NREL's Clean Energy Development Map
By Melissa C. Lott
This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
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The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has created a zoomable, draggable Google-style map that allows users to explore where clean energy resources are located within the United States. Included in the available list of resources are hydro, biomass residue, geothermal, solar PV, solar thermal, off- and on-shore wind, and wave power. One can zoom in to view their town, county, congressional district, or other region of interest to see what resources are available to them according to a group of data resources.
While the interface can get a bit tricky at times - in particular, when you zoom in beyond the county level or try to quickly identify resources by their color - the interface provides an interesting tool for visualizing the nation's clean energy resources.
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