Identifying the roots of Green Civil War over utility-scale solar energy projects on public lands across the American Southwest

Figures & data

Table 1. Fast-tracked solar projects sited on public lands in the California desert.

Project Name	Developer	Technology Type	MW	Public Lands	DOE loan?	Status
Ivanpah Solar Electric	BrightSource Energy	Power Tower	370	3,472 ac. (4,073)	$1.6 billion	Operating
Blythe Solar Power Project	Solar Millenium & Chevron Energy	Parabolic Trough (2007) switched to photovoltaic (2014)	968	6,300 ac. (7,025)	$2.1 billion (declined)	Operating
Desert Sunlight Solar Project	First Solar Development	Photovoltaic	550	4,144 ac.	$1.46 billion	Operating
Genesis/ Ford Dry Lake Solar Energy Project	Next Era Energy Resources	Parabolic Trough	250	1,950 ac.	$852 million	Operating
Solar One	Stirling Energy	Stirling Engine	850	8,230 ac.	No	Approved, Withdrawn
Solar Two	Stirling Energy	Stirling Engine			No	Approved, Withdrawn
Calico Solar Project	K Road Power	Stirling Engine	663.5	4,604 ac.	No	Withdrawn
Imperial Valley Solar Project	Stirling Energy Systems	Stirling Engine	709	6,360 ac.	No	Withdrawn
Desert Harvest Solar Farm	EDF Energy	Photovoltaic	100	930 ac.	No	Under construction
Palen Solar Power Project	Solar Millennium/ Chevron Energy	Parabolic Trough	484	3,075 ac. (5,176)	No	Withdrawn
McCoy Solar Energy Project	Next Era Energy Resources	Photovoltaic	750	7,700 ac.	No	Withdrawn
Lucerne Valley Solar	Chevron Energy Solutions	Photovoltaic	45	516 ac.	No	Approved, Withdrawn
Stateline Solar Farm	First Solar Development	Photovoltaic	300	2,000 ac.	No	Operating
Ridgecrest Solar Power Project	Solar Millennium	Parabolic Trough	250	3,920 ac.	No	Withdrawn
Rio Mesa Solar Electric Facility	BrightSource Energy	Power Tower	750	unknown	No	Withdrawn

Table 2. Land allocations in California’s Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan.

	Acres
Development Focus Areas	388,000
Variance Process Lands	40,000
Total BLM LUPA Conservation Designation	6,527,000
Recreation Management Areas	3,595,000
General Public Lands	419,000
Total	10,818,000

Table 3. Acreage of solar energy zones proposed in 2008 and included in the record of decision in 2014 across six western states.

Solar Energy Zone	State	Status	Proposed acres(2008)	Approved acres(2014)	Reduction in SEZ(2008–2014)
Brenda	Arizona	Developable Area	3,878	3,348	14%
Bullard Wash	Arizona	Withdrawn	7,239	0	100%
Gillespie	Arizona	Developable Area	2,618	2,618	0%
Imperial East	California	Developable Area	5,722	5,717	0%
Iron Mountain	California	Withdrawn	106,522	0	100%
Pisgah	California	Withdrawn	23,950	0	100%
Riverside East	California	Developable Area	202,896	147,910	27%
Antonito Southeast	Colorado	Developable Area	9,729	9,712	0%
De Tilla Gulch	Colorado	Developable Area	1,522	1,064	30%
Fourmile East	Colorado	Developable Area	3,882	2,882	26%
Los Mogotes East	Colorado	Developable Area	5,918	2,650	55%
Amargosa Valley	Nevada	Developable Area	31,625	21,888	31%
Delamar Valley	Nevada	Withdrawn	16,552	0	100%
Dry Lake	Nevada	Developable Area	15,649	5,717	63%
Dry Lake Valley North	Nevada	Developable Area	76,875	25,069	67%
East Mormon Mountain	Nevada	Withdrawn	8,968	0	100%
Gold Point	Nevada	Developable Area	4,810	4,596	4%
Millers	Nevada	Developable Area	16,787	16,534	2%
Afton	New Mexico	Developable Area	77,623	29,964	61%
Mason Draw	New Mexico	Withdrawn	12,909	0	100%
Red Sands	New Mexico	Withdrawn	22,520	0	100%
Escalante Valley	Utah	Developable Area	6,614	6,533	1%
Milford Flats South	Utah	Developable Area	6,480	6,252	4%
Wah Wah Valley	Utah	Developable Area	6,097	5,867	4%
Total			677,385	298,321	56%

Figure 1. Status of 171 Utility-solar projects (>100 MW) proposed on public lands from 2005–2016.

Table 4. Water use at CSP and PV USSE in California.

Activity	annual water use(acre-feet/year)	water use/capacity acre-feet/year-MW	Notes
Mirror washing	47.4	0.11	CSP
Module washing	4,000	4.3	PV
Potable water for workforce	0.01–0.02	4 x 10^–5	PV & CSP
Cooling (dry)	1,646	6.5	CSP
Fugitive dust control – construction	1,600–18	6.7–2.9.2 x 10^–2	PV & CSP
Fugitive dust control – operations	0–100	1.0	PV & CSP
Boiler feedwater (CSP)	0.08	2.1 x 10^–4	CSP
Boiler blown down (CSP)	0.02	5.0 x 10^–5	CSP
Hydrostatic testing (CSP)	0.14	3.7 x 10^–4	CSP
Fire fighting	0.46	1.3 x 10^–3	PV & CSP

Figure 2. Water demands at CSP and PV USSE constructed from 2010 to 2015.

Figure 3. Share of water use between construction and operation for four USSE facilities.