New York City announced plans to begin building solar power plants on capped landfills as part of an update to the city’s 4-year-old PlaNYC environmental road map.

How awesome an idea is that? Taking all the closed landfills and using that land to build solar farms? What else can you do with it? No one is going to want to buy ahouse that’s been built on top of a capped landfill; though I’m surethere are many contractors who have done just that.

New York plans to stop using heavy oils to heat buildings, instead using solar power from the plants built on capped landfills. Reports indicate thatphasing out the oils would reduce airborne fine particle matters, whichare apparently killing about 3,000 New Yorkers annually and sendinganother 6,000 to emergency rooms with asthma symptoms.

 This is the first update to New York’s 4-year-old environmental plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2030. The dumpsite renewable energy plan was originally launched on Earth Day 200, and here we are fouryears later and Mayor Bloomberg is finally announcing plans to beginbuilding? It’s sinful how slow the wheels of progress move.

Green resources report that New York will be looking at other potential public-privatepartnerships for renewable energy projects, in addition to the solardumpsites

According to the Environmental Protection Agency there are over 3,000 active landfills in the U.S., and more than 10,000 old municipallandfills. That’s 10,000 potential solar farms. Somebody better jump onthis idea, STAT. Oh that’s right, New York is already doing it. So whatabout the other 49 States? I know of an old landfill out in Antiochthat’s got nothing better growing on it than weeds. Do we have to waitfour years to do some green good? There can’t be too many environmental disruptions to consider on a capped landfills, can there?

That’s my problem; I’m always trying to simplify things. I’d make a terrible politician.

Source:

CBS New York

Zero Waste America

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