Native tribes receive US$2.5 million to develop renewables
WASHINGTON, DC, US, June 22, 2005 (Refocus Weekly)
The U. S. Department of Energy will provide US$2.5 million to 18 Native American tribes to promote the use of renewables on tribal lands.
“DOE is committed to helping Native American tribes develop their energy
resources,” says energy secretary Samuel Bodman. “Renewable energy and
energy efficiency technologies can play a significant role in encouraging tribal
self-sufficiency, creating jobs and improving environmental quality.”
The tribes were competitively selected to receive DOE funding for developing
renewable energy technologies on their reservations.
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation will install earth energy systems on their
reservation in Central Oklahoma as part of the $450,000 ‘Fire Lake Hybrid
Geothermal Heat Pump Demonstration.’ The tribe is the ninth largest in the
U.S. with 1,011 members, and will contribute $210,410 toward the cost.
Federal funding of $250,000 will go to the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority to
undertake a feasibility study to evaluate wind energy potential on the Navajo
Nation, while the Hopi Tribe will pay $118,100 toward a $318,000 feasibility
study for a utility scale windfarm called Sunset Mountains. DOE will fund
$198,864 for a feasibility study of wind and biomass power generation at Smith
River Rancheria and $194,633 for the Aleutian Pribilof Island wind energy
development in Alaska. The association is federally recognized as a tribal
organization of the Aleut people in Alaska, and is located in one of the
windiest places in the world with monitoring underway in six communities to
evaluate wind energy development. The impact on nearby seabird colonies is also
being studied.
The Hualapai Tribe in Arizona plan to establish a tribally-operated
utility-scale windfarm to provide service to its 9,000-acre tourism facility,
Grand Canyon West, which has been without grid power for the last seven years.
The formation of a tribal utility will reduce the cost of electrical services
and facilitate expansion of Grand Canyon West, and enhance the economic benefit
for the entire tribe.
The Aroostook Band of Micmacs in Maine want to take advantage of wind and
biomass resources to reduce electricity costs, which were the third-highest in
the U.S. in 2002, while the Grand Traverse Band in Michigan will conduct a
feasibility study to determine how the use of wind, solar and biomass resources
could save the tribe tens of millions of dollars over the next 20 years.
Click
here for more info...
Visit http://www.sparksdata.co.uk/refocus/ for your international energy focus!!
|