Siting Renewable Energy Projects at Closed Solid Waste Landfills & Contaminated Sites

Agenda

9:00 Registration and Refreshments

9:30 Welcome and Opening Remarks

• Ira Leighton, Deputy Regional Administrator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1 – New England

9:45 Keynote: Advancing Renewable Energy

• Warren Leon, Director, Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust
• Role of renewable energy in achieving climate stability, and the opportunity that landfills and contaminated sites present as locations for renewable energy projects. Presenter will outline the benefits of the various renewable energy technologies, describe and compare the incentives that various northeast states are offering, provide views on how energy policy and market drivers, including carbon trading and climate action plans, are expected to influence the economics of smaller projects and offer views on next steps.

10:15 Break

10:30 SESSION 1 – A Panel on the Potential Uses for Solid Waste Landfills & Contaminated Sites in Climate Action Strategies

• Methane Capture & Use: Current Practices vs. Future Possibilities 20 min
  • Dennis Plaster, Innovative Energy Systems, Inc.
  • Current and possible future strategies for capturing, processing, storing, and using/delivering methane generated at landfills. Presenter will address environmental and energy permit issues as well as economic and climate policy considerations.
• Wind Turbines Carol Wasserman
  • EES Group, Inc.
  • Planning and permitting for the Hull Wind Turbine project, located atop Hull’s closed solid waste landfill, and opinions on changes that would accelerate renewable energy progress.
• Solar Arrays
  • Lori Ribeiro, Bluewave Strategies
  • Planning and permitting for the Brightfields Solar Project, located on a contaminated site in Brockton, MA, and opinions on changes that would accelerate renewable energy progress.
• Discussion, Questions & Answers

12:00 Working Luncheon

• Jeff Peterson, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
  NYSERDA’s strategic direction on renewable energy development.

1:00 SESSION 2 – Panel on Financial Incentives for Small Renewable Energy Projects & For Developing Contaminated Sites

• Energy Project Development Incentives
  • Dennis Plaster, Innovative Energy Systems
  • Renewable energy incentive programs and financing options that state energy agencies, and others, have developed that could assist public/private wind/solar/methane projects on landfills and contaminated sites in the northeast. Presenter will offer suggestions for measures that would facilitate renewable energy development.
• Contaminated Site Development Incentives
  • Catherine Finneran, MassDEP
  • State brownfields development incentive programs and financing options in the northeast, and how these could apply to alternative energy projects.
• Discussion, Questions & Answers

1:45 SESSION 3 – Panel on the Essential Characteristics of Successful Energy Projects

• Addressing Siting Challenges for Successful Energy Projects in the Northeast
  • Josh Berkow, BQ Energy, Inc.
  • The physical site characteristics and other issues, such as zoning and nimby, that affect wind, solar or methane project feasibility, and advice for facilitating more renewable energy projects on landfills and contaminated sites.
• Project Economics: Scale, User Type & Proximity, Financing, & Payback Period
  • Patricia Stanton, Clean Energy Markets
  • Project characteristics, such as size, grid connected or not, financing, and other considerations that govern project design and feasibility; and how RGGI and other policy initiatives should influence prospects for small renewable energy projects.
• Discussion, Questions & Answers

2:30 SESSION 4 – Discussion of Priorities for Facilitating Renewable Energy Projects on Waste Sites

• Facilitators: Elissa Tonkin (EPA Region 1) and Terri Goldberg (NEWMOA)
• Workshop speakers and other participants will join in a facilitated discussion to identify the actions by government/others that would most effectively promote and enable the development of renewable energy projects on closed landfills and contaminated sites. The product will be a list of activities/informational products that state environmental and energy agencies could implement to assist renewable energy projects on waste sites. Plans for follow-up activities will be discussed.

3:45 Wrap Up and Next Steps

4:00 Adjourn