Renewable Gossip

President Obama Announces Solar and Geothermal Energy Initiative

President Obama visited Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada on May 27, 2009 to announce 2 new alternative energy programs: the solar and geothermal energy initiatives. The President’s full remarks can be viewed on whitehouse.gov website. Below are some key excerpts from his speech. A video clip of the announcement can be viewed below, courtesy CNN.com.

…right now, we’re standing near the largest solar electric plant of its kind in the entire Western Hemisphere — the entire Western Hemisphere. More than 72,000 solar panels built on part of an old landfill provide 25 percent of the electricity for the 12,000 people who live and work here at Nellis. That’s the equivalent of powering about 13,200 homes during the day.

It’s a project that took about half a year to complete, created 200 jobs, and will save the United States Air Force, which is the largest consumer of energy in the federal government, nearly $1 million — $1 million a year. It will also reduce harmful carbon pollution by 24,000 tons per year, which is the equivalent of removing 4,000 cars from our roads. Most importantly, this base serves as a shining example of what’s possible when we harness the power of clean, renewable energy to build a new, firmer foundation for economic growth.

Of the two new programs, the President said,

The first is a solar energy technologies program that will help replicate the success of the Nellis project in cities and states across America — because in this case, what happens in Vegas should not stay in Vegas. (Laughter and applause.) We want everybody to know what we’re doing here in Vegas. (Applause.) We’ll invest in the development and deployment of solar technology wherever it can thrive and we’ll find the best ways to integrate solar power into our electric grid.

The second program I’m announcing will help develop the use of geothermal energy in America. As many of you in Nevada know, geothermal energy is literally defined as “heat from the earth.” This heat can then be harnessed as a clean, affordable, and reliable source of energy. And already, Nevada has 17 industrial scale geothermal plants, and your capacity to generate this type of power is expected to increase in the next few years. The program we’re announcing will help accelerate this process — here, and across America. So this is something that we expect will — (applause.) — this will create more jobs, it will create more businesses, and more affordable electricity for the American people.

Technorati Tags: Solar Initiative

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