Obama administration announces desert 'solar energy zones'

[ensho]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-solar-desert-20111028,0,7889585.story


'Solar energy zones' — set up in the Mojave and elsewhere in the West by the Bureau of Land Management — are meant to encourage development in areas without environmental or cultural conflicts.


The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled its road map for solar energy development, directing large-scale industrial projects to 285,000 acres of desert land in the western U.S. while opening 20 million acres of the Mojave for new development.

The Bureau of Land Management's long-awaited "solar energy zones" are intended to make some of the desert's most sensitive landscapes less desirable for solar prospecting by identifying "sweet spots" that have already passed environmental requirements and therefore promise expedited permitting, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.

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Renewable energy is a centerpiece of President Obama's energy policy, which aims to reduce American dependence on foreign oil while developing domestic clean energy that creates jobs.

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Combined, those projects consumed nearly 80% of the Recovery Act funding set aside for the bureau's entire renewables program, according to an analysis by the Interior Department's inspector general.
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onward

[XemaSab]

1. Say NO to the industrialization of open space!

:(

[Tom Rinaldo]

3. Not in all cases. Solar farms are relatively low impact

Solar should be our energy future.

[XemaSab]

9. How is destroying all the native vegetation and building structures across several square miles

"Low impact?"

You may as well pave it over.

[shraby]

5. It sure beats air you can't breathe by a country mile.

And I wouldn't exactly call it "industrialization". This is a whole different ball game.

[XemaSab]

10. Speaking of air you can't breathe.

I bet we're going to see massive dust storms coming off these things

[bluestate10]

2. Good idea. The amount of land used will be small when compared to the total.

As long as there are strict monitoring and regulations, I see no harm.

[Firebrand Gary]

4. Great News! K&R

[Trillo]

6. so that's about 445 square miles

There used to be a claim that 100 square miles of photovoltaic arrays would be enough to power the entire U.S.

[XemaSab]

11. That's 100 miles square

Which is a lot different than 100 square miles.

[Trillo]

12. Could be. But are you sure it's not miles squared (miles²)?

Just trying to have a little fun! As far as your difference between the two, I agree it is rather large. In one case, it appears Obama's 445 miles² is about 4.45 times larger than needed, in the other, very roughly somewhat less than half of what may be needed.

In any case, I much prefer future generations of all life have less chances of being irradiated by nuclear plant worst case scenarios, than get all hot and bothered about some additional amount of land lying in near-permanent darkness.

This seems like the kind of thing that historians will use as a milestone marker, should the effort be successful.

[lonestarnot]

7. Sidenote. And I hate sports, but ASU stadium being powered entirely by solar for homecoming today.

:woohoo:

[mahina]

8. Yay!

I'll root for that!