Green Options » department of interio http://greenoptions.com/tag/department-of-interio Posts tagged 'department of interio' Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:26:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Feds Hope To Have 13 New Solar Power Plants On Public Lands By 2010 http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/06/30/feds-hope-to-have-13-solar-power-plants-on-public-land-by-2010/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/06/30/feds-hope-to-have-13-solar-power-plants-on-public-land-by-2010/#comments Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:26:37 +0000 Timothy B. Hurst http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/06/30/feds-hope-to-have-13-solar-power-plants-on-public-land-by-2010/ commercial-scale solar power plant

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Senator Harry Reid announce plans to fast-track commercial-scale solar power development on public lands.

In a plan announced on Tuesday, federal agencies will work with western leaders to designate tracts of U.S. public lands in the West as prime zones for utility-scale solar energy development; fund environmental studies; open new solar energy permitting offices, and; speed reviews of industry proposals.

Under the zoning portion of the initiative, 24 tracts of Bureau of Land Management land located in six western states, known as Solar Energy Study Areas, would be evaluated for their environmental and resource suitability for commercial-scale solar energy production. Those areas selected would be available for projects capable of producing 10 or more megawatts of electricity. The Solar Energy Study Areas (maps) located in Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah encompass about 670,000 acres.

Speaking alongside Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Secretary Salazar vowed to have 13 “commercial-scale” solar projects under construction by the end of 2010. He set a goal of producing a total of 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity.

Read more of this story »

]]> http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/06/30/feds-hope-to-have-13-solar-power-plants-on-public-land-by-2010/feed/