Google Earth’s new tool - The Path to Green Energy
Google earth has many features, which makes it an awesome program. It continuously enhances its capabilities by adding new functionalities and tools. Nowadays many developers are facing problems to select a location for green energy developments like solar or wind farms. Developers suffer challenges in finding suitable location, which is not environmentally vital.
Google earth has added new tool called ‘The Path to Green Energy’. This tool can assist the developers by providing them information regarding legally protected lands from commercial development. It also gives information on lands projected for enclosure of the national wilderness system and on natural habitation for endangered species. The tool includes a new set of layers that makes it easy for wind and solar farm developers to point out the importance of challenges. With this tool, they can easily know about the areas that are most and least prone to the problems.
Google.org, which is Geo Challenge Grants scheme, has sponsored the tool. Various organizations from several areas of the U.S and many government records compiled the needed information. The efforts of The National Audubon Society and Natural Resources Defense Council together have created the tool, which incorporates entire information contained by the Google Earth layer.
Any developer searching for land can use this tool in Google Earth to see whether the concerned land is of environmental importance or not. If it is so, this tool will save the money, time and effort as one can move on to search another location. Both environmentalists and developers will save effort and time with this tool as it simplifies the entire procedure of new developments. There are no barriers for the developers in regards of price as Google Earth is free of cost. The need is just to force the developers to use it.
Currently “The Path to Green Energy tool” covers the Dakotas and Western states. The tool is freely available and shows 14 different types of areas with three main land prohibition categories. Layers can be viewed individually. You can even observe the merged views of the desired layers.
The Path to Green Energy tool acts as a guide for developers by avoiding disputes over sensitive areas. As developers get information regarding such sensitive areas beforehand they can search for other options which will save their efforts, investments and time. It provides a very good business viewpoint as it increases better chances of getting approval faster.
This tool can be useful to Environmentalists too as they can view energy projects like wind and solar farms more quickly and stay away from being caught up in legal matters. Tool helps in minimizing approval periods, oppositions and variance, which will help in serving more number of people with renewable energy.
The maps are better and timely to scrutinize which lands can be used for the purpose of renewable energy transmission and generation. The tool proves to be enormous in terms of the potential cost savings. This new mapping tool, which helps renewable-power developers in getting information about where they can build and where cannot has made Google earth more amazing and useful.
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