By developing renewable energy on abandoned or underused industrial sites, Michigan could create 17,500 jobs and bring $15 billion in new investments to the state, all while creating enough electricity to power nearly half the state’s homes, according to a new report from MSU’s Land Policy Institute.

The roughly 44,000 acres of so-called brownfields where wind and solar power could be harvested offer “a prime opportunity to expand Michigan’s renewable energy capacity,” said LPI Director Soji Adelaja.

Converting the brownfields could help the state meet the target set last year of meeting 10 percent of its energy needs with renewables and increased efficiency by 2015.

-Andy McGlashen