An Overview of Renewable Energy Potential Studies: Why do them, how to do them, and how to use the results?

The fact that the US has plentiful renewable energy (RE) resources (sun, wind, water, geothermal, and biomass) is not in doubt, but little of this potential has been exploited yet, and today renewables (excluding large hydro) represent only 2.7% of electricity generation.
Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs), which now exist in 30 states, are forcing utilities to get an increasing amount of their energy from RE, and the passage of a Federal RPS is looking likely. Coupled with a public wanting to tackle climate change and create green jobs, RE development is becoming more and more mainstream. However, there are several issues that make renewables challenging to implement – changing economics, lack of RE infrastructure, and uncertainty about which technologies are the best fit for an area, for example.
In order to develop the US’s large potential for RE, more detailed information is needed on what RE potential exists in each area, which technologies can be deployed in an economic way to make use of those resources, and how much energy could be generated. A RE potential study can fill this gap in the knowledge base. It can be commissioned and tailored specifically for different types of entities – small or large utilities, cities, counties, or states. A RE potential study can build on publically available data and add value by isolating those resources and technologies that would be the most economical in both the short and long term for the entity commissioning the study. The information can enable utilities and state and local governments to focus their monetary resources on the most promising technologies.