“Mount Trashmore” Transformed Into Green Energy Generator

https://pixabay.com/en/solar-panel-array-power-sun-1591350/
Credit: Pixabay

The historically repulsive landfill located in Massachusetts, known as “Mount Trashmore” due to its potent smell, has been capped and transformed into a green renewable energy generator. At the beginning of the month, a brand new solar power system was opened, giving a cleaner purpose to the abandoned space at Thatcher Street in Brockton, Mass.

The city of Brockton, along with Onyx Renewable Partners (a company dedicated to solar system projects), celebrated the transformation. During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter referred to the relevance of the deal. “For the city to be able to take a closed landfill…and be able to now create this solar field here is a big win for the city and the residents.”

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/07/02/brockton-landfill-solar-power-green-energy-mount-trashmore/
Solar panels line the capped landfill in Brockton, Mass. Credit: WBZ-TV

Mayor Carpenter also added that “This has a substantial positive impact in Brockton’s efforts to reduce our carbon footprint. There’s also financial incentive”. The city agreed to buy power from Onyx’s solar energy system for 20 years, with an option to extend the deal. The purchase price amounts to $93.80 per megawatt hour.

Regarding the financial incentive, Mayor Carpenter explained that Brockton will receive 25% of the value of the energy generated at the site. This percentage will be received as net metering credits, which the city will be able to use to buy its own energy in the near future. In this context, the green energy system is expected to generate up to $320,000 in annual revenue.

This environmentally-motivated project is not the first from the state of Massachusetts. All along the Massachusetts Turnpike — also called the “Mass Pike” or Interstate 90 — the Mass. Department of Transportation in cooperation with private contractors decided to install solar panels rows. The installation occupied under-utilized land behind the highway shoulder, as well as donated residential and commercial plots.

These are big improvements for the state of Massachusetts considering in 1976 Congress had to pass the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act because all the trash was regularly dumped in colossal holes in the ground, which brought endless environmental risks and criticism. 

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