Skip to main content

Renewable Energy Technical Potential

Figure 1: Defining 'Potential'
Image of a triangle divided into sections called Market, Economic, Technical, and Resource that include the key assumptions for each section on a bullet list beside it. Enlarge image

Renewable energy technical potential as defined in this report: U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials: A GIS-Based Analysis (PDF 2.7 MB) represents the achievable energy generation of a particular technology given system performance, topographic limitations, environmental, and land-use constraints. The primary benefit of assessing technical potential is that it establishes an upper-boundary estimate of development potential (DOE EERE 2006). It is important to understand that there are multiple types of potential—resource, technical, economic, and market—each seen in Figure 1 with its key assumptions.

Maps of RE Technical Potential

Maps for multiple RE technologies are presented in the downloadable PowerPoint file. Please review slide notes pages for data source and assumptions used in estimating the technical potential

United States Renewable Energy Technical Potential

Data of RE Technical Potential

Data by state for RE technical potential are summarized in a spreadsheet, sources and references are included.

United States Renewable Energy Technical Potential

RE Economic Potential

Refer to the Renewable Energy Eonomic Potential page for the latest report.