Susterra Partners

Posted: 29 Jul 2012   02:47 PM PDT via CleanTechnica
A new study from NREL finds that solar photovoltaics and concentrating   solar power could generate an enormous amount of electricity in the United   States.

The report is   titled, U.S. Renewable   Energy Technical Potentials: A GIS-Based Analysis.

In Table 1, it   provides a number of very interesting figures. Chiefly, that it is rural   utility-scale solar that could be dominant in the future, with 153,000 GW   of potential. Texas accounts for about 14% of all the rural solar potential   for the whole country. It also has about 20% of all the concentrated solar   power potential for the nation. So, it appears this single, huge state could   have a very bright future in terms of solar power development, and therefore   in economic growth as well.

Typically,   Texas is thought of mainly for oil and cattle, but sometime in the not so   distant future, it might become a clean energy powerhouse. (These kinds of   very large infrastructure changes have been speculated to have significant   cultural implications. For example, the construction of a huge, underground   sewer system in Victorian London was said by at least one scholar to have   social psychological implications, and at the very least was a part of a   different perception of public hygiene and public health.)

The same type   of PV, in urban areas, they found to have a potential of 1,200 GW. Rooftop PV   potential they rated at 664 GW.

Offshore wind   was 4,200 GW, and enhanced geothermal was GW 4,000.  It was concentrated   solar power, at 38,000 MW, that was in second place to rural utility-scale   solar’s dominance.

It will be   fascinating to see if the development of renewable energy in rural areas,   where the potential is tremendous, will change the cultural views of some of   the people there.

For example,   recently, a relative and friend of hers, who is an Iowa farmer, picked me up   at the airport in a new Hybrid Prius to drive us back to a tiny farming   community. If some of these rural areas become the “energy basket,” so to   speak, of America, will they be perceived in a more esteemed way by people   living in large cities and on the coasts, who might tend to use words like   ‘redneck’?

Often, these   renewable energy news stories contain technical specifications and cost   information, which is useful, but what about some of the cultural   implications of the transition away from fossil fuels?

Every state in the US has notable solar power potential,   according to the study.

Image Credit:   Larry D. Moore CC BY-SA 3.0.