November 21, 2005—The US Department of Energy (DOE) has recently announced that the federal government exceeded its goal of obtaining 2.5% of its electricity needs from renewable energy sources by September 30, 2005. The largest energy consumer in the nation, the federal government now uses 2375 GWh of renewable energy—enough to power 225,000 homes or a city the size of El Paso, Texas, for a year.
When the Executive Order goal was set in 1999, the federal government’s use of renewable energy from biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind projects only accounted for some 173 GWh. The current figures represent an increase of over 1000 percent—especially important in light of tight oil and gas supplies caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) helped federal agencies meet the goal by purchasing renewable energy or utilizing renewable technologies at individual sites. Solar panels, on-site wind projects, and thousands of geothermal ground source heat pumps have been installed across the federal government.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 set a goal for the federal government to obtain 7.5% of its electrical power from renewable sources of energy by 2013.
