Titus Amendment Focuses on Water Efficient Solar Technology

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s Third District spoke on the House floor today on an amendment she offered to the Solar Technology Roadmap Act to add the development of solar technology products that are water-efficient to the focus of the bill’s research and development grant program.  Below are her remarks as delivered on her amendment, which passed by a vote of 407 to 9.

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Chairman Gordon and Ms. Giffords, for your leadership on the important issue of energy research, development, and deployment in the area of renewables.

“My amendment, offered with Mr. Teague of New Mexico and Mr. Cohen of Tennessee, simply requires that the solar energy research, development, and demonstration program and the solar technology roadmap that are authorized in this bill include an emphasis on the development of solar technology that is water efficient.

“We know that some of the sunniest states in the country, like my state of Nevada, are also among the driest.  While I strongly believe we must make significant investments to expand solar energy development across the Southwest, I also believe we that must ensure that investments are made in research and development of new solar technologies that use less water.

“This point was brought out rather dramatically in a recent New York Times article entitled ‘Alternative Energy Projects Stumble on a Need for Water.’  In fact, depending on the technology, some solar plants can use more than a billion gallons of water a year for cooling.  It was quoted in the article that, ‘when push comes to shove, water could become the real throttle on renewable energy.’  This was a statement made by Michael Webber, an assistant professor at the University of Texas in Austin, who studies the relationship between energy and water.  Now to date, this conflict between energy and water has occurred mostly in the Southwest where there are dozens of multibillion-dollar solar power plants that are planned for thousands of acres in the desert.  While most forms of energy production include some kind of water, water’s availability is especially limited in the sunny areas that are otherwise well suited for solar farms.

“So as we can see, this could possibly lead to a new age version of a water war.  Long have we heard the saying in the West that ‘whiskey is for drinking and water is worth fighting over.’  We don’t want to see that happen again.

“And furthermore, as we see more solar developments spread across the country, it’s likely the water efficiency of that solar technology will become a key concern, not just in the Southwest, but in areas that haven’t historically dealt with water issues up until this point. 

“Investing in research as we develop solar technologies that are water efficient is a win-win for the environment – we will use less fossil fuel and less water.  At the same time we do this, we have the potential to remove a major obstacle to the speedy siting of utility scale renewable energy projects.  Those are occurring in states like mine, where water concerns can slow the permitting process dramatically.

“Investments in the development of solar technology products that are water efficient will save water, they will save energy, and they will ultimately bring down the cost of these products so that we can move more quickly to a clean energy economy.”

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Background on H.R. 3585, the Solar Technology Roadmap Act

The Solar Technology Roadmap Act will strengthen the American solar technology industry through a coordinated research and development program and public-private partnerships.  It authorizes more than $2 billion for new research partnerships and demonstration projects for solar energy technologies.

The bill requires the Secretary of Energy to select a group of experts from industry, academia, and government researchers to develop a long-term roadmap to guide solar energy research.  The Roadmap Committee, of at least one-third of which must come from the private sector, would identify the research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities needed to improve the performance and reliability of solar technologies, decrease cost, and reduce water use.  The Committee’s recommendations would direct a growing percentage of federal RD&D funding over time.  The roadmap will also authorize the Department of Energy to award grants to entrepreneurs, research agencies, and academic laboratories that are leading the field in solar tech development and solar manufacturing.

Establishing a research roadmap and prioritizing federal funding for solar energy research will help commercialize new solar technologies and create new public-private partnerships to make this clean, renewable energy source more affordable.  Harnessing the power of the sun offers a tremendous opportunity for sunny states like Nevada to create clean energy jobs that can’t be shipped overseas.

H.R. 3585 has the support of the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Congress, the Solar Energy Industries Association, BP, IBM, Intel, and National Semiconductor.

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Tags: energy, water issues