In 1992, Senator Richard Bryan sponsored an amendment to the National Energy Policy Act to study the potential of the Nevada nuclear test site as a facility for solar power generation. The culmination of Bryan's efforts has now come to rest in the hands of the Nevada Solar Enterprise Zone Task Force. Comprised of members from business, industry, government and academia, the Task Force is charged by the Department of Energy with examining the feasibility and benefits of a Solar Enterprise Zone which could realistically produce a number of desirable outcomes for the state and the nation.
The most obvious impact would be providing local employment and economic benefits to offset defence down-sizing. The Solar Enterprise Zone would also aid in the solar industry's attempt to commercialise the use of renewable energy. Other outcomes are a sustained solar energy industry in Nevada and solar energy exportation from the Zone to meet the growing demand for power in the Southwest. Perhaps most intriguing is the potential to supply the federal government, the nation's largest user of power, with solar energy. Overall, the Solar Enterprise Zone could act as a catalyst to expand sustainable solar technology commercialisation that provides employment, local economic development, export, and environmental benefits.
Greg Wright, Wright Thinking, 14161 Riverside Drive #3, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423, USA (tel 818 784 0325; fax 818 981 6835; e-mail: <box@newciv.org>).
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