U.S. says it will cut costs for clean energy projects on public lands

[Wildabeest]

U.S. says it will cut costs for clean energy projects on public lands

The Biden administration on Tuesday said it would substantially reduce the cost of building wind and solar energy projects on federal lands to help spur renewable energy development and address climate change.

www.reuters.com

 

[MTGomer]

U.S. says it will cut costs for clean energy projects on public lands

The Biden administration on Tuesday said it would substantially reduce the cost of building wind and solar energy projects on federal lands to help spur renewable energy development and address climate change.

www.reuters.com

“ Interior is seeking to meet a congressional mandate to permit 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on federal lands by 2025.”

A solar project I recently looked at was going to produce 150 MW off 1100 acres.

At this rate, that is aprox 183,000 acres of public lands converted to solar fields.

This would not include new transmission to get it on the grid.

 

[rogerthat]

More gawd aweful development of the public lands. Not good.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

“ Interior is seeking to meet a congressional mandate to permit 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on federal lands by 2025.”

A solar project I recently looked at was going to produce 150 MW off 1100 acres.

At this rate, that is aprox 183,000 acres of public lands converted to solar fields.

This would not include new transmission to get it on the grid.

The hoops we jump through to build a 4 acre pad site...

then this... so much for those sage grouse and crucial wildlife corridors

 

[Rhcuam]

Solar Fields lol, where you level and then salt the earth in the name of clean energy.

 

[kwyeewyk]

The hoops we jump through to build a 4 acre pad site...

then this... so much for those sage grouse and crucial wildlife corridors
View attachment 224505

Have you looked at any of the NEPA docs for these? Curious what the effects analysis says and how the mitigation works. Is there noise associated with cooling systems or other or is it basically a loss of habitat with limited disturbance beyond human activity?

 

[TOGIE]

time to light up land tawney's inbox

 

[nrpate05]

Gah, why does renewable essentially get a pass and O&G comes under heavy scrutiny? In many ways the latter is not as bad for wildlife as the former and there is far more research on O&G. Here is a study that just came out that looked at pronghorn and the Sweetwater solar facility in southwest WY. I'm sure many of you have heard/read about it but it is certainly interesting.

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.2498

 

[Deleted member 28227]

“ Interior is seeking to meet a congressional mandate to permit 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on federal lands by 2025.”

A solar project I recently looked at was going to produce 150 MW off 1100 acres.

At this rate, that is aprox 183,000 acres of public lands converted to solar fields.

This would not include new transmission to get it on the grid.

183,000acres… say a well pad is 4 acres…let’s put a single well on the pad…45,750… then let’s divide by 2 for your roads and lines etc…

22,875… so that’s the number of wells you could drill on that amount of acreage.

Say they produce 500barrels of oil a day each…

And you have 11.4MM barrels which is what the entire US produces a day.

And that’s some pretty ham fisted back of the napkining

 

[EastTNHunter]

The true cost of green energy… not really all that green in the end. But it makes certain people feel good

 

[BoulderBulls]

183,000acres… say a well pad is 4 acres…let’s put a single well on the pad…45,750… then let’s divide by 2 for your roads and lines etc…

22,875… so that’s the number of wells you could drill on that amount of acreage.

Say they produces 500barrels of oil a day each…

And you have 11.4MM barrels which is what the entire US produces a day.

And that’s some pretty ham fisted back of the napkining

Fellow o&g professional, that math checks out

In the game of civilization wildlife always loses

 

[Deleted member 28227]

In the game of civilization wildlife always loses

You can say that again.

I guess the thing that really irritates me about solar is the spatial component. O&G is where it is... you have to drill it where you find it, I mean to that end companies have drilled in the middle of cities. I literally worked a project where we bought a bunch of house tore them down and built a pad.

Solar can go anywhere within a particular sunny landscape.

There is no reason why you can't build these fields on private, or over roads... etc etc etc.

We are literally picking public lands, because people think they have no inherent value unless they are developed.

We are picking them because the lease will be cheap compared to private.

This is basically the opposite of O&G, to be clear good rock is the most important factor, but private lands are definitely preferable to public because of the additional regulatory burden when dealing with public lands.

 

[Gellar]

You can say that again.

I guess the thing that really irritates me about solar is the spatial component. O&G is where it is... you have to drill it where you find it, I mean to that end companies have drilled in the middle of cities. I literally worked a project where we bought a bunch of house tore them down and built a pad.

Solar can go anywhere within a particular sunny landscape.

There is no reason why you can't build these fields on private, or over roads... etc etc etc.

We are literally picking public lands, because people think they have no inherent value unless they are developed.

We are picking them because the lease will be cheap compared to private.

This is basically the opposite of O&G, to be clear good rock is the most important factor, but private lands are definitely preferable to public because of the additional regulatory burden when dealing with public lands.

There were plans to develop 600 acres of private land in central Iowa for a solar field and farm bureau through a shit coniption because it would take that land out of ag production.

In one conversation they are for private property rights, but when someone exercises their rights to develop their private land for something they don’t like big ag flexes its muscles and shuts it down.

 

[Sytes]

Not discounting your point @Gellar though how does the big ag shut down the decision of a private land owner to convert his/her land to a solar farm? Is it a unionized similar effort to kinda bully the private land owner or some sort of zoning in place that prohibits?

 

[Gellar]

Not discounting your point @Gellar though how does the big ag shut down the decision of a private land owner to convert his/her land to a solar farm? Is it a unionized similar effort to kinda bully the private land owner or some sort of zoning in place that prohibits?

Utility-scale solar project draws opposition from some Linn County residents

Researchers say investing in renewable energy is vital to staving off the worst impacts of climate change. But a utility-scale solar project in Linn County is drawing opposition from some residents who are opposed to the development being built on farmland.

www.iowapublicradio.org

In Iowa farm bureau runs the show.

Don’t get me wrong, I think industrial solar and wind are a waste of valuable ground, not for farming but for conservation and are nearly as efficient as we are led to believe. But, I am also for property rights and I should be able to do what I want with my land, to a degree.

 

[ImBillT]

I thought wind power was a good idea until I saw it large scale. I despise it. It’s a scourge. My feelings against it doubled when I actually got close to some windmills.

 

[Bambistew]

This is f'n hilarious. Can't mine on public land, where the ore is actually located, but will subsidize "renewable" energy on public lands which could literally be placed anywhere.

If you're not aware, the citizens of Maine voted and rejected the construction of a transmission line to send hydropower from Canada to Mass or Conn. Our country is in such a flux. No one wants to give up anything. haha Everywhere is sacred, has some endangered animal, or holds some intrinsic value above the collective.

Not sure if you've tried to buy copper recently, but its not cheap, if you can find it. We're not recycling our way out of this trajectory. Our infrastructure is outdated and can 't handle the green revolution headed our way, and China isn't going to eagerly give up its 75% stake in the world copper market. Developing a little public land is the least of our worries.

 

[Wildabeest]

Not sure if you've tried to buy copper recently, but its not cheap, if you can find it.

I paid $85 a couple of weeks ago for a 15’ piece of 6/3 Romex. To install an electric car charger, but don’t hate me for that.

I still feel that nuclear is the least bad of all options currently available to meet our energy demands, but do wish there was more focus put on reducing our consumption vs. just producing to meet increasing demand.

 

[PrairieHunter]

I paid $85 a couple of weeks ago for a 15’ piece of 6/3 Romex. To install an electric car charger, but don’t hate me for that.

I still feel that nuclear is the least bad of all options currently available to meet our energy demands, but do wish there was more focus put on reducing our consumption vs. just producing to meet increasing demand.

If you look at Europe they are at least 5-10 year ahead as far as renewables. What you see there is a lot more biomass compared to the USA.

I work in the biochar industry and we are seeing a lot of power generation and biochar production combined, which also earns significant carbon credits. There is a company in Montana already doing this called Genesis and I have been contacted by several on the west coast who are looking for shut down coal plants out here to convert to biomass/biochar. That will be the next big thing as coal dies as renewables like solar/wind move in next door to old coal plants so they can tie into the infrastructure and the facility is converted over to biomass. The nice thing about biomass is it is a renewable that works when the wind is not blowing and sun is not shining. it also allows some wood to be utilized that otherwise just ends up on fire at some point and causes expensive problems.

There are some new wind energy technologies that are coming out that are different than the big windmills. The wiggle generators are very interesting.

The other one that I was shocked to see in a DOE technology commercialization program I am in is Hydrogen. There are a lot of companies working on hydrogen technologies even though it's rarely discussed by consumers. Crazy $ going into Hydrogen right now.

I am really curious to see how the nuclear plant being built in Wyoming goes.

 

[brockel]

183,000acres… say a well pad is 4 acres…let’s put a single well on the pad…45,750… then let’s divide by 2 for your roads and lines etc…

22,875… so that’s the number of wells you could drill on that amount of acreage.

Say they produces 500barrels of oil a day each…

And you have 11.4MM barrels which is what the entire US produces a day.

And that’s some pretty ham fisted back of the napkining

And then when that well is no longer producing we can PA it and reclaim it and you’d never even know it was there. That solar field is there for forever