Google Earth Mash-Up Shows Best Areas for Renewable Energy Projects

April 1st, 2009 by Ariel Schwartz

You might think that renewable energy developers have few problems convincing towns to let them move in. But things can get surprisingly tricky when it comes to wildlife protection, according to a new map from the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Audubon Society. The Google Maps mash-up shows which renewable energy project locations are likely to provoke a fight based on the location of wilderness areas, areas where roads are banned, national parks, wildlife refuges, areas under consideration for wilderness protection, and areas that lack legal protection but contain endangered species.

The map is a useful primer for companies, but inspection of the sites is obviously required to find out if development is suitable. While the NRDC’s mash-up is mainly intended for alternative energy developers, it is also useful for oil and gas prospectors as well as potential coal mine installations.

As the NRDC’s website notes, “Knowing the location of sensitive lands is the first step toward ensuring that new projects and new transmission lines are built in the right way.”

You can check out the map here.

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Tags: alternative energ, audobon society, google-earth, NRDC, wilderness

About the Author

Ariel Schwartz was formerly the editor of CleanTechnica and is a senior editor at Co.Exist. She has contributed to SF Weekly, Popular Science, Inhabitat, Greenbiz, NBC Bay Area, GOOD Magazine, and more. A graduate of Vassar College, she has previously worked in publishing, organic farming, documentary film, and newspaper journalism. Her interests include permaculture, hiking, skiing, music, relocalization, and cob (the building material). She currently resides in San Francisco, CA.

Uncle B

The great repuglican depression threatens our secure society and good jobs disappear, sold out to Asia by our Uber-Rich investment class. We turn to the Shanty-Town mindset, looking for cost free accommodations, food from private veggie gardens, aquaculture, chicken raising, canning, drying and even freezing foods, bicycles, scooters, and two or three casual or part time jobs. Thrift-shop clothing, sewing things to fit better, brewing beer, sauerkrauting, pickling, and home-baking. This time, without the old homestead, the ample forests of wood to burn, we look to solar cells, windmills, and such for power. We strive to install super-insulation, and look to smaller warmer houses for survival, no longer enthralled by the McMansions and SUV’s of the advertisements, We need to survive! The asshvles that balk against wind and solar obviously still enjoy other options, but once these are shared down, they will welcome the sustainables, the renewables, and adapt to them or die knee-deep in the poisonous refuse from fission-fires while trying to maintain a “Status Quo” set by wild-eyed advertising men trying to make a quick buck! The old, tried and true,”commune” notions of country life in America will be revived, the Uber-Rich, their unregulated vulture capitalist notions, oil sales and all, have been vomited on China, deviant sexualities, greed, materialism, selfishness, sanctimonious sense of entitlement, pornography, shiny new cars and all, and America will become a peaceful country-style democracy once again! We simply do not have resources to do otherwise! 8 years of bush and his neo-con piracy have robbed us of other options and sold us out to the highest bidder, the Chinese.
Uncle B

The great repuglican depression threatens our secure society and good jobs disappear, sold out to Asia by our Uber-Rich investment class. We turn to the Shanty-Town mindset, looking for cost free accommodations, food from private veggie gardens, aquaculture, chicken raising, canning, drying and even freezing foods, bicycles, scooters, and two or three casual or part time jobs. Thrift-shop clothing, sewing things to fit better, brewing beer, sauerkrauting, pickling, and home-baking. This time, without the old homestead, the ample forests of wood to burn, we look to solar cells, windmills, and such for power. We strive to install super-insulation, and look to smaller warmer houses for survival, no longer enthralled by the McMansions and SUV’s of the advertisements, We need to survive! The asshvles that balk against wind and solar obviously still enjoy other options, but once these are shared down, they will welcome the sustainables, the renewables, and adapt to them or die knee-deep in the poisonous refuse from fission-fires while trying to maintain a “Status Quo” set by wild-eyed advertising men trying to make a quick buck! The old, tried and true,”commune” notions of country life in America will be revived, the Uber-Rich, their unregulated vulture capitalist notions, oil sales and all, have been vomited on China, deviant sexualities, greed, materialism, selfishness, sanctimonious sense of entitlement, pornography, shiny new cars and all, and America will become a peaceful country-style democracy once again! We simply do not have resources to do otherwise! 8 years of bush and his neo-con piracy have robbed us of other options and sold us out to the highest bidder, the Chinese.
russ

One thing that can be shown are the areas where wind energy is useful.

It should blow a hole in the story from too many small wind web sites which are misrepresenting the potential of their turbines in many locations.

Commercial wind uses realistic wind speeds however small wind typically uses 25 mph for the rating number (potential kWh generated) which is totally unrealistic. They are hoping people don’t notice until it is too late I guess.
russ

One thing that can be shown are the areas where wind energy is useful.

It should blow a hole in the story from too many small wind web sites which are misrepresenting the potential of their turbines in many locations.

Commercial wind uses realistic wind speeds however small wind typically uses 25 mph for the rating number (potential kWh generated) which is totally unrealistic. They are hoping people don’t notice until it is too late I guess.
http://GlobalPatriot.com Global Patriot

This issue promises to be one that inspires a great deal of debate as the desire to protect wild land butts heads with the need to produce alternative energy.

Hopefully this use of technology can foster discussions that will lead to long term energy development that is also sound from an environmental standpoint.
http://GlobalPatriot.com Global Patriot

This issue promises to be one that inspires a great deal of debate as the desire to protect wild land butts heads with the need to produce alternative energy.

Hopefully this use of technology can foster discussions that will lead to long term energy development that is also sound from an environmental standpoint.