Thursday, July 02, 2009
Solar farm, Amstein, Germany (photo: Daniel Karmann)
Calling it the beginning of a historic effort, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced on Monday that the U.S. government will set aside 670,000 acres of public land for the creation of solar farms. Federal officials intend to create 24 energy zones spread across six western states (California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah) that will serve to speed up solar energy development. The zones would be suitable for solar farms capable of producing 10 megawatts or more of electricity, with a total generation capacity of nearly 100 gigawatts for all of the zones combined—enough to power 29 million homes.
Solar energy proponents point out that the decision, while laudable, will not resolve certain outstanding obstacles to solar farm development—specifically, the slow government permitting process (involving not only federal but state and local jurisdictions) that has bogged down projects for as long as two years. Also, the Bureau of Land Management, the lead agency overseeing creation of the new energy zones, has been understaffed to adequately handle the recent increase in applications for starting solar farms on federal lands.
The BLM is currently handling 158 active solar energy applications that cover 1.8 million acres. These projects, if approved, have a generation capacity of 97 gigawatts.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Feds Propose 24 Solar Energy Zones, Promise Speedier Evaluations (by Ucilia Wang, Greentech Media)
Secretary Salazar, Senator Reid Announce 'Fast-Track' Initiatives for Solar Energy Development on Western Lands (Bureau of Land Management press release)
Solar Energy Study Areas (Bureau of Land Management)
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