As part of President Obama’s All of the Above energy policy, the administration has announced plans for “solar zones” in six southwestern states in order to encourage development of the technology.
As reported by Reuters, a total of 17 zones, encompassing nearly 285,000 acres of government-owned land in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, will now be available for large-scale solar power generation facilities through the Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement plan. The Department of Energy as well as the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management will be able to fast track the development and construction of such power plants, with the goal of generating 23,700 MW of power from the 17 zones – enough to power 7 million American homes.
Solar technologies approved for development in the plan include concentrated solar power, parabolic trough, power tower, and flat-plate photovoltaic systems, and in considering the locales for the solar zones, the DOE used three main criteria: abundance of sunlight, proximity to transmission lines, and environmental impact.
With a careful eye on previously noted environmental concerns, the administration picked specific zones to minimize damage to the land and surrounding areas. Environmentalists have been protesting the development of rural southwestern areas for solar power generation for years, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar worked to keep their concerns in mind when developing the plan. This includes blocking 78 million acres of land from development due to environmental and cultural sensitivities. The plan “maps out where it makes sense to develop solar energy and just as importantly, it also maps out where doesn’t make sense to develop solar energy,” said Salazar. “The blue print guides the development away from important environmental and cultural resources.”
In addition to the 285,000 acres the government is making available for fast tracking, it also identified 19 million acres in the southwest where solar system installations would be allowed with additional studies and permits.
The Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement is open for public comment for the next 30 days. After its closing, Secretary Salazar will decide whether or not to approve it.
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