# Environmental Footprint Assessment of a Cleanup at Hypothetical Contaminated Site
## 1 Introduction  
Over the last few years, a rapid increase is observed in the awareness and dialogue about the environment in general and, in particular, about the issues, such as sustainability, recycling, greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, and a greener world [1, 2, 3, 4]. In almost all spheres of life, people take a keen interest in understanding how goods are produced, how they are delivered and, eventually, how it all impacts the environment [5]. Within this context, the restoration of contaminated and toxic places is now also identified as a critical problem, which opens a wide discussion in the areas of policy, research, and practice at national and international levels [6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. At this point, the following question arises: \"Is there any environmentally friendly way to clean the environment?\" The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tries to answer this question by adding a new phrase to today's environmental lexicon: Green Remediation [12, 13]. Conventional and Green remediation are in contrast to each other in many perspectives. A conventional site remediation approach is normally based on (a) the effectiveness and appropriateness of the particular remediation method to meet the remedial goals; (b) ease of implementation; (c) remediation costs; and (d) remediation timeframe [14]. Green remediation, on the other hand, employs the idea of protecting human health and environment while minimizing the environmental side effects. It asks for (a) efficient use of natural resources and energy; (b) reduction in the negative impacts on the environment; (c) minimization or elimination of pollution at its source; and (d) reduction in waste to greatest possible extent [14]. Owing to the fact that the conventional approaches may not be sustainable as they overlook many ancillary environmental effects, there is an immense need of \"Sustainable\" or \"Green\" approaches which address environmental, social and economic aspects throughout the remediation process. One way of making the remediation process green could be analyzing the extent to which it is impacting the environment. Such analyses in a green remediation setting are often termed Environmental Footprint Analysis. Primarily, an environmental footprint highlights the aspects of a cleanup that dominates the footprint and then provides the opportunity to improve the remedy efficiency and effectiveness by implying a range of alternatives to the existing remedial system. Incorporating renewable energy sources into a cleanup activity can offer increased sustainability and long-term cost savings [15]. The use of renewable energy in remedial system designs is not a new idea, and it is already observed at various sites in the world. [PERSON] [15] identifies solar, wind, landfill gas, and biodiesel as the possible options that can be integrated into a remedy. The Saint St. Croix Alumina site in the Virgin Islands uses wind-driven turbine compressors (WDTC) to drive hydraulic oil \"skimmer\" pumps to recover free product (oil) from ground water. The system does not produce electricity to power pumps; instead, it uses compressed air generated by WDTCs. PV arrays and wind-driven electricity generators are also employed to power submersible pumps for oil, groundwater and petroleum hydrocarbon recovery [15]. Another application of renewable energy in remedial systems is the use of solar energy to pump water into and circulate through a bioreactor installed at the Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma, to remove TCE from ground water. This project is found to be cost effective in terms of avoiding construction of a power transmission line from the utility grid to the bioreactor's remote location [16]. The BP Paulsboro, a former petroleum and specialty-chemical storage facility, is being remediated by a large onsite pump and treat (P&T) system which is empowered by solar energy since 2003. Almost 20-25% electricity requirements are met by solar energy and for the rest the system relies on electricity from the utility grid.