Cumberland considers putting solar array on landfill


Cumberland

Considers putting
Solar array on landfill

"Free Electricity for 25 Years"

CUMBERLAND — Officials are looking into installing a solar array on top of the town’s capped landfill, a project they say could allow Cumberland to generate cleaner energy from the sun while reducing its carbon footprint and shrinking expenses in the long run.

Town Manager Bill Shane has spent several months discussing proposals with Denny Gallaudet and Eric Fitz, members of the Cumberland Climate Action Team. Shane said the discussion began when the nearly complete expansion of the Central Fire Station, which has infrastructure that could support solar panels on the roof, led them to ask, “‘Could we do something bigger?'”

Cumberland officials were also inspired by South Portland, which installed a solar array on its capped landfill last year. Portland is among the other southern Maine communities planning to install solar panels atop old landfills, although the city ran into problems because of needed repairs to the landfill cap.

“It’s a very popular thing across the country, because landfill space is absolutely unusable,” Shane said, noting that Cumberland’s landfill is composed of about 4 acres of gently sloped land around which there are no trees. “It makes it great for solar capacity.”

Shane discussed the concept with ReVision Energy, which recently installed a 160-panel array at the Cumberland Animal Clinic on Greely Road, and they agreed a project would be feasible at the landfill.

The Town Council received data on the benefits, and Gallaudet and Fitz will make a formal presentation to the panel on Feb. 12.

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Comment by Bob Stone on February 5, 2018 at 11:40am

Let's see if any of Deborah Andrews points come up in the report.  It is sensible to assume that all costs, avoided expenses and revenues, be identified for the 20 (30?) year useful life of the investment.

Comment by Deborah Andrew on February 5, 2018 at 11:30am

I  wonder: how much CO2 would be sequestered if the land fill were to be covered with trees?  Can this be done?  The mining and manufacture of solar panels is extremely harmful to the environment.  Additionally, as the sun not only does not shine for 24 hours, there are days with no sun, snow covering the panels inhibits functioning as does dust.  And, they only have a life span of 20-30 years ... the decomissioning and replacement come at a high environmental cost as well.

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

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Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

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(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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