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Increasing Availability of Renewable Energy Resources
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:
bullethttp://www.eere.energy.gov/femp/techassist/publiclands.html or www.osti.gov/bridge   Assessing the Potential for Renewable Energy on Public Lands
bulletwww.doi.gov/news/pdf/FinalWhiteHouseReportwithAppendicies.pdf   White House Report in Response to National Energy Policy Recommendations to Increase Renewable Energy on Federal Lands
bulletwww. BLM.gov/energy    Bureau of Land Management National Energy Office
bulletwww.doi.gov/greening    Greening the Department of Interior
bulletwww.doi.gov/greening/energy    Greening the Department of Interior, Energy and Water
bulletwww.usgs.gov
bulletwww.mms.gov

Contacts:
bulletJohn C. Stewart, Biomass and Forest Health Program Manager, 202 606 0504
bulletBrenda Aird, Renewable Energy Advisor, 202 208-4114
bulletBureau of Indian Affairs, 202 208-7163

Geothermal Hydropower Wind Biomass Solar
Geothermal Hydropower Wind Biomass Solar
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