An Assessment of Renewable Energy Potential for U.S. National Parks
Abstract
This article presents the results of an assessment of renewable en-
ergy resources for the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) and provides
recommendations to the NPS for capitalizing on available renewable
resources. The article applied geographic information systems (GIS) to
assess renewable energy resource potential within national parks by
overlaying solar and wind resource data with NPS boundaries. From
the analysis, we could identify parks with a “high renewable energy
potential.” Maps and tables illustrating the findings were developed
to facilitate dissemination of the results. The assessment resulted in
the identification of nearly one hundred park units that have superior
renewable resource availability, and provides the NPS with a starting
point to identify ideal locations within its boundaries for renewable
energy technology (RET) use.
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