Greening the Brownfields of Thermal Power Plants in Rural Areas, an Example from Romania, Set in the Context of Developments in the Industrialized Country of Germany

Abstract

This paper describes the greening of ash dumps from two thermal power plants located in Romania, in the villages of Mintia and Doicești, two rural areas neighboring middle-sized cities, both with architectural, archaeological and landscape heritage. Currently, the two Romanian villages have different fates in the context of shrinking cities, and solutions from the industrialized country of Germany that are more advanced in closing polluting thermal power plants are examples of this. Thus, the greening of industrial waste is one of the current challenges of the energy shift towards renewable energy. Nature-based solutions such as the proposed use of the biodegradable geo-textile in the greening is one of the current trends. The development of the biodegradable geo-textile was contemporary with the creation of the International Building Exhibition (Internationale Bauaaustellung—IBA) Emscher Park in the ancient industrial coal mining Ruhr area, in Germany; later research, around 10 years ago, explored soil pollution at these two Romanian thermal power plants. A recent research study investigated the conversion of the industrial buildings of the thermal power plant in Doicești, however, these buildings were demolished at the end of last year. Mintia thermal power plant continues to function. This paper explores the current challenges of industrial brownfields, energy shift, ecology, the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris and “Laudato si”, spanning 30 years of history and the legacy of the research over this time.