great 
opportunity for 
developing renewable
energies.
As I mentioned a little bit 
earlier, they provide a lot 
of the infrastructure that is 
needed for siting renewable 
energy facilities, such as 
transmission lines and roads 
for access and railways 
for access. 
And many of these lands 
have been zoned properly 
for siting these types 
of facilities, 
so they're zoned for industrial 
and commercial use so that you 
don't need to go through 
that process of rezoning.
[Judy Pino] 
Not to mention a source 
of employment. 
[Penny McDaniel] 
There are -- some of these 
sites have in the past 
provided jobs to the 
local communities, 
such as large industrial 
facilities and mining sites, 
but when those closed 
up and left, 
many of the jobs
went with them.
So we see this as an 
opportunity to provide, 
if you will, green collar 
jobs for the operation 
and maintenance of the renewable 
energy facilities as well as, 
you know, even manufacturing 
components for the 
wind turbines and 
the solar panels. 
[Judy Pino] 
Okay, so let's talk about EPA's 
new resource for information 
specifically on 
this subject.
[Penny McDaniel] 
Okay, well, what we've 
done is we worked with 
the National Renewable Energy 
Lab, and we have combined 
their data on renewable energy 
sources with our data 
on available lands 
for redevelopment, 
and we together have come up 
with criteria to screen out 
these sites, so we ended up 
with a nice, robust list of 
EPA-tracked sites or 
contaminated lands 
that qualify, if you will, for 
renewable energy development.
[Judy Pino] 
In all 50 states, 
and you guys have 
a lot of cool stuff on 
this site: virtual map, 
also fact sheets and 
everything else, 
information incentives, 
and Google Earth so you 
can see the actual 
land space available. 
[Penny McDaniel] 
That's right.
We've developed maps, 
as you've mentioned, 
for all states, so you can see, 
and anybody who's interested 
can see the renewable energy 
potential on EPA-tracked 
sites in their state for 
wind, solar, and biomass.
We've also developed incentive 
sheets that outline the 
financial incentives for 
developing renewable energy 
as well as incentives for 
developing contaminated lands.
[Judy Pino] 
Now, of course you 
can find that at 
epa.gov/renewableenergyland. 
Who can use
these tools?
[Penny McDaniel] 
Well, anybody who's interested 
in developing renewable energy, 
such as developers, renewable 
energy developers, communities, 
municipalities, states.
States are -- many states have 
renewable portfolio standards 
and they are looking for 
ways of meeting those 
renewable portfolio standards 
that require a certain 
percentage of renewable energy 
production in their state.
[Judy Pino] 
And what a great way to 
revitalize impaired lands 
while putting them back 
to productive use.
Well, thanks, Penny McDaniel 
with EPA's Office of Solid 
Waste and Emergency Response, 
for being with us.
And to learn more about 
renewable energy development 
potential on contaminated lands, 
please visit 
www.epa.gov/renewableenergyland. 
See you next time 
on Green Scene.