State leaders reveal new plan to revive wasted land hiding in plain sight: 'This is what most people consider a no-brainer'

As Michigan state searches for suitable sites to develop new solar projects on, state policy advocates suggest turning contaminated brownfields into sites for producing clean, renewable energy, Inside Climate News reported.

Brownfields are abandoned or underused industrial sites, such as former auto plants or landfills, that may be contaminated with industrial waste or harmful pollution. There are about 24,000 brownfield sites throughout the state, and even more throughout the country, which presents an abundance of underused or abandoned land.

Research has found that brownfields are correlated with a higher incidence of poorer health in surrounding communities — potentially due to the hazardous waste accumulated on the sites. Cleaning up brownfields could have an enormous impact on public health while helping to conserve wildlife habitats in greenfields, or undeveloped lands.

Kelly Thayer, senior policy advocate with Michigan's Environmental Law & Policy Center, sees a fantastic opportunity to remediate contaminated land while making productive use of the sites — turning brownfields into suitable spaces for future solar projects. Former coal plants would also make great hubs for solar projects, being that the infrastructure of tying to the electric grid already exists.

"Having that infrastructure saves millions in development, and saves time because it takes four or five years to add new energy resources to the grid," Thayer said, per Inside Climate News.

Alabama Power, one of the state's largest power utility companies, recently announced its plans to convert a former coal plant site into a battery energy storage system to store excess renewable energy.

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Simec Atlantis, a power company in Wales, is following suit, turning a retired coal plant into a large site to store and distribute excess renewable energy from clean energy sources, including solar and wind.

As Michigan invests more resources into making solar energy more widely accessible, consumers may find that home solar prices may be even more affordable than before.

Take advantage of the savings that solar offers after its relatively short payback period, which could mean you could enjoy almost two decades of low-to-no-cost energy bills. EnergySage has a free tool to help homeowners compare quotes from trusted local solar installers, helping homeowners save up to $10,000 on solar installation projects.

When it comes to exploring potential sites for renewable energy projects, "it's mostly for farmland," said Sarah Mills, director of Graham's Center for EmPowering Communities at the University of Michigan, per Inside Climate News. "'Why here? Why not a brownfield?' From a community acceptance perspective, this is what most people consider a no-brainer."