Identifying Barriers and Pathways to Success for Renewable Energy Development on American Indian Lands
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
American Indian tribes possess lands rich with renewable energy (RE) resources. Tribes have great potential and need to develop these resources, yet face a host of barriers that continue to impede development. Understanding these challenges as well as the pathways that can be taken to overcome them may facilitate more economic development to meet community needs and better position tribes to play a role in securing a low-carbon energy future for the United States. This paper presents the results of an expert elicitation of 24 tribal energy experts from federal, tribal, academic, and private industry backgrounds to identify barriers and opportunities for federally recognized tribes in the lower 48 states. Experts identified a number of unique challenges facing tribes including financing and funding, infrastructure, tribal leadership and staff, state-level influence, and partnerships. Cultural factors were seen only to be of concern with large-scale development. Tribal sovereignty is a significant motivation for RE development and has yet to be fully realized. Cultural considerations are critical to the success of future projects; smaller residential and community-scale projects may be a better fit. Improving partnerships between tribes and the private sector can increase RE deployment and overcome historical distrust. States can have a double-ended influence on projects within tribal lands through taxation.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 1431269
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-2016-311J; 637698
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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