Renewable Energy resources (hydropower,
wind, geothermal, biomass and solar) are used to generate nearly 9
percent of all electricity in America. If hydropower is excluded,
renewable energy supplies 2 percent of our electricity. Energy experts
expect American renewable energy production to increase by 55 percent
between 2002 and 2025.
The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and
Bureau of Reclamation(BOR) make federal lands available for renewable
energy development. The Bureau of Indian Affairs(BIA) works with tribes
to develop renewable energy on tribal lands. Many Department of Interior
facilities-- office buildings, campgrounds, picnic sites, traffic signs,
weather stations, fire monitoring stations and visitor centers-- are
powered by wind and solar energy. In addition, the Department of
Interior purchases "green energy" from renewable sources. In
2003, the Department purchased 923 million watts of electricity from
renewable sources, which included five percent of the power for the Main
Interior Building in Washington, DC, which houses approximately 2000
people.
A major component of the President's National Energy Policy is to
encourage a clean and diverse supply of domestic energy supplies. The
development of domestic renewable energy is an important part of this
Policy. The President's Energy Policy directed the Department of
Interior to determine ways to reduce delays in geothermal lease
processing, and, together with the Department of Energy, evaluate access
limitations to Federal lands in order to increase renewable energy
production.
In November 2001, the Departments of Interior and Energy held a
National Conference on Opportunities to Expand Renewable Energy on
Public Lands. The Department and the BLM held a
second follow-up conference on renewable resources in February 2002.
Ideas and recommendations from these meetings were incorporated into a joint Department of the Interior (DOI) and Department of Energy (DOE)
report to the President which outlined proposed actions to
increase renewable energy production on Federal lands. (White House
Report in Response to Two National Energy Policy Recommendations to
Increase Renewable Energy Production on Federal Lands, August,2002). One
of those actions was to appoint an ombudsman to assist in the
development of renewable energy. In November 2003, Secretary Norton
appointed Brenda Aird as the Department's renewable energy ombudsman.
The Department of Interior continues to make progress implementing these
and other actions to promote the production of renewable energy on
federal lands.
The BLM and the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) established a partnership effort in FY 2002 to conduct
assessments of renewable energy resources, excluding hydropower, on
public lands in the western U.S. and to identify BLM land use planning
units with the highest potential for renewable energy development.
"Assessing the Potential for Renewable Energy on Public Lands"
was released on February 21, 2003 and includes GIS-based maps and
analyses that will assist BLM Field Offices in addressing renewable
energy resource opportunities in land use planning efforts. The report
is available on both BLM and DOE web sites. Later that year, BLM and DOE
issued a report focused on the top 35 sites on public lands for
near-term geothermal development.
The development of renewable energy resources, like fossil fuel
resources, can present land use and environmental issues. These issues
include impacts to fish and wildlife, impacts to cultural sites and
aesthetic impacts. Renewable energy development on public lands must
first be authorized in a land use plan; have undergone analysis under
the National Environmental Policy Act; comply with all applicable state
and federal environmental laws; and obtain site-specific agency
approvals.
For more Information visit:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/femp/techassist/publiclands.html
or www.osti.gov/bridge
Assessing the Potential for Renewable Energy on Public Lands
www.doi.gov/news/pdf/FinalWhiteHouseReportwithAppendicies.pdf
White House Report in Response to National Energy Policy Recommendations
to Increase Renewable Energy on Federal Lands
www.
BLM.gov/energy Bureau of Land Management National
Energy Office
www.doi.gov/greening
Greening the Department of Interior
www.doi.gov/greening/energy
Greening the Department of Interior, Energy and Water
www.usgs.gov
www.mms.gov
Contacts:
John
C. Stewart, Biomass and Forest Health Program Manager, 202 606 0504
Brenda
Aird, Renewable Energy Advisor, 202 208-4114
Bureau
of Indian Affairs, 202 208-7163 |