Renewable energy on the outer continental shelf off Hawaii: Implementation of a new program under the authority of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement

Abstract

President Barack Obama announced, in April 2009, the completion of the Final Renewable Energy Framework to govern the management of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Renewable Energy Program. Examples of the general types of renewable energy project activities the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) has the discretion to authorize include, but are not limited to: wind energy, wave energy, ocean current energy, solar energy and hydrogen production. The BOEMRE is actively implementing the program in the Atlantic and Pacific OCS Regions. In July 2011, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar agreed to establish a BOEMRE-Hawaii OCS Renewable Energy task force and to work collaboratively to identify appropriate opportunities for research and commercial renewable energy leasing on the OCS off Hawaii. The BOEMRE has begun to work closely with state and federal agencies and local government representatives to plan and coordinate the implementation of the program in Hawaii.)