Straining to meet the demands of its booming population, Nevada spends as much as $6 billion importing energy each year.(1) That figure is enough to make anyone think twice, and Nevada lawmakers have acted quickly to find a smarter way to power the state -- with locally produced renewable energy. Flooded with more than 250 days of sunshine a year, Nevada is tops in the nation for potential solar energy production, and has abundant wind and geothermal resources to boot.(2) The state legislature enacted its first renewable portfolio standard in 1997, and raised the bar again in 2001 and 2005. The current standard requires utilities to generate 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2015.(3)

Developing Nevada's own energy resources could also be powerful tool for economic development, especially in rural areas that have seen significant job loss. A UNLV study for the state's Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Task Force estimates that generating just 7 percent of Nevada's electricity from in-state renewable sources will create more than 2,500 jobs and generate $310 million in revenue each year. At 15 percent, the job tally would top 5,000, and annual revenues would reach $665 million.(4)

Wind

Wind energy has not yet been captured in Nevada. Windy zones are dispersed around the edges of the state, and their potential total capacity of 5,740 megawatts ranks 21st in the nation.(5) The state is currently examining potential transmission routes and financing mechanisms for wind energy, spurred in part by an aggressive Renewable Portfolio Standard which requires 25 percent of the state's power to come from renewable sources by 2025.(6) (The utilities' penalty for not reaching this goal is $10 per megawatt-hour.(7)) Nevada is expected to have between 1 and 5 gigawatts of installed wind-power capacity by 2012.(8)

Geothermal

Second only to neighboring California, Nevada's 16 geothermal power plants have a combined 333 megawatts of electric production capacity,(9) which over the course of a year provides about 7 percent of the state's electricity.(10) Geologists in Nevada have identified numerous geothermal "hot spots" where boiling hot water, heated by liquid magma from the earth's interior, lies near the earth's surface. Tapping into these reservoirs could produce more than 3,600 megawatts of geothermal energy in the coming decade, using today's technology.(11) Next-generation enhanced geothermal technology could produce even more energy. According to Google.org, a major investor in this technology, using a mere 2 percent of Nevada's enhanced geothermal resource potential could yield some 146 gigawatts of new electrical capacity(12) -- enough to power nearly 20 percent of the entire United States.(13)

Prospectors once eyed Humboldt County's Blue Mountain, in northwestern Nevada, as a potential source of gold. But the mountain's true riches turn out to be a more sustainable commodity (and one that's far less polluting to extract). A geothermal power plant at Blue Mountain, slated to be fully operational by the end of 2009, will provide nearly 50 megawatts of round-the-clock electricity, enough to power 50,000 homes.(14)

Solar

Southern Nevada is among the best places in the world to collect solar energy,(15) and Nevada is already harnessing the sun's rays on a grand scale. The 64-megawatt Nevada Solar One power plant, near Boulder City, is the third largest concentrating solar plant in the world. Online since 2007, the 400-acre plant produces near-zero carbon emissions and enough energy to power 14,000 homes. Building the plant created 800 construction jobs and 30 permanent operations jobs.(16)

North America's largest solar-photovoltaic array is the Nellis Solar Star, on Nellis Air Force Base in Clark County. This 14-megawatt system supplies 25 percent of the power used on the base. In Las Vegas, Powerlight Corporation owns and operates a 3.066-megawatt solar plant.

The Clark PV Station, owned by NV Energy, consists of three high-concentrating photovoltaic tracking arrays that will produce 180,000 kilowatt hours of power to for the local electrical grid. That's enough energy to power 12 medium-sized homes.(17)

Many of Nevada's residents, small businesses, public buildings and schools are producing their own solar energy, mostly under the auspices of the state's SolarGenerations rebate program, which has encouraged the installation of over 1.7 megawatts of photovoltaic systems.(18) The program pays out millions of dollars in rebates each year.(19)

Biomass Fuels and Cellulosic Ethanol

The U.S. Department of Energy rates Nevada's biomass resources as "fair." The state's climate and terrain are not suited for large-scale biomass production, but Nevada could still produce up to 250,000 dry tons of biomass each year, mostly from urban wood waste around Las Vegas and forest and mill residues from Douglas County.(20) This cellulosic biomass could be used to produce 17 million gallons of ethanol, which could replace 1.2 percent of the gasoline used in Nevada. There is also a biodiesel production facility in Douglas County, and two more facilities under construction in Lyon County and Las Vegas.(21)

The best biofuels are those that make it environmentally and economically possible to produce more food and fuel in a way that reduces global warming pollution, conserves and enhances our soil and water resources, protects our fragile wildlands and native ecosystems and improves the economic welfare of workers and communities. The Nevada Division of Forestry currently collects wood waste from federal and state lands and delivers them to a co-generation plant at the Northern Nevada Correction Center (NNCC) in Carson City. For instance, 75 tons of woody biomass from burn piles at Indian Creek Reservoir have been diverted to fuel NNCC's boiler at a cost of approximately $5 per ton, a fraction of the $39 per ton that NNCC had been paying through contract suppliers. Roughly 32 tons of biomass were delivered to NNCC from Sugar Pine State Park in California's Lake Tahoe Basin at a similar savings.(22)

The David E. Norman Elementary School in Ely replaced its oil-fired burner with a clean-burning wood pellet system in 2006.(23) The plant heats the original school building and two additions using approximately 150 tons of biomass per year,(24) saving the school 40 percent of its former heating expenses. The fuel comes from wood waste supplied by the Bureau of Land Management and the county landfill.(25)

Biogas

Nevada's biogas resources are fairly limited, with about half a million livestock animals producing about 400 tons of methane emissions each year.(26) Farms in Elko County produce the greatest total methane in the state, at 178.8 tons. Other counties with methane emissions include Churchill (21.1 tons), Lander (24 tons), Lyon (29 tons), Eureka (31.4 tons), White Pine (31.8 tons) and Pershing (33.6 tons).(27)

Renewable Energy Meets Wildland and Wildlife Conservation

Certain sensitive lands -- such as parks, monuments and wildlife conservation areas -- and ecologically sensitive marine areas are not appropriate for energy development. In some of these places, energy development is prohibited or limited by law or policy, and in others it would be highly controversial. NRDC does not endorse locating energy facilities or transmission lines in such areas. Siting decisions must always be made extremely carefully, with impacts mitigated and operations conducted in an environmentally responsible manner.

For more information on the intersection between clean energy development and wildland and wildlife conservation in the American West, including locations of parks, wildlife refuges and other conservation areas, see this Google Earth-based feature.

Toolkit

Economic Incentives for Renewable Energy Projects in Nevada

Nevada has a number of financial incentives for renewable energy projects, including consumer rebates, property tax abatements and exemptions, and a renewable energy sales and use tax abatement. See the complete listing of federal, state and local government incentives in the DSIRE database.

The State Office of Energy also lists renewable energy incentives.

Wind

The American Wind Energy Association has a resource page on buying and installing a small wind turbine and general information about small-scale wind power.

Wind Power Nevada has resources for small scale, community and utility scale wind developers.

Nevada's State Office of Energy provides a helpful list of resources for potential wind power developers, including a Nevada wind map and information about the anemometer loan program.

Biomass

The Nevada Renewable Energy & Energy Conservation Task Force provides general information about biomass power in Nevada.

Nevada's Division of Forestry runs a biomass program.

Solar Power

Nevada's Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Task Force provides an overview of solar energy in Nevada, including a list of solar power projects, events and news.

Solar Power Rocks sums up the financial incentives available for solar power producers, and can hook you up with local solar installers.

Solar Generations, the popular renewable energy incentive program from Nevada Energy, allows customers to apply for solar power rebates and answers frequently asked questions about solar energy. A handy feature called Solar Up to the Minute shows you how much energy your system is producing at the moment, and has produced historically.

The Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Solar Energy Society holds regular meetings.

Biogas

The EPA's AgSTAR program has a comprehensive handbook on developing biogas technology. The site includes FarmWare, a free decision-making software package that can help you assess the feasibility of biogas on your farm.