Solar energy initiatives on public lands

[DKO]

The Energy and Interior departments this week announced what they called a major step for solar energy initiatives on public lands.

The final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for solar energy development will serve as a roadmap for large-scale projects, laying out existing and planned transmission lines and allowing for faster permitting, according to an Interior press release.

The PEIS outlines the government’s strategy for developing 17 solar energy zones on public lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. Solar energy zones are areas where power companies could develop utility-scale solar energy plants on publically owned land. The departments expect the projects to use 284,918 acres of land currently belonging to the Bureau of Land Management. The chosen sites would generate enough energy to power approximately 1.7 million homes, according to the release. Additional “variance sites” lying outside the marked zones if developed could power another 7 million homes.

In a statement released on his department’s website, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar emphasized the project’s ability to quickly build up the country’s solar energy capacities.

“This blueprint for landscape-level planning is about facilitating faster, smarter utility-scale solar development on America’s public lands,” Salazar said. “This is a key milestone in building a sustainable foundation for utility-scale solar energy development and conservation on public lands over the next two decades.”

The solar energy zones would allow private industry to quickly access permits and scale up the amount of electricity generated from these areas.

In selecting the solar energy zones, the departments took into account several key factors, including access to transmission lines, abundant solar resources and low conflict with the neighboring ecosystems. Additionally, the report indicated it looked into concerns of environmentalists, who posted comments on a draft of the PEIS.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the PEIS would help increase the consumption of renewable green energy.

“This new roadmap builds on that commitment by identifying public lands that are best-suited for solar energy projects, improving the permitting process, and creating incentives to deliver more renewable energy to American homes and businesses,” Chu said.

Solar energy has come under fierce criticism following the controversy surrounding loans given to energy company Solyndra. Even so, U.S. production of solar power has been increasing steadily during the past several years, as demand for cheaper and more renewable energy increases.

 

[jryoung]

Overall it seems like they took a prudent approach to developing the plans, it will be interesting to see how this plays out in the future and more importantly see if this has an effect of additional development of fossil fuels.

http://www.trcp.org/media/news-article/sportsmens-coalition-applauds-solar-energy-plan

SPORTSMEN’S COALITION APPLAUDS SOLAR ENERGY PLAN

A recently released federal plan for public-lands solar development integrates input from hunters and anglers Photo courtesy Energy.gov.

The recent release of a federal plan outlining solar energy development on public lands is drawing praise from the Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development coalition due to its “smart from the start” approach and its focus on making solar energy part of our national energy policy.

The solar programmatic environmental impact statement, or PEIS, is the culmination of a two-year development process led by the Department of the Interior. The plan encourages industry members to develop solar projects inside an initial set of 17 zones encompassing 285,000 acres covering six Western states.* The plan also establishes a process for addressing development in zones occurring outside solar energy zone boundaries.

The SFRED coalition used the recent release to highlight several positive elements of the plan, including its mitigation framework and adaptive management strategy, as well as its integration of a landscape-level management approach.

“Sportsmen played an important role in formulating the solar environmental impact statement, and several key changes implemented in the final plan reflect our input,” said Ed Arnett, director of the TRCP Center for Responsible Energy Development. “These changes should help facilitate domestic renewable energy development and minimize conflicts over public lands management, all while ensuring the responsible cultivation of our shared natural resources.”

The regional focus of mitigation measures in the PEIS also drew praise from sportsmen, who commended the plan’s integration of public and stakeholder participation. They pointed out that these elements are designed specifically to address impacts to outdoor recreation, including hunting and angling, which often are overlooked in mitigation efforts.

“The Bureau of Land Management engaged the public effectively and developed a well-thought-out decision. To capitalize on this success it is imperative that this new policy include direction for successful implementation,” said Brad Powell, Western energy director for Trout Unlimited. “It must provide greater certainty for the energy industry as well as for sportsmen, identifying places that will not be developed in the near future – as well as areas that will require mitigation measures to reduce impacts to fish and wildlife, hunting and angling, and our valuable recreation-based economy.”

Read “Conserving Lands and Prosperity,” a report on the economic value of conserving public lands and recreational opportunities.