On the recordMay 17, 2012
I join with my colleague, Representative Hank Johnson, in offering this amendment today. The budget year 2007 Defense Authorization Act created a statutory goal that 25 percent of the energy utilized by the Department of Defense facilities come from renewable energy sources by 2025. {time} 0100 The budget year 2010 Defense authorization act modified that goal to explicitly include renewable energy technologies like geothermal heat pumps that do not first convert energy to electricity, but instead use the energy directly to accomplish a task such as heating or cooling a building. One technology--direct solar--is becoming increasingly prevalent throughout our economy, but that was left out of the changes made in the budget year 2010 act. Direct-use solar energy technology channels solar energy in the form of sunlight into a building using light pipes to provide interior lighting that is similar to traditional electrically powered lighting. Direct solar allows much of a building's internal lighting to come from sunlight, relying on electrical lighting only in the off-peak evening hours or when sunlight is diminished. The amendment before us would simply clarify that direct-use solar energy, like geothermal heat pumps and other direct-use technologies that are now included, is considered a renewable energy source for the purposes of this requirement.…
