Does it have to be so complicated? : municipal renewable energy projects in Massachusetts

This thesis examines municipal implementation of renewable energy projects in Massachusetts. It explores projects that have been planned and completed, drivers for municipal adoption of renewable energy, the implementation experience, barriers, and key success factors. The data presented include a survey of Massachusetts municipalities, stakeholder interviews, and an in-depth case study of a solar Brightfield project implemented in Brockton, Massachusetts. The case study describes in detail the city's experience implementing a "Brownfields to Brightfields" solar project initiated through the US Department of Energy's Brightfields program. The Brockton Brightfield is a 425 kW utility scale solar array on a former brownfield site. The case study of Brockton's Brightfields experience reveals a series of obstacles and success factors that ought to be considered in future efforts to implement municipal renewable energy projects. The barriers include inadequate government resources and capacity building dedicated to program implementation; institutional policy barriers (requiring legislative fixes), and the complexity surrounding the joint action required to navigate the administrative processes involved. The thesis concludes with a series of policy recommendations.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Riberio, Lori A. (Lori Ann)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Lawrence Susskind.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37677

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/37677