RENEWABLE 

ENERGY

Federal Agencies 

Implement Hundreds 

of Initiatives

Report to the Committee on Homeland 

Security and Governmental Affairs, 

U.S. Senate

February 2012

GAO-12-260

United States Government Accountability Office

GAO
United States Government Accountability Office

Highlights of GAO-12-260, a report to the

Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate

 

February 2012

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Federal Agencies Implement Hundreds of Initiatives

Why GAO Did This Study

The nation’s reliance on imported oil, 

rising energy costs, and fossil fuels’ 

potential contribution to climate change

have renewed the federal focus on 

renewable energy. Many federal 

agencies support renewable energy 

activities, raising congressional 

concerns about the number and roles 

of agencies implementing such efforts. 

Currently, there is no comprehensive 

inventory of federal renewable energy 

initiatives, making it difficult to identify 

potential fragmentation or duplication.

GAO was asked to (1) identify 

agencies’ renewable energy-related 

initiatives and (2) examine the federal 

roles agencies’ initiatives supported. 

GAO collected data from agencies’ 

budget documents, strategic plans, 

websites, and through agency data 

requests and interviews with officials

from most of the 24 federal agencies 

subject to the Chief Financial Officers 

Act of 1990. These 24 agencies

accounted for roughly 98 percent of all 

federal outlays in 2009. GAO 

developed an inventory of agencies’ 

renewable energy initiatives, including 

initiatives for which renewable energy

was the focus, as well as initiatives for 

which it was part of a broader effort. 

GAO focused on developing this 

inventory, and as such, did not 

evaluate initiatives based on financial 

support or other factors.

This report contains no 

recommendations. In response to the

draft report, Commerce agreed with 

the overall findings as they relate to the 

Department, while Homeland Security 

neither agreed nor disagreed with 

GAO’s findings. The other agencies 

provided technical or clarifying 

comments, which GAO incorporated as 

appropriate, or had no comments.

What GAO Found

Governmentwide, 23 agencies and their 130 subagencies GAO reviewed 

implemented nearly 700 renewable energy initiatives in fiscal year 2010. The 

Departments of Defense (DOD), Agriculture (USDA), Energy (DOE), and the

Interior were collectively responsible for almost 60 percent of all initiatives. 

Number of Initiatives by Agency

Note: Data for DOD include five components—the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and other 

DOD components that report to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. 

The initiatives supported a range of renewable energy sources, and the most 

commonly supported sources were bioenergy, solar, and wind. Also, the

initiatives supported a range of public and private sector recipients, but the large 

majority provided support to the private sector. Many initiatives supported 

multiple renewable energy sources and types of recipients, while many others 

targeted support to one source or recipient. Agencies’ renewable energy efforts 

increased in recent years as a result of the provisions of the American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and other factors, but the level of future efforts is 

less certain with the expiration of these provisions and budget constraints.

Across agencies, more than 80 percent of initiatives span four key federal roles—

supporting research and development; using renewable energy in vehicle fleets 

and facilities; providing incentives for commercialization and deployment; and 

regulation, permitting, and ensuring compliance. Certain agencies led efforts in 

each federal role: DOE, DOD, and USDA for research and development; DOD, 

the General Services Administration, and DOE for fleets and facilities; Treasury 

and USDA for commercialization and deployment; and Interior and the 

Environmental Protection Agency for regulation, permitting, and compliance.

View GAO-12-260. To view an e-supplement 

with data on all initiatives, see GAO-12-

259SP. For more information, contact Frank 

Rusco at (202) 512-3841 or ruscof@gao.gov. 
Page i GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Letter 1 

Background 7

Agencies Implemented Hundreds of Initiatives That Support 

Renewable Energy 11

Agencies’ Initiatives Support Several Key Federal Roles, and 

Certain Agencies Tend to Lead Efforts for These Roles 25

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 37

Appendix I Scope and Methodology 39

Appendix II Information on Federal Agencies’ Renewable Energy-Related 

Initiatives 48

Appendix III Agency Information on the Extent to Which the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Established, Expanded, or 

Modified Initiatives 142

Appendix IV Agency Information on Expiring Initiatives 152

Appendix V Comments from the Department of Commerce 158

Appendix VI Comments from the Department of Homeland Security 159

Appendix VII GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 161

Contents
Page ii GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Tables

Table 1: Federal Renewable Energy Requirements for Agency 

Fleets and Facilities 8

Table 2: Number of Subagencies with Renewable Energy Initiatives 

at Agencies with 50 or Fewer Initiatives 15

Table 3: Examples of Initiatives That Support a Broad Range of or 

Are Targeted to Certain Renewable Energy Sources 19

Table 4: Examples of Initiatives That Support a Broad Range of or 

Are Targeted to Certain Recipients 23

Table 5: Agencies’ Initiatives across the Four Key Federal Roles 27

Table 6: Number of Each Military Service’s Installations with 

Renewable Energy Projects 31

Table 7: Tax Expenditures That Support Renewable Energy 33

Table 8: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support Bioenergy 

across the Four Key Federal Roles 133

Table 9: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support Solar Energy 

across the Four Key Federal Roles 135

Table 10: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support Wind 

Energy across the Four Key Federal Roles 136

Table 11: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support Geothermal 

Energy across the Four Key Federal Roles 137

Table 12: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support Waste 

Conversion across the Four Key Federal Roles 138

Table 13: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support 

Hydropower across the Four Key Federal Roles 139

Table 14: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support Ocean 

Energy across the Four Key Federal Roles 141

Table 15: Initiatives Established, Expanded, or Modified by the 

Recovery Act, by Agency 143

Table 16: Expiring Initiatives 152

Figures

Figure 1: Number of Initiatives by Agency 12

Figure 2: Number of Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy 

Source 17

Figure 3: Percentage of Initiatives Supporting Private or Public 

Sector Recipients, or Both 20

Figure 4: Percentage of Agencies’ Initiatives by Key Federal Role 

and Other 26
Page iii GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 5: Number of USDA Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 49

Figure 6: Number of Energy Sources Supported by USDA 

Initiatives 50

Figure 7: Percentage of USDA Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 51

Figure 8: Percentage of USDA Initiatives by Federal Role and Other 52

Figure 9: Number of Commerce Initiatives Supporting Each 

Renewable Energy Source 53

Figure 10: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Commerce 

Initiatives 54

Figure 11: Percentage of Commerce Initiatives Supporting Private 

or Public Sector Recipients, or Both 55

Figure 12: Percentage of Commerce Initiatives by Federal Role and 

Other 56

Figure 13: Number of Air Force Initiatives Supporting Each 

Renewable Energy Source 57

Figure 14: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Air Force 

Initiatives 58

Figure 15: Percentage of Air Force Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 59

Figure 16: Percentage of Air Force Initiatives by Federal Role and 

Other 60

Figure 17: Number of Army Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 61

Figure 18: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Army 

Initiatives 62

Figure 19: Percentage of Army Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 63

Figure 20: Percentage of Army Initiatives by Federal Role and 

Other 64

Figure 21: Number of Marine Corps Initiatives Supporting Each 

Renewable Energy Source 65

Figure 22: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Marine Corps 

Initiatives 66

Figure 23: Percentage of Marine Corps Initiatives Supporting 

Private or Public Sector Recipients, or Both 67

Figure 24: Percentage of Marine Corps Initiatives by Federal Role 

and Other 68

Figure 25: Number of Navy Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 69
Page iv GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 26: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Navy 

Initiatives 70

Figure 27: Percentage of Navy Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 71

Figure 28: Percentage of Navy Initiatives by Federal Role and Other 72

Figure 29: Number of Other DOD Component Initiatives 

Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source 73

Figure 30: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Other DOD 

Component Initiatives 74

Figure 31: Percentage of Other DOD Component Initiatives 

Supporting Private or Public Sector Recipients, or Both 75

Figure 32: Percentage of Other DOD Component Initiatives by 

Federal Role and Other 76

Figure 33: Number of DOE Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 77

Figure 34: Number of Energy Sources Supported by DOE Initiatives 78

Figure 35: Percentage of DOE Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 79

Figure 36: Percentage of DOE Initiatives by Federal Role and Other 80

Figure 37: Number of DHS Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 81

Figure 38: Number of Energy Sources Supported by DHS Initiatives 82

Figure 39: Percentage of DHS Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 83

Figure 40: Percentage of DHS Initiatives by Federal Role and Other 84

Figure 41: Number of HUD Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 85

Figure 42: Number of Energy Sources Supported by HUD 

Initiatives 86

Figure 43: Percentage of HUD Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 87

Figure 44: Percentage of HUD Initiatives by Federal Role and Other 87

Figure 45: Number of Interior Initiatives Supporting Each 

Renewable Energy Source 88

Figure 46: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Interior 

Initiatives 89

Figure 47: Percentage of Interior Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 90

Figure 48: Percentage of Interior Initiatives by Federal Role and 

Other 91

Figure 49: Number of Justice Initiatives Supporting Each 

Renewable Energy Source 92
Page v GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 50: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Justice 

Initiatives 93

Figure 51: Percentage of Justice Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 94

Figure 52: Percentage of Justice Initiatives by Federal Role and 

Other 95

Figure 53: Number of Labor Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 96

Figure 54: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Labor 

Initiatives 97

Figure 55: Percentage of Labor Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 98

Figure 56: Percentage of Labor Initiatives by Federal Role and 

Other 98

Figure 57: Number of State Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 99

Figure 58: Number of Energy Sources Supported by State 

Initiatives 100

Figure 59: Percentage of State Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 101

Figure 60: Percentage of State Initiatives by Federal Role and Other 101

Figure 61: Number of DOT Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 102

Figure 62: Number of Energy Sources Supported by DOT Initiatives 103

Figure 63: Percentage of DOT Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 104

Figure 64: Percentage of DOT Initiatives by Federal Role and Other 105

Figure 65: Number of Treasury Initiatives Supporting Each 

Renewable Energy Source 106

Figure 66: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Treasury 

Initiatives 107

Figure 67: Percentage of Treasury Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 108

Figure 68: Percentage of Treasury Initiatives by Federal Role and 

Other 109

Figure 69: Number of EPA Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 110

Figure 70: Number of Energy Sources Supported by EPA Initiatives 111

Figure 71: Percentage of EPA Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 112

Figure 72: Percentage of EPA Initiatives by Federal Role and Other 113
Page vi GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 73: Number of FERC Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 114

Figure 74: Number of Energy Sources Supported by FERC 

Initiatives 115

Figure 75: Percentage of FERC Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 116

Figure 76: Percentage of FERC Initiatives by Federal Role and 

Other 116

Figure 77: Number of GSA Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 117

Figure 78: Number of Energy Sources Supported by GSA Initiatives 118

Figure 79: Percentage of GSA Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 119

Figure 80: Percentage of GSA Initiatives by Federal Role and Other 119

Figure 81: Number of NASA Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 120

Figure 82: Number of Energy Sources Supported by NASA 

Initiatives 121

Figure 83: Percentage of NASA Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 122

Figure 84: Percentage of NASA Initiatives by Federal Role and 

Other 123

Figure 85: Number of NSF Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 124

Figure 86: Number of Energy Sources Supported by NSF Initiatives 125

Figure 87: Percentage of NSF Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 126

Figure 88: Percentage of NSF Initiatives by Federal Role and Other 126

Figure 89: Number of SBA Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable 

Energy Source 127

Figure 90: Number of Energy Sources Supported by SBA Initiatives 128

Figure 91: Percentage of SBA Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 129

Figure 92: Percentage of SBA Initiatives by Federal Role and Other 129

Figure 93: Number of USAID Initiatives Supporting Each 

Renewable Energy Source 130

Figure 94: Number of Energy Sources Supported by USAID 

Initiatives 131

Figure 95: Percentage of USAID Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both 132

Figure 96: Percentage of USAID Initiatives by Federal Role and 

Other 133
Page vii GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy 

Abbreviations 

ARPA-E Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy 

ARS Agricultural Research Service 

BOEMRE Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation 

 and Enforcement 

CFO Act Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 

Commerce Department of Commerce 

DHS Department of Homeland Security 

DOD Department of Defense 

DOE Department of Energy 

DOT Department of Transportation 

EERE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

EPA Environmental Protection Agency 

EPAct 2005 Energy Policy Act of 2005 

FEMP Federal Energy Management Program 

FERC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

GREENS Ground Renewable Expeditionary ENergy System

GSA General Services Administration 

HUD Department of Housing and Urban Development 

Interior Department of the Interior 

IRS Internal Revenue Service 

Justice Department of Justice 

Labor Department of Labor 

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

NIFA National Institute of Food and Agriculture 

NSF National Science Foundation 

OE Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability 

Recovery Act American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

SBA Small Business Administration 

State Department of State 

Treasury Department of the Treasury 

USAID U.S. Agency for International Development 

USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture 
Page ii GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy 

View GAO-12-260 Key Component 

Renewable Energy: An Inventory of Fiscal Year 2010 Federal Initiatives 

(GAO-12-259SP), an E-supplement to GAO-12-260. 

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the 

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Page 1 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548

February 27, 2012

The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman

Chairman

The Honorable Susan M. Collins

Ranking Member

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

United States Senate

Americans’ daily lives, as well as the economic productivity of the United 

States, depend on the availability of energy, particularly from fossil fuels.

However, concerns over the nation’s reliance on imported oil, rising 

energy costs, and fossil fuels’ potential contribution to global climate 

change have renewed the focus on developing renewable energy 

resources and technologies to meet future energy needs.1 According to 

the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Information Administration, 

domestic renewable energy use grew by 21 percent from 2006 to 2010 

and accounted for about 8 percent of U.S. energy consumption in 2010.2

Congress and some federal agencies have emphasized the importance of 

renewable energy as a means to address issues of national concern and 

have committed substantial federal resources to initiatives in this area.

During the same period, nuclear energy use increased by about 3 

percent, and the use of fossil fuels decreased by about 4 percent largely 

as a result of the recent economic downturn. Over the coming decades, 

the Energy Information Administration projects that the strongest growth 

in the domestic energy sector will be in the use of renewable energy to 

generate electricity and produce liquid fuels for transportation.

3

 

1

We defined renewable energy as energy derived from any of the following sources: 

bioenergy, such as liquid biofuel and solid biomass fuel; geothermal; hydropower; solar; 

wind; ocean energy, including wave, tidal, current, and ocean thermal energy; and waste 

conversion, including anaerobic digestion, landfill gas, and municipal solid waste.

For instance, DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

(EERE) received about $630 million in its fiscal year 2010 appropriation 

2

DOE, Energy Information Administration, Renewable Energy Consumption and Electricity 

Preliminary Statistics 2010 (Washington, D.C.: 2011).

3

Throughout this report we refer to federal departments and independent agencies, as 

well as some components of these departments and agencies, collectively as “agencies.”

 
 

Page 2 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

for research related to bioenergy, geothermal, solar, water, and wind 

energy—an increase of about 43 percent from the fiscal year 2008 level 

of about $440 million.4 EERE received an additional $1.4 billion from the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) for 

renewable energy-related efforts.5 The federal government also creates 

incentives for investment in certain types of renewable energy-related 

projects and for the production and consumption of renewable energy by, 

for example, providing favorable tax treatment, such as tax credits, to 

businesses and individuals. These tax preferences—which are referred to 

as tax expenditures and are administered by the Department of the 

Treasury’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS)—result in forgone revenue for 

the federal government.6 Revenue losses associated with renewable 

energy-related tax expenditures were estimated to be almost $8.9 billion 

for fiscal year 2010, according to estimates from the President’s 2012 

budget.7

 

4

Since DOE was established in 1977, one of its missions has been to promote the nation’s 

energy security through research, development, and demonstration of advanced 

technologies for meeting future energy demands and diversifying the nation’s energy 

portfolio. As part of this mission, EERE conducts research, development, and 

demonstration activities in partnership with industry to advance a diverse supply of what it 

refers to as “clean energy” technologies, including renewable energy.

The Recovery Act and other recent legislation established, 

extended, or changed the scope of a number of these tax expenditures.

5

Office of Management and Budget guidance provided that agencies that received 

Recovery Act funding were responsible for developing program-specific plans to outline 

how they would implement the provisions of the act, including timeframes for obligating 

the funds provided. In September 2011, the Office of Management and Budget directed 

federal agencies to accelerate spending of remaining Recovery Act funds in all 

discretionary grant programs, and directed them to reclaim funds that have not been spent 

by September 30, 2013, to the extent permitted by law.

6

A tax expenditure is a revenue loss attributable to a provision of the federal tax laws that 

(1) allows a special exclusion, exemption, or deduction from gross income or (2) provides 

a special credit, preferential tax rate, or deferral of tax liability. Tax expenditures are 

subsidies provided through the tax system. Rather than transferring funds from the 

government to the private sector, the U.S. government forgoes some of the tax revenues 

that it would have collected and the taxpayers that take advantage of the provisions of the 

tax code pay lower taxes than they would otherwise have had to pay. See also GAO, 

Government Performance and Accountability: Tax Expenditures Represent a Substantial 

Federal Commitment and Need to Be Reexamined, GAO-05-690 (Washington, D.C.: 

Sept. 23, 2005), and Understanding the Tax Reform Debate: Background, Criteria, & 

Questions, GAO-05-1009SP (Washington, D.C.: September 2005).

7

While sufficiently reliable as a gauge of general magnitude, the sum of individual tax 

expenditure estimates does not take into account interactions between individual 

provisions.
 

Page 3 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

The federal government is also uniquely positioned to affect the 

development of renewable energy resources through its land 

management and regulatory activities and as a consumer of energy. For 

example, the Department of the Interior (Interior) manages approximately 

500 million acres, or one-fifth, of the nation’s land and 1.7 billion acres off 

its shores. Interior has recently emphasized development of renewable 

resources in these areas by, for example, implementing measures to 

streamline the regulatory processes associated with constructing solar 

energy projects on some of these lands. The federal government is also 

the single largest user of energy in the United States, and a number of 

recent federal laws and executive orders have established requirements 

and direction for federal agencies to (1) reduce energy consumption and 

greenhouse gas emissions and increase renewable energy use at their 

facilities, and (2) to reduce petroleum consumption and increase the use 

of alternative fuels in their vehicle fleets.

8

The wide range of federal activities related to renewable energy and the 

recent increase in these efforts have raised congressional concerns about 

the number of agencies implementing such activities, as well as the roles 

of agencies responsible for regulating and providing funding to various 

segments of the renewable energy industry. However, there is currently 

no comprehensive inventory of which federal agencies are implementing 

renewable energy-related initiatives and the types of initiatives they are 

implementing. In light of efforts to balance the federal budget and target 

spending on activities that will most effectively meet national needs, the 

lack of available information on agencies’ renewable energy initiatives 

has further raised congressional concerns about the ability to identify 

whether efforts are fragmented, duplicative, or operating at crosspurposes.

 

8

We have reported on agencies’ responses to these directives on several occasions. See 

GAO, Federal Energy Management: Agencies Are Taking Steps to Meet HighPerformance Federal Building Requirements, but Face Challenges, GAO-10-22

(Washington, D.C.: Oct. 30, 2009); Status of GSA’s Implementation of Selected Green 

Building Provisions of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, GAO-09-111R

(Washington, D.C.: Oct. 31, 2008); Federal Energy Management: Agencies Are Acquiring 

Alternative Fuel Vehicles but Face Challenges in Meeting Other Fleet Objectives, 

GAO-09-75R (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 22, 2008); and Federal Energy Management: 

Addressing Challenges through Better Plans and Clarifying the Greenhouse Gas Emission 

Measure Will Help Meet Long-term Goals for Buildings, GAO-08-977 (Washington, D.C.: 

Sept. 30, 2008).
 

Page 4 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Due to these concerns, you asked us to provide information on federal 

renewable energy initiatives. Our objectives for this report are to (1)

identify federal agencies’ renewable energy-related initiatives 

governmentwide, and (2) examine the federal roles these agencies’ 

initiatives support. Appendix II and GAO-12-259SP provide more detailed 

information on individual agencies’ initiatives.9

To identify federal agencies’ renewable energy-related initiatives, we 

collected information on initiatives that were funded, planned, 

implemented, or authorized in fiscal year 2010 by reviewing agencies’ 

budget documents and other key information sources, such as strategic 

plans and websites. From this effort, we developed data on agencies’ 

initiatives that were related to renewable energy through a specific 

emphasis or focus, even if renewable energy was part of a broader 

effort.

In addition, we provide 

information on the extent to which the Recovery Act established, 

expanded, or modified agencies’ renewable energy-related initiatives, and 

identify those initiatives, such as certain tax expenditures that supported 

ethanol or other biofuels, for which authority has recently or will soon 

expire without congressional action. This information is provided in 

appendixes III and IV, respectively.

10

 

9

In particular, 

We defined an initiative as a program or group of activities 

serving a similar purpose or function, and the initiatives we identified 

included agency spending programs as well as tax expenditures. In some 

instances, these initiatives corresponded to distinct agency programs or 

initiatives. In other cases, we identified and grouped similar activities into 

initiatives based on our own judgment when there did not already appear 

to be a formal name for the initiative, or disaggregated higher-level 

GAO-12-259SP provides information on each initiative, including what it is, 

how it works, and how it relates to renewable energy.

10Renewable energy activities may be part of broader initiatives which are not primarily 

focused on renewable energy. In these instances, renewable energy projects can be one 

of many eligible types of activities that receive support under an initiative. For example, 

initiatives aimed at promoting sustainability, energy efficiency, fuel economy, and other 

“green” measures may include a renewable energy component.
 

Page 5 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

activities that included multiple initiatives.11 We focused on agencies 

subject to the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (CFO Act) with 

renewable energy-related activities that went beyond standard 

governmentwide efforts to incorporate renewable energy into their vehicle 

fleets and facilities in response to requirements and direction established 

by federal laws and executive orders.12 These agencies were: the 

departments of Agriculture (USDA), Commerce, Defense (DOD), Energy, 

Homeland Security (DHS), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the 

Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation (DOT), and the Treasury; as 

well as the following independent agencies: the Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA), General Services Administration (GSA), National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science 

Foundation (NSF), Small Business Administration (SBA), and U.S. 

Agency for International Development (USAID). Of these 18 CFO Act 

agencies, we collected data on DOD activities separately for the Air 

Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and other DOD components that report 

to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In addition, we collected data 

for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) separately from 

DOE.13

We submitted a structured data request to agencies to provide 

information on each of their renewable energy initiatives, including the 

responsible agency component(s); a description of its purpose, how it is 

implemented, and how it relates to renewable energy; the applicable 

As a result, we provide data on 23 agencies rather than 18.

 

11Where we identified individual renewable energy-related projects, such as a specific 

facility energy effort or grant award, we did not consider the projects to be initiatives 

themselves; rather, we identified the broader program or area of effort to which they 

belonged as an initiative. Therefore, the data that we developed do not necessarily 

represent initiatives that are of similar size in terms of agency financial commitments, 

number of projects involved, or other quantitative measures. Also, our data do not always 

match agencies’ reported information on these activities, such as information contained in 

agency budget or strategic planning documents. Similarly, the list of tax expenditures 

included in this report was developed based on information provided by IRS officials to 

represent provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that provide support for renewable 

energy. The list was developed specifically to represent the criteria for collecting data on 

distinct renewable energy initiatives for this report. As a result, the count does not 

necessarily track Treasury’s published tax expenditure list which, for example, may 

encompass multiple provisions in a tax expenditure listed.

12The 24 federal agencies subject to the CFO Act accounted for roughly 98 percent of 

federal outlays in 2009.

13FERC is an independent agency that, while not a CFO Act agency, is listed under DOE 

in the federal budget.
 

Page 6 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

renewable energy sources; the recipients of funding, services, or other 

types of support; the extent to which it was established, expanded, or 

modified by the Recovery Act; and whether the legislative authority for the 

initiative has expired or may expire. We then conducted interviews with 

agency officials responsible for providing the data to collect additional 

information and assess the accuracy, reliability, and completeness of the 

data provided. We determined the data to be sufficiently reliable for the 

purposes of this report. We then analyzed the data we collected to 

develop descriptive information across the agencies’ renewable energyrelated initiatives. We recognize that measures other than the number of 

initiatives implemented, such as the level of financial support provided, 

are also important to understanding renewable energy efforts 

governmentwide. An agency may have many initiatives, but the total 

financial support provided for these initiatives could be substantially less 

than the financial support provided by an agency with fewer initiatives.

We did not review agencies’ renewable energy-related initiatives on the 

basis of the level of financial support agencies provide for their renewable 

energy efforts because, for example, officials stated that financial support 

for renewable energy is often not tracked separately from other activities.

Therefore, we could not collect reliable renewable energy-specific funding 

data or revenue loss estimates across the full inventory of initiatives we 

identified.

To examine the federal roles agencies’ renewable energy initiatives 

support, we analyzed the initiative data we collected to identify the federal 

roles of the initiatives each agency implemented. Specifically, we 

categorized agencies’ initiatives on the basis of four key federal roles, 

including (1) research and development; (2) commercialization and 

deployment; (3) regulation, permitting, and compliance; and (4) fleets and 

facilities.14

 

14We included technology demonstration activities as part of research and development 

rather than as part of commercialization and deployment. In addition, we included 

equipment, such as tactical military equipment, that is procured and deployed by agencies 

and that incorporates renewable energy technologies as part of the fleets and facilities 

federal role.

In some instances, we found that agencies’ initiatives did not fit 

into any of these four roles, and in such instances, we included these 

initiatives in an “other” category. Appendix I provides a more detailed 

description of our scope and methodology.
 

Page 7 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

We conducted this performance audit from April 2010 through February 

2012 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 

standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to 

obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for 

our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe 

that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings 

and conclusions based on our audit objectives.

EERE defines renewable energy as “energy derived from resources that 

are regenerative or for all practical purposes can not be depleted.” For 

purposes of our work, we defined renewable energy sources as follows:

• Bioenergy. Energy produced from biological fuel sources in liquid, 

solid, or gaseous form, not including energy produced from animal, 

household, or business waste.15

• Geothermal energy. Energy produced by the internal heat of the 

earth.

• Hydroelectric energy. Energy produced by the force of moving water, 

excluding ocean environments.

• Ocean energy. Energy produced by tides, waves, currents and ocean 

thermal gradients.

• Solar energy. Energy transmitted from the sun.

 

15Liquid biofuels, such as ethanol or biodiesel, are fuels or components of fuels produced 

from feedstocks, including corn, sugar cane, algae, and a range of plant oils and animal 

fats, among others. Liquid biofuels are primarily used for transportation. We refer to 

biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, as renewable energy sources in this report, 

although they are commonly referred to as alternative fuels. Solid biomass fuels are fuels 

derived from organic matter, such as wood and forest residues that can be burned to 

produce heat energy. Other types of bioenergy include biogas, such as methane. 

However, for purposes of our analysis we categorized gases produced from landfill gas 

capture or anaerobic digestion of agricultural waste as waste conversion rather than 

bioenergy.

Background 
 

Page 8 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

• Waste conversion. Energy generated from waste material from 

animals, households and businesses, including anaerobic digestion of 

agricultural or other waste, landfill gas, and municipal solid waste.

• Wind energy. Energy produced by the movement of air.

Federal agencies implement many renewable energy-related initiatives in 

response to several key pieces of legislation and federal requirements.

For example, USDA received specific direction and authority to implement 

a number of renewable energy initiatives under the Farm Security and 

Rural Investment Act of 2002, and the Food, Conservation, and Energy 

Act of 2008, commonly known as the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills. Similarly, 

DOT received authority to implement a number of renewable energy 

initiatives under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation 

Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, passed in August 2005. The Recovery 

Act also initiated, expanded, or modified a broad range of renewable 

energy activities across the government. In addition, several laws and 

executive orders established requirements or provided direction to federal 

agencies to incorporate renewable energy into the operation of their 

vehicle fleets and facilities, as shown in table 1.

Table 1: Federal Renewable Energy Requirements for Agency Fleets and Facilities

Statute or executive order Renewable energy requirement

Energy Policy Act of 1992

(Oct. 24, 1992)

Fleet. Generally requires that agencies acquire alternative fuel vehicles for 75 percent of 

new light-duty acquisitions by fleets of 20 or more vehicles that are capable of being 

centrally fueled in metropolitan statistical areas with populations of 250,000 or more.

Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005)

(Aug. 8, 2005)

a

Facilities. Generally requires that, to the extent economically feasible and technologically 

practicable, agencies’ renewable electricity consumption meet or exceed 3 percent of total 

consumption in fiscal years 2007 through 2009, 5 percent in fiscal years 2010 through 

2012, and 7.5 percent in fiscal year 2013 and thereafter. It also provides additional credit 

toward these goals for agencies with renewable electricity produced on-site. Finally, it 

requires the installation of 20,000 solar energy systems in federal buildings by 2010.

Executive Order 13423

(Jan. 24, 2007)

Facilities. Requires that at least half of all renewable energy required under EPAct 2005 

comes from renewable sources placed in service after January 1, 1999. It also requires 

agencies to the extent feasible to implement renewable energy generation projects on 

agency property for agency use.
 

Page 9 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy 

Statute or executive order Renewable energy requirement 

Energy Independence and Security Act of 

2007 

(Dec. 19, 2007) 

Fleet. Generally requires agencies to increase annual alternative fuel consumption by 10 

percent by 2015 from a 2005 baseline, and install at least one renewable fuel pump at 

each federal fuel center by 2010. 

Executive Order 13514 

(Oct. 5, 2009) 

Fleet and facilities. Requires agencies to develop Strategic Sustainability Performance 

Plans to achieve a fiscal year 2020 percentage reduction target of agencywide 

greenhouse gas emissions, and consider reductions associated with increasing agency 

renewable energy use and on-site projects, among other things. 

Source: GAO analysis. 

a

Under the Energy Policy Act of 1992, as amended, alternative fuel vehicles include any dedicated, 

dual-fuel vehicle designed to operate on at least one alternative fuel. In 2008, the act was amended 

to include hybrid vehicles that use both gasoline and stored energy in a battery to power the vehicle. 

Alternative fuels under DOE regulations include: methanol, ethanol, and other alcohols; blends of 85 

percent or more of alcohol with gasoline; natural gas; liquefied petroleum gas (propane); coal-derived 

liquid fuels; hydrogen; electricity; biodiesel; and p-series fuels. 10 C.F.R. § 490.2. 

Federal agencies use several methods of financing renewable energy 

projects on their property to help meet the requirements of these laws and 

executive orders.16 In addition to funding the full cost of projects using 

direct appropriations, agencies may use a number of alternative financing 

arrangements, whereby financing for the projects comes from parties 

outside of the federal government, such as private energy services 

companies. Alternative financing can be provided through various 

mechanisms, including energy savings performance contracts, through 

which agencies contract with energy services companies to finance and 

install renewable energy systems, and agencies repay the companies 

over time; power purchase agreements, through which a developer 

installs a renewable energy system on agency property under an 

agreement that the agency will purchase the power generated by the 

system; or some other financing agreement whereby an outside party 

provides funding for the project. 

There have been several recent estimates of the level of federal financial 

support for renewable energy: 

 The Energy Information Administration estimated total federal subsidies 

for renewable sources in fiscal year 2010 to be approximately $14.7 

 

16GAO reports on federal agencies’ methods of financing energy projects include GAO, 

Energy Savings: Performance Contracts Offer Benefits, but Vigilance Is Needed to Protect 

Government Interests, GAO-05-340 (Washington, D.C.: June 22, 2005), and Capital 

Financing: Partnerships and Energy Savings Performance Contracts Raise Budgeting and 

Monitoring Concerns, GAO-05-55 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 16, 2004). 
 

Page 10 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy 

billion, including $8.2 billion in tax expenditures. This amount 

represented a substantial increase from its estimate for fiscal year 2007 

of $5.1 billion going to renewable sources. Much of this increase was 

due to the Recovery Act, which provided an estimated $6.2 billion of the 

$14.7 billion in fiscal year 2010 subsidies.17

 The Congressional Research Service estimated fiscal year 2010 

federal revenue losses and outlays associated with renewable 

energy-related tax provisions to be approximately $13 billion, 

including Recovery Act funding of approximately $4.2 billion for 

Treasury payments for energy projects, primarily renewable energy 

projects.18

 The Environmental Law Institute estimated total federal subsidies for 

renewable sources over the 7-year period from fiscal years 2002 

through 2008 to be approximately $29 billion.19

Several factors limit these estimates of federal financial support for 

renewable energy. For instance, many federal programs or tax 

expenditures support a wide range of renewable and conventional energy 

sources, as well as businesses or activities outside of the energy sector. 

These estimates use varying criteria to determine which programs or tax 

expenditures to include, and for those they do include, the analyses often 

do not isolate the financial support for renewable energy provided by 

programs or tax expenditures that may support a broader range of 

activities or energy sources. In addition, none of these estimates include 

the level of financial support provided to the renewable energy industry 

through federal efforts to incorporate renewable energy in agency vehicle 

fleets and facilities. These estimates also do not account for the costs to 

the federal government of implementing regulatory efforts related to 

renewable energy. Furthermore, these estimates do not include all federal 

 

17DOE, Energy Information Administration, Direct Federal Financial Interventions and 

Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Year 2010 (Washington, D.C.: 2011). 

18Treasury’s Payments for Specific Energy Property in Lieu of Tax Credits, established 

under Section 1603 of the Recovery Act, provided cash grants to eligible applicants who 

place specified energy property in service for use in a trade or business. Congressional 

Research Service, Energy Tax Incentives: Measuring Value Across Different Types of 

Energy Resources (Washington, D.C.: 2011). 

19Environmental Law Institute, Estimating U.S. Government Subsidies to Energy Sources: 

2002-2008 (Washington, D.C.: 2009). 
 

Page 11 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

agencies with programs that support renewable energy, and for those 

they do include, they do not always provide a full list of which programs 

are included.

Federal and state agencies, as well as public and private utilities, 

implement initiatives beyond those included in our review. First, at the 

federal level, agencies outside the scope of our review—agencies not 

subject to the CFO Act—implement renewable energy-related initiatives.

For example, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation partners with 

the private sector to invest in renewable energy and other markets in 

foreign countries, and the Export-Import Bank of the United States 

finances the foreign purchase of domestically-produced goods, including 

renewable energy technologies. In addition, the Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission 

implement regulatory efforts involving markets for renewable energy 

certificates and commodities. Second, at the state level, the 50 states and 

the District of Columbia implement initiatives, including tax incentives, 

rebates, grants, and loans to individuals, businesses, or local 

governments for a wide range of renewable energy projects. Third, public 

and private utilities offer incentives to promote the installation and use of 

renewable energy systems by their customers, including rebates, loans, 

and performance-based incentives—payments based on the amount of 

energy generated by a renewable energy system.

Across the federal government, we identified almost 700 renewable 

energy-related initiatives for fiscal year 2010 at the agencies and 

subagencies we examined. We found that initiatives in this inventory 

supported all of the renewable energy sources in our analysis, with 

initiatives most commonly supporting bioenergy, solar, and wind. In 

addition, we found that agencies’ initiatives supported a range of 

recipients in both the public and private sectors, with the majority of 

initiatives supporting private sector recipients. Given a variety of factors, 

such as recent legislation and future budget uncertainty, agencies’ fiscal 

year 2010 renewable energy efforts represent an increased level of 

activity from prior years, but future activity levels are less certain.

Agencies 

Implemented 

Hundreds of 

Initiatives That 

Support Renewable 

Energy 
 

Page 12 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Governmentwide, we identified 679 renewable energy-related initiatives 

for fiscal year 2010 at the 23 agencies we examined and their 130 

subagencies.20

Figure 1: Number of Initiatives by Agency

These agencies fell into two groups based on the number 

of initiatives they implemented: agencies responsible for more than 80 

initiatives each and agencies that had 50 or fewer initiatives. Figure 1 

shows the number of initiatives by agency.

Note: The figure includes 5 initiatives for which we did not receive responses from the following 

agencies to determine whether or not they should be considered renewable energy-related initiatives:

the Air Force (1), NASA (3), and the Navy (1). We kept these initiatives for purposes of inclusiveness.

 

20The federal agencies within the scope of this report are organized along a range of 

different structures that include formal subagencies, bureaus, services, divisions, and 

offices, among other types of structures. For ease of reporting, we generally refer to all of 

these organizational elements as subagencies.

Federal Agencies 

Implemented Almost 700 

Initiatives in Fiscal Year 

2010
 

Page 13 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

a

Agencies with more than 80 initiatives—DOD, USDA, DOE, and Interior—

were collectively responsible for almost 60 percent of all initiatives.

The figure shows data for 19 agencies; however, the DOD data include the Air Force, Army, Marine 

Corps, Navy, and other DOD components. The total number of initiatives across these DOD 

components was 116.

• DOD. DOD’s components collectively accounted for 116 of the 

initiatives we identified. At DOD, we found renewable energy 

initiatives at the Army (30), Air Force (17), Navy (16), and Marine 

Corps (12). Within each of these services, the renewable energy 

initiatives we identified were dispersed across a number of civilian and 

military elements of the chain of command. At the Army, for example, 

responsibility for energy management activities at its facilities is 

shared by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for 

Installations, Energy and Environment (civilian) and the Office of the 

Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management (military). Other 

components of the Army share responsibility for a number of research 

efforts to develop technologies for the Army’s use, some of which 

include renewable energy. Other Army renewable energy initiatives 

are led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is the largest 

hydropower producer in the United States. In addition to the military 

services, we identified 41 initiatives across a number of components 

that report to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, such as the 

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology 

and Logistics’ Office of the Assistant Secretary, Operational Energy 

Plans and Programs; the Defense Advanced Research Projects 

Agency; and the Defense Logistics Agency.

• USDA. USDA accounted for 105 initiatives across 17 subagencies.

These subagencies span six of USDA’s seven Under Secretaries as 

well as other elements of USDA. Specifically, we identified renewable 

energy initiatives at subagencies within the Under Secretaries’ 

mission areas for Research, Education, and Economics (47); Natural 

Resources and Environment (24); Farm and Foreign Agricultural 

Services (9); Rural Development (9); Marketing and Regulatory 

Programs (6); and Food Safety (1). In addition, we identified 10 

initiatives implemented by the Office of the Secretary, the Office of the 

Chief Economist, or Departmental Management.21

 

21One Office of the Chief Economist initiative is implemented jointly with USDA’s National 

Institute of Food and Agriculture, which is part of the mission area of the Under Secretary 

for Research, Education, and Economics; therefore, the number of initiatives listed for 

USDA sums to 106.
 

Page 14 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

• DOE. DOE accounted for 92 initiatives across a number of program 

offices and other subagencies. The program offices included EERE 

(47); the Office of Science (12); the Office of Electricity Delivery and 

Energy Reliability (OE) (5); the Advanced Research Projects AgencyEnergy (ARPA-E) (4); and the Loan Programs Office (2). Other DOE 

subagencies at which we identified renewable energy initiatives 

included the Power Marketing Administrations (8), the Office of Policy 

and International Affairs (4), and the Energy Information 

Administration (1).22

• Interior. Interior accounted for 82 initiatives, which spanned 8 

subagencies across all of Interior’s main Assistant Secretaries’ 

offices. These included renewable energy initiatives at subagencies 

under the Assistant Secretaries for Water and Science (28); Land and 

Minerals Management (26); Fish, Wildlife and Parks (13); Indian 

Affairs (12); and Insular Affairs (2). We also found that the Office of 

the Secretary and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, 

Management and Budget, together, had 3 initiatives.

We also identified 9 initiatives for which multiple 

DOE subagencies were responsible.

23

Within the 15 agencies that had 50 or fewer initiatives, we also found that 

a number of subagencies within each agency were responsible for 

renewable energy initiatives. We found that the number of these 

subagencies with renewable energy initiatives ranged from 9 at 

Commerce and DOT to 3 at GSA and NSF. Table 2 shows the range of 

the number of subagencies with renewable energy initiatives at agencies 

with 50 or fewer initiatives.

 

22We generally grouped DOE’s Power Marketing Administrations together for purposes of 

our analysis; however, they include the Bonneville Power Administration, the 

Southeastern Power Administration, the Southwestern Power Administration, and the 

Western Area Power Administration.

23One initiative was jointly implemented by subagencies under three Assistant 

Secretaries; therefore the number of initiatives listed for Interior sums to 84.
 

Page 15 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Table 2: Number of Subagencies with Renewable Energy Initiatives at Agencies 

with 50 or Fewer Initiatives

Agency Number of subagencies

Commerce 9 

DOT 9 

Treasury 7 

Justice 6 

Labor 6 

DHS 5 

FERC 5 

HUD 5 

NASA 5 

USAID 5 

EPA 4 

SBA 4 

State 4 

GSA 3 

NSF 3 

Source: GAO analysis of agencies’ data.

Note: As noted previously, the federal agencies within the scope of this report are organized along a 

range of different structures that include formal subagencies, bureaus, services, divisions, and 

offices, among other types of structures. For ease of reporting, we generally refer to all of these 

organizational elements as subagencies.

The number of initiatives that agencies implemented, and the range of 

their subagencies involved provide some indication of their support for 

renewable energy overall, but certain agencies with relatively fewer 

initiatives than others have initiatives that may have a relatively greater 

impact on the renewable energy sector.24

 

24We did not analyze the impact of initiatives on the renewable energy sector for this 

report.

For example, Treasury, with 31 

initiatives, was not among the 4 agencies with the largest number of 

initiatives. However, some of its initiatives, such as the renewable energyrelated tax expenditures administered by IRS, potentially apply to a wide 

range of taxpayers eligible to take advantage of the relevant portions of 

the tax code. As a result, these tax expenditures may provide a greater 

level of support for renewable energy development than is provided by 
 

Page 16 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

other types of agency programs, such as grant programs, where the level 

of support is tied to the level of funding provided through the program.25 In 

addition, EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard program, mandated by the 

Clean Air Act, as amended, generally requires the volume of biofuels 

used in the transportation sector in the 48 contiguous states to increase 

through 2022 to an annual total of 36 billion gallons.26 This requirement 

applies to all producers and importers of gasoline and diesel and any 

party that produces, transports, stores, or blends the renewable fuel. As 

such, its impact is felt by a wide range of businesses across the United

States.

Among the hundreds of initiatives we identified across federal agencies, 

we found that initiatives supported all of the renewable energy sources in 

our analysis, including bioenergy, waste conversion, geothermal, 

hydropower, ocean, solar, and wind. However, bioenergy, solar, and wind 

were the most commonly supported energy sources across the inventory.

Figure 2 shows the number of initiatives that support each energy source, 

which sums to more than 679—the number of initiatives in the inventory—

because about half of the initiatives supported multiple energy sources.27

 

25Recent estimates have indicated that the estimated forgone revenues associated with 

tax expenditures administered by IRS represented more than $8 billion in fiscal year 2010 

in federal financial support for renewable energy. See, for example, DOE, Energy 

Information Administration, Direct Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy 

in Fiscal Year 2010 (Washington, D.C.: 2011), and Congressional Research Service, 

Energy Tax Incentives: Measuring Value Across Different Types of Energy Resources

(Washington, D.C.: 2011).

26Under the act, the Renewable Fuel Standard applies to transportation fuel sold or 

introduced into commerce in the 48 contiguous states. However, the Administrator of the 

EPA is authorized, upon a petition from Alaska or Hawaii, to allow the Renewable Fuel 

Standard to apply in that state. On June 22, 2007, Hawaii petitioned EPA to opt into the 

Renewable Fuel Standard, and the Administrator approved that request. For the 

purposes of this report, statements that the Renewable Fuel Standard applies to U.S. 

transportation fuel refer to the 48 contiguous states and Hawaii. For more information on 

biofuels and the Renewable Fuel Standard, see GAO, Biofuels: Challenges to the 

Transportation, Sale, and Use of Intermediate Ethanol Blends, GAO-11-513 (Washington, 

D.C.: June 3, 2011), and Biofuels: Potential Effects and Challenges of Required Increases 

in Production and Use, GAO-09-446 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 25, 2009).

27See appendix II for more information on the renewable energy sources supported by 

agencies’ initiatives.

Initiatives Most Commonly 

Supported Bioenergy, 

Solar, and Wind
 

Page 17 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 2: Number of Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Notes: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources in this figure adds to more 

than the total number of initiatives in our inventory because initiatives often supported multiple energy 

sources. Also this figure does not include data for 29 initiatives for which we could not determine the 

applicable renewable energy sources based on the responses received from the following agencies:

the Air Force (1), the Army (1), DOE (15), HUD (4), NASA (3), the Navy (2), the other DOD 

components that report to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (1), State (1), and USDA (1).

Across the three renewable energy sources most commonly supported by 

the renewable energy initiatives identified, we found that (1) certain 

subcategories of these sources were more commonly supported than 

others, and (2) certain agencies—USDA, DOD, and Interior—led federal 
 

Page 18 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

support for these energy sources based on their relative number of 

initiatives.28

• Bioenergy. Nearly 60 percent of the renewable energy initiatives we 

identified supported some type of bioenergy as an energy source, 

including liquid biofuel, solid biomass fuel, or other types of bioenergy.

We found that most of the initiatives that supported bioenergy 

supported liquid biofuel. Of the agencies in our review, USDA had the 

largest number of initiatives that supported bioenergy—accounting for 

more than 20 percent of the initiatives that supported bioenergy.

USDA’s initiatives supported bioenergy in a variety of ways, such as 

efforts to: (1) develop new types of bioenergy crops, including biofuel 

or biomass crops or improve processes for producing bioenergy from 

these crops; (2) expand the planting and harvesting of bioenergy 

crops and biofuel refining capacity; (3) provide information about 

biofuel production and market trends; and (4) support the U.S. biofuel 

industry in the international arena.

Specifically:

• Solar. Approximately half of the renewable energy initiatives 

supported solar energy, including technologies such as photovoltaics, 

concentrating solar power, and solar hot water.29

 

28The number of initiatives agencies implemented that support each energy source does 

not provide the only measure of agencies’ support for these sources. For example, DOE 

is not included among the agencies with the largest number of initiatives supporting 

bioenergy, solar, or wind energy. Rather, DOE’s initiatives supported a wide range of 

renewable energy sources, and the number of its initiatives that supported bioenergy, 

solar, or wind energy did not exceed those of other agencies.

We found that the 

large majority of the initiatives that supported solar energy supported 

photovoltaic technologies. Of the agencies in our review, the military 

services and other components of DOD had the largest number of 

initiatives that supported solar energy—accounting for more than 20 

percent of the initiatives that supported solar energy. DOD’s initiatives 

supported solar energy in various ways and included a number of 

efforts to incorporate renewable energy at its installations, as well as 

to develop technologies that allow it to use solar energy in operational 

environments, such as the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, to help 

reduce its reliance on conventional fuel.

29Solar photovoltaic technologies convert energy from sunlight directly into electricity, 

using arrays of solar panels. Concentrating solar power technologies use mirrors to focus 

the sun's light energy and convert it into heat to create electrical power. In solar hot water 

technology, a collector absorbs and transfers heat from the sun to water, which is stored 

in a tank until needed.
 

Page 19 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

• Wind. More than 40 percent of the renewable energy initiatives 

supported wind energy, including land-based and off-shore wind 

energy. We found that the large majority of these initiatives supported 

land-based wind energy. While there are currently no off-shore 

commercial scale wind energy projects operating in the United States, 

some agencies’ initiatives focused on developing the technologies 

and regulatory framework for off-shore wind energy projects. Of the 

agencies in our review, Interior had the greatest number of initiatives 

that supported wind energy—accounting for about 15 percent of the 

initiatives that supported wind energy. Among other efforts, Interior’s 

wind energy initiatives involved examining the impacts of 

development, authorizing and permitting wind development on public 

lands and off-shore areas, and ensuring that projects comply with 

applicable laws and regulations.

Overall, the initiatives we identified were fairly evenly split between those 

that supported one energy source and those that supported multiple 

sources. Initiatives in the inventory targeted certain energy sources or 

provided support to a broader set of sources in a variety of ways. Table 3 

provides examples of those initiatives that supported multiple energy 

sources and those that were targeted to one source.

Table 3: Examples of Initiatives That Support a Broad Range of or Are Targeted to Certain Renewable Energy Sources

Name of initiative (agency) Description

Initiatives that support a broad range of renewable energy sources

Rural Energy for America 

Program (USDA)

USDA provides guaranteed loans and grants to farmers, ranchers, and small businesses in rural 

areas to assist with purchasing and installing renewable energy equipment that could involve all of 

the energy sources included in our analysis.

Credit for Residential Energy 

Efficient Property (Treasury)

IRS administers this tax expenditure that provides a credit to homeowners of up to 30 percent of the 

costs of eligible energy equipment. This credit is focused on several renewable energy sources 

common to residential properties, such as geothermal, solar, and wind.

Green Jobs Innovation Fund 

(Labor)

Labor provides competitive grants to help workers receive job training in “green” industry sectors and 

occupations, including the renewable energy sector, to ensure that workers have the necessary 

skills, knowledge, and abilities to succeed in high growth and emerging industries.

Certified Development 

Company/Section 504 Loans 

(SBA) 

SBA provides loan guarantees to small businesses investing in renewable energy sources or 

equipment.

Initiatives that are targeted to specific renewable energy sources

National Institute of Standards 

and Technology Biomass—

Cellulosic Ethanol Research 

(Commerce)

Institute staff conduct research on potential ways to overcome barriers in the production of cellulosic 

ethanol. 
 

Page 20 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Name of initiative (agency) Description

Aids to Navigation 

Photovoltaics (DHS)

To make U.S. waterways more navigable, the Coast Guard operates and administers a system of 

aids to navigation around the nation including buoys, lighthouses, and other lighted structures. Since 

the late 1950s the Coast Guard has used solar photovoltaic panels to power these structures.

NextGen Environmental 

Research—Aircraft 

Technologies, Fuels and 

Metrics (DOT)

The Federal Aviation Administration conducts research to develop alternative aviation fuels and 

technologies, including biofuels, and to better understand their air quality and climate impacts as part 

of its effort to improve the nation’s air travel system.

CHE-DMR-DMS Solar Energy 

Initiative (SOLAR) (NSF)

NSF provides grants to support interdisciplinary research to address the scientific challenges of 

highly-efficient harvesting, conversion, and storage of solar energy.

Source: GAO summary of agency-provided data.

We found that agencies’ initiatives provided support to a range of 

recipients in both the public (governmental) and private (generally 

nongovernmental) sectors; however, the majority of them supported 

private sector recipients. Specifically, almost 90 percent of the initiatives 

we identified supported private sector recipients either exclusively or 

along with public sector recipients. Figure 3 shows the percentage of 

initiatives that supported private or public sector recipients, or both.

Figure 3: Percentage of Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector Recipients, 

or Both

Note: This figure does not include data for 11 initiatives for which we could not determine the 

applicable recipients based on the responses received from the following agencies: the Air Force (1), 

HUD (4), NASA (3), the Navy (2), and State (1).

Initiatives Most Commonly 

Supported Private Sector 

Recipients 
 

Page 21 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Initiatives supported private sector recipients in a wide range of efforts 

that, for example, funded research or construction of renewable energy 

projects. Many agencies supported renewable energy research 

conducted by private companies, universities, or by other 

nongovernmental researchers. For example, several of the agencies we 

examined funded renewable energy research as part of their participation 

in the Small Business Innovation Research program. Through this 

program, which is administered by SBA, agencies with a budget of $100 

million or more for extramural research and development—research that 

is conducted by nonfederal employees outside federal facilities—are to 

provide funding to small businesses to, among other efforts, develop 

commercial products that address their needs.30 In addition, many 

agencies we examined implemented renewable power or energy projects 

at their facilities, such as installing solar arrays, ground-source heat 

pumps, and wind turbines.31

The smaller percentage of initiatives that supported public sector 

recipients also supported a range of activities. For example, DOE, DOD, 

USDA, and other agencies have research laboratories where staff carry 

out renewable energy research, along with research on other topics. In 

addition, some agencies’ initiatives support state, local, or tribal 

government activities. For example, EPA provides guidance and 

oversight for state regulatory programs that include regulating aspects of 

renewable energy production or use, such as the underground storage of 

biofuels. In another example, HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program 

Generally, these efforts directly supported 

recipients in the private sector as equipment manufacturers and 

contractors received the funding to design, construct, operate, and 

maintain renewable power or energy equipment at agencies’ facilities.

 

30Of the 11 agencies that participate in the Small Business Innovation Research program, 

2 (the departments of Education and Health and Human Services) were not included 

within the scope of our review. In addition, not all of the agencies included in our review 

funded renewable energy research as part of their implementation of the program. For 

more information on the Small Business Innovation Research program, see GAO, Small 

Business Innovation Research: SBA Should Work with Agencies to Improve the Data 

Available for Program Evaluation, GAO-11-698 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 15, 2011).

31Ground-source heat pumps, also known as geothermal heat pumps, are devices that 

take advantage of the relatively constant temperature immediately beneath the earth’s 

surface to provide heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. During the 

winter, a heat pump transfers the heat of the ground to a fluid-filled set of coils and then 

pumps this fluid into the building. During the summer, heat pumps work in reverse, 

extracting heat from the building and transferring it to the ground.
 

Page 22 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

awarded grants to state and local governments, among other types of 

recipients, to assist in the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed 

homes and includes funding for facilitating renewable energy projects, 

such as photovoltaic panels. Alternatively, some initiatives provided 

support to tribal governments to enhance their economic self-sufficiency 

or the skills of their members by, for example, providing funding for 

renewable energy projects or training on renewable energy technologies 

and resource management. In addition, while tax expenditures 

administered by the IRS generally support activities of private sector 

taxpayers, some tax expenditures also provide support for renewable 

energy efforts of public sector entities. For example, certain tax 

expenditures administered by IRS help public sector entities finance 

renewable energy projects by providing a credit to the bondholders who 

invest in such projects; thereby allowing the public sector entities to 

finance their projects with bonds that have lower interest rates than they 

would otherwise be able to issue.32

Similar to initiatives’ support of renewable energy sources, we found that, 

in some instances, agencies’ initiatives supported renewable energy 

activities implemented by a broad range of recipients, while others were 

more narrowly targeted. Table 4 provides examples of those initiatives 

that supported multiple recipients and those that were targeted to specific 

types of recipients.

 

32These tax expenditures include credits for taxpayers holding Clean Renewable Energy 

Bonds, New Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, and Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds. 

While there are differences between these credits in the amount of the credit available to 

taxpayers and how authority to issue the bonds was allocated, among other differences, 

generally for these bonds, taxpayers may receive an income tax credit in lieu of interest 

payments from the issuers of the bonds. Issuing these bonds helps tax-exempt entities 

finance projects that produce electricity from renewable energy sources because, since 

bondholders receive credits from the federal government, bond issuers can borrow while 

paying little or no interest on their debt. For the New Clean Renewable Energy Bonds and 

Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds, bond issuers also have the option to receive a 

direct payment equivalent to and in lieu of the amount of the tax credit that would 

otherwise go to the bondholder. In cases where bond issuers elect to receive a direct 

payment, this option helps tax-exempt entities finance projects that produce electricity 

from renewable energy sources because it provides an incentive for investors to purchase 

the bonds, since the investors' returns would not depend upon having sufficient taxable 

income to utilize a tax credit.
 

Page 23 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Table 4: Examples of Initiatives That Support a Broad Range of or Are Targeted to Certain Recipients

Name of initiative (agency) Description

Initiatives that support a broad range of recipients

Business and Industry 

Guaranteed Loan Program 

(USDA) 

USDA provides guaranteed loans to borrowers in rural areas in an effort to improve the economic 

and environmental climate in those areas. Borrowers may include a wide range of public and 

private entities and individuals.

Climate Technology Initiative – 

Private Financing Advisory 

Network (USAID and State)

USAID and State provide technical assistance to project developers and private banks to facilitate 

financing of renewable energy projects overseas.

Foundational Observation Data 

Sets (Commerce)

Commerce provides weather observations and forecast data that are generated from its 

observation networks, including, in some instances, renewable energy resource potential. These 

observations and data are available to the public, including the renewable energy industry. 

Hydropower Licensing Authority 

(including hydrokinetic resource 

projects) (FERC)

FERC’s responsibilities include the licensing and oversight of hydropower projects. Recipients of 

this oversight are project applicants and existing licensees, including a broad range of nonfederal 

governmental and private sector entities.

Initiatives that are targeted to specific types of recipients

Nano Power Africa (USAID) USAID partners with universities to create self-sustainable graduate-level programs in science and 

engineering in sub-Saharan Africa. Participants in these programs conduct research to develop 

low-cost indigenously produced solar energy devices using nano-materials.

Energy Efficiency Grants for 

Education and Technology (SBA)

SBA provides grants to small business development centers that, in turn, provide training and 

counseling services to small businesses. These grants support training in the use and 

development of renewable energy, among other things.

New Era Rural Technology 

Program (USDA)

USDA provides grants to community colleges and other post-secondary institutions in rural areas 

for research and training in the fields of bioenergy and agriculture-based renewable energy 

resources, among other fields.

People, Prosperity, and the 

Planet Award Program (EPA)

EPA awards funding to teams of college students who propose research on renewable energyrelated and other topics that supports sustainability.

Source: GAO summary of agency-provided data.

Due to a variety of factors, such as recent legislation and future budget 

uncertainty, the initiatives we identified for fiscal year 2010 represent an 

overall increased level of agency activity over prior years, and a higher 

level of activity than may occur in the future. A number of agency officials 

reported that renewable energy efforts at their agencies have increased in 

recent years as a result of the Recovery Act. We found that the Recovery 

Act expanded or modified agencies’ renewable energy initiatives in 

several ways, such as: (1) establishing new initiatives, (2) providing 

additional funding to existing initiatives, and (3) extending or changing the 

scope of existing initiatives. For example, the Recovery Act provided 

additional funding to GSA to procure vehicles for federal agencies—many 

Agencies’ Renewable 

Energy Efforts Increased 

Leading up to Fiscal Year 

2010, but Future Activity 

Levels Are Less Certain
 

Page 24 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

of which were alternative fuel vehicles—and exchange them for the 

agencies’ less fuel-efficient vehicles.33 In addition, many officials reported

that their agencies’ renewable energy efforts had increased in recent 

years due to other laws or executive orders, some of which provided 

direction or requirements to increase efforts to incorporate renewable 

energy into agency vehicle fleets and facilities. A few other officials 

reported that renewable energy efforts, such as authorizing development 

on federal lands and off-shore areas, had increased in recent years due 

to federal legislation. For example, under EPAct 2005, Interior received 

specific jurisdiction for renewable energy development on the outer 

continental shelf, which officials reported led to an overall increase in the 

agency’s renewable energy-related efforts. Some officials also reported 

that their agencies’ renewable energy efforts had increased in recent 

years as a result of the priority placed on renewable energy by their 

agencies’ leadership or by the administration. At the same time, several 

officials noted uncertainty as to the future level of their agencies’ 

renewable energy efforts due to potential budgetary constraints. Others 

observed that, although there is interest in increasing renewable energy 

efforts, such as installing renewable energy projects at their facilities, 

funding is limited and that they are looking into the possibility of financing 

these projects through third parties, such as private energy services 

companies. Furthermore, authorization for some initiatives, including 

programs funded by the Recovery Act and certain tax expenditures that 

supported renewable energy projects during fiscal year 2010 are set to or 

have already expired.34 A few officials noted that the expiration of these 

programs or tax expenditures may reduce future renewable energy 

efforts.

 

33See appendix III for additional information on the extent to which the Recovery Act 

established, expanded, or modified initiatives.

34See appendix IV for additional information on expiring initiatives.
 

Page 25 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Across the federal government, agencies’ renewable energy initiatives 

supported several key federal roles, and within each of these roles, we 

found that certain agencies tend to lead federal efforts. Governmentwide, 

more than 80 percent of agencies’ renewable energy initiatives span four 

key federal roles—conducting and supporting research and development, 

using energy in agency vehicle fleets and facilities, providing incentives 

for commercialization and deployment, and issuing regulations and 

permits and ensuring compliance.35 Beyond these key federal roles, the 

remaining 19 percent of initiatives focused on other efforts, such as the 

power generation, transmission, and marketing activities of the U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers and DOE’s Power Marketing Administrations; and the 

training and capacity building or trade and market development activities 

of agencies like Commerce, Labor, SBA, State, and USAID.36

 

35Research and development includes research efforts that further the knowledge of or 

the ability to create, develop, or improve renewable energy technologies, as well as, for 

purposes of our analysis, technology demonstration. Fleets and facilities include efforts to 

incorporate renewable energy into an agency's property, buildings, vehicles, and other 

equipment. Commercialization and deployment includes activities that provide incentives 

for the implementation or promote the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies 

in the commercial market place. Regulation, permitting, and compliance include activities 

that ensure compliance with federal laws and regulations regarding renewable energy 

production, use, technologies, or facilities.

Figure 4 

shows the percentage of agencies’ renewable energy initiatives according 

to their federal role and other.

36See appendix II for more detail on agencies with initiatives we placed in the “other” 

category. Our inclusion of initiatives in the “other” category does not imply that these 

initiatives were any less important than those in the four key federal roles included in our 

analysis. Initiatives in the “other” category may provide important support for renewable 

energy in a variety of ways, such as helping to promote the use of renewable energy 

technologies globally. We included initiatives in the “other” category only to distinguish 

between those initiatives that we grouped within the four key federal roles we analyzed 

and those that we did not include within one of the four federal roles.

Agencies’ Initiatives 

Support Several Key 

Federal Roles, and

Certain Agencies Tend 

to Lead Efforts for 

These Roles
 

Page 26 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 4: Percentage of Agencies’ Initiatives by Key Federal Role and Other

Notes: This figure does not include data for 5 initiatives for which we could not determine the 

applicable federal roles based on the responses received from the following agencies: the Air Force 

(1), NASA (3), and the Navy (1). Also, percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.

At an agency level, we found that each agency’s renewable energy 

initiatives were more frequently concentrated in certain of the four key 

federal roles we analyzed. Specifically, we analyzed the initiatives to 

determine which federal roles included a relatively higher percentage of 

each agency’s initiatives. Some agencies’ initiatives were concentrated in 

a single federal role, while other agencies’ initiatives were spread across 

several roles. Table 5 shows the distribution of agencies’ initiatives across 

the four key federal roles.
 

Page 27 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy 

Table 5: Agencies’ Initiatives across the Four Key Federal Roles 

Source: GAO analysis of agencies’ data. 

Notes: We chose 25 percent as the threshold to examine the distribution of agencies’ initiatives 

across the four key federal roles, assuming that if an agency’s initiatives were evenly distributed 

across the four roles, each of the roles would be darkened. We did not include “other” initiatives in 

this analysis because we focused on the four key federal roles. Also, this table does not include data 

for 5 initiatives for which we could not determine the applicable federal roles based on the responses 

received from the following agencies: the Air Force (1), NASA (3), and the Navy (1). 

Agency 

Research and 

development 

Fleets and 

facilities 

Commercialization 

and deployment 

Regulation,

permitting, and 

compliance 

Commerce    

DOD 

 DOD other    

 Air Force    

 Army    

 Marine Corps    

 Navy    

DHS    

DOE    

DOT    

EPA    

FERC    

GSA    

HUD    

Interior    

Justice    

Labor    

NASA    

NSF    

SBA    

State    

Treasury    

USAID    

USDA    

 Federal role with 25 percent or more of an agency’s initiatives

 Federal role with less than 25 percent of an agency’s initiatives
 

Page 28 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

We identified certain agencies that led efforts within each of the four key 

federal roles, as follows.

Research and development. For the research and development key 

federal role, DOE, DOD, and USDA implemented many initiatives to help 

develop renewable energy technologies. Specifically:

• DOE. Through 51 initiatives, DOE researched and developed what it 

refers to as “clean energy” technologies—including renewable 

energy—in support of its mission of ensuring America’s security and 

prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear 

challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.

Several offices within DOE, such as EERE, ARPA-E, OE, and the 

Office of Science, engage in a wide range of research and 

development activities that support multiple renewable energy 

sources. Almost half of DOE’s renewable energy research and 

development initiatives are housed within EERE, which funded 24 

initiatives related to, for example, lowering the costs of solar, wind, 

water, bioenergy, and geothermal technologies, among other 

renewable energy-related topics. ARPA-E’s research and 

development initiatives invest in efforts to overcome barriers to 

technology development by providing funding for new high-risk 

technologies until they are developed enough to obtain private funding 

or be commercialized.37

• DOD. Through 53 initiatives, DOD also engaged in renewable energyrelated research and development to support its mission of providing 

Examples of such technologies related to 

renewable energy include energy storage options for hydropower and 

the use of microorganisms to convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels.

In addition, OE’s research and development efforts work toward 

providing a reliable, efficient, and resilient electric power grid, and 

include developing smart grid and energy storage technologies.

EERE, ARPA-E, and OE promote technology-based research for 

harnessing renewable energy sources, and the Office of Science 

supports basic science research on diverse topics, including new 

methods of solar energy capture and conversion and new plant 

feedstocks—crops or products that can be converted to bioenergy.

 

37For more information on ARPA-E’s research activities see GAO, Department of Energy: 

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Could Benefit from Information on 

Applicants’ Prior Funding, GAO-12-112 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 13, 2012).
 

Page 29 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

U.S. military forces with the capabilities needed to protect and 

advance U.S. interests. DOD has determined that renewable energy 

sources could help achieve its mission by, among other benefits, 

expanding and securing necessary energy supplies to reduce 

dependence on foreign oil. Across DOD, each of the military services 

conducts research efforts that include examining how renewable 

energy could help meet its particular needs. For example, through 

their alternative fuel programs, the Air Force and Navy conduct 

research on new biofuels, biomass, and algae-derived fuels in order 

to power aircraft and ships. As part of its Alternative Fuels 

Certification initiative, the Air Force tests and certifies alternative fuels, 

including renewable alternative fuels such as biomass-derived fuels, 

and fuel blend technologies in weapons systems (e.g., aircraft), 

support and fuel delivery equipment, and storage infrastructure.

Similarly, the Navy’s Alternative Fuels Program focuses on examining 

whether fuels produced using certain methods can be used in its 

equipment. These efforts contribute to the high level energy goals set 

forth in the Navy’s Energy Program for Security and Independence, 

which include sailing the “Great Green Fleet”—a carrier strike group 

composed of nuclear ships, hybrid electric ships running on biofuel, 

and aircraft flying on biofuel—by 2016, and meeting at least 50 

percent of shore-based energy requirements from alternative sources 

by 2020, among other energy goals. The Army and Marine Corps also 

conduct research focused on using renewable energy to meet their 

deployed forces’ needs. For example, the Army’s tactical electric 

power research activities help incorporate renewable energy 

technologies into tactical electric power generation equipment, such 

as the Transportable Hybrid Electric Power Station, which uses solar 

and wind energy to reduce the reliance on fossil fuel generators. In a 

similar effort, the Marine Corps developed a portable solar power and 

battery system through the Navy’s Future Naval Capabilities Program.

• USDA. USDA had 31 renewable energy research and development 

initiatives to support the nation’s food, agriculture, and natural 

resources supply. For example, USDA’s Agricultural Research 

Service (ARS) conducts a variety of research initiatives that focus on 

bioenergy feedstocks and related technologies and issues. Under its 

Bioenergy National Program, ARS develops technologies for the 

sustainable production of biofuels by the agricultural sector in ways 

that enhance natural resources without disrupting existing food, feed, 

and fiber markets. ARS efforts under this initiative include developing 

new varieties of bioenergy feedstocks, improved production and 

harvesting practices, and cost-competitive technologies for producing 

biofuels from feedstocks. As a counterpart to ARS’s efforts, the 
 

Page 30 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) provides funding for 

the research efforts of academic researchers and others that focus on 

developing regional systems of bioenergy production using dedicated 

energy crops.38

Fleets and facilities. For the fleets and facilities key federal role, some 

agencies such as DOD implemented a large number of initiatives, while 

others such as GSA and DOE have unique initiatives to guide, track, and 

coordinate renewable energy efforts. Specifically:

Its key initiatives include the Agriculture and Food 

Research Initiative Competitive Grant Program—Sustainable 

Bioenergy Challenge Area, which provides grants for the sustainable 

production of bioenergy to help reduce dependence on foreign oil, 

among other goals. Another key NIFA research and development 

effort is leading USDA’s participation in the Small Business Innovation 

Research Program. Across a number of initiatives focusing on 

biofuels, forests and related resources, rural development, 

aquaculture, and other areas, NIFA provides grants to small 

businesses engaged in renewable energy-related research. The 

Forest Service also conducts research on bioenergy sources, such as 

forest biomass.

• DOD. With 49 initiatives related to nontactical vehicle fleets and 

facilities and tactical equipment procurement, DOD has the most 

initiatives in this federal role. For example, one initiative implemented 

by the facilities energy staff within the Deputy Under Secretary of 

Defense for Installations and Environment is to develop DOD-wide 

renewable energy policy, provide oversight, and track and report 

progress for DOD’s facilities towards achieving energy goals. Another 

initiative the facilities energy staff implement is DOD’s Energy 

Conservation Investment Program, a DOD-wide program that 

provides the military services and DOD agencies with funding for 

projects selected on the basis of their financial returns, contribution 

towards energy efficiency and renewable energy goals, and their 

potential to mitigate energy security risks. Apart from these higher 

level DOD-wide initiatives, each of the military services implements 

initiatives to carry out its responsibilities for managing individual 

 

38Regional systems of bioenergy production include, among other elements, (1) 

deployment of regionally-appropriate dedicated energy crops; (2) implementation of 

regional feedstock production and logistics networks; (3) development of bioenergy 

conversion technologies that can accept a range of feedstocks; (4) regional marketing and 

distribution systems; and (5) regional sustainability analyses, data collection and 

management, and decision-making tools.
 

Page 31 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

energy projects at its own installations. Table 6 provides the number 

of each military service’s installations with renewable energy projects.

Table 6: Number of Each Military Service’s Installations with Renewable Energy Projects

Number of installations with DOD-financed 

projects

Number of installations with third party-financed 

projects

Agency

a

Installations with 

small scale 

projects

Installations with 

medium scale 

projects

Installations 

with large 

scale 

projects

Installations with 

small scale 

projects

Installations with 

medium scale 

projects

Installations 

with large 

scale projects

Air Force >45 7 0 7 6 0 

Army >72 4 0 12 3 4 

Marine Corps 13 2 0 6 4 0 

Navy 52 6 0 13 5 2 

Source: GAO analysis of agencies’ data.

Note: Small scale projects generate (or are designed to generate) less than 1,000 megawatt hours of 

energy per year. Medium scale projects generate (or are designed to generate) from 1,000 to 49,999 

megawatt hours per year. Large scale projects generate (or are designed to generate) 50,000 

megawatt hours or more per year.

a

• GSA. GSA plays a key governmentwide support role by constructing, 

leasing, or managing buildings or other properties on behalf of federal 

agencies and by serving as the federal government’s purchasing 

agent, which includes integrating renewable energy into federal 

agencies’ vehicle fleets. Through its seven fleets and facilities 

initiatives, GSA has two main responsibilities with regard to renewable 

energy: (1) to assist with energy procurement for federal facilities and 

(2) to assist federal agencies in incorporating renewable energy into 

their vehicle fleets. For example, according to GSA officials, GSA’s 

contracts enable EPA to meet its goal of having all of its electricity 

come from renewable sources. GSA officials also stated that the 

agency helps coordinate efforts across different agencies with energy 

procurement responsibilities to assist agencies in meeting the energy

requirements of federal mandates and executive orders. Similarly, 

GSA funds renewable energy projects and power purchases and 

tracks on-site power generation across its own portfolio of buildings.

For vehicle fleets, GSA informs agencies on available vehicle options 

and capabilities and serves as the mandatory source for all 

Third party-financed projects are installed using various financing mechanisms, such as energy 

savings performance contracts, power purchase agreements, or some other financing agreement 

whereby an outside party, such as a private energy services company, provides funding for the 

project.
 

Page 32 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

nontactical vehicle purchases by federal agencies. In addition, GSA 

acts as a primary, but nonmandatory, source for vehicles leased by 

federal agencies.

• DOE. DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) offers 

technical assistance, guidance, education, and outreach to help 

federal agencies deploy energy efficiency, renewable energy, and 

water conservation technologies in an effort to implement costeffective energy management and investment practices.

39

Commercialization and deployment. Within the commercialization and 

deployment key federal role, Treasury and USDA, among other agencies, 

provided important incentives to stimulate renewable energy development 

through a variety of different types of financial support. Specifically:

With 

respect to vehicle fleets, FEMP provides guidance and assistance to 

help agencies implement federal legislative and regulatory 

requirements that mandate reduced petroleum consumption and 

increased alternative fuel use. FEMP also helps federal agencies 

access private sector financing to fund energy efficiency 

improvements and renewable energy projects at their facilities through 

energy savings performance contracts, power purchase agreements, 

and other financing mechanisms. In addition, DOE’s Sustainability 

Performance Office engages in activities designed to implement 

federal environmental, energy, and transportation management goals 

at DOE sites.

• Treasury. Treasury’s IRS administered 21 tax expenditures that 

provided incentives to expand the use of renewable energy in 

transportation (through increased production and use of biofuels), and 

electricity or heat generation (through increased investment and 

manufacturing), among other incentives. For example, IRS provides 

an excise tax credit of 45 cents per gallon to gasoline suppliers and 

 

39With 10 fleets and facilities initiatives, the percentage of DOE’s initiatives in this federal 

role, relative to DOE’s other initiatives, was 11 percent. As a result, we did not highlight a 

fleet and facilities federal role for DOE in table 5, which represents agencies where 25 

percent or more of their initiatives were in a particular federal role. However, we included 

DOE here as having a key role in fleet and facilities activities governmentwide because of 

its efforts under FEMP, through which DOE assists all agencies to include renewable 

energy in their fleets and facilities.
 

Page 33 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

marketers who blend ethanol with petroleum-based fuels.40

Table 7: Tax Expenditures That Support Renewable Energy

IRS also 

supports the development of renewable energy for electricity through 

the Energy Production Tax credit, which, in calendar year 2010, was 

largely used to develop wind energy, according to information 

provided by IRS. The amount of the credit varies depending upon the 

source: in calendar year 2010, the credit amount for wind, geothermal, 

and certain biomass electricity production was 2.2 cents per kilowatt 

hour, and 1.1 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity produced from 

other renewable energy sources. Table 7 shows the 21 renewable 

energy-related tax expenditures administered by IRS.

Type of incentive Tax expenditure name

Transportation 

incentives

Ethanol Excise and Income Tax Creditsa,c

Alcohol and Alcohol Fuel Mixtures Excise and Income Tax 

Creditsb,c

Alternative Fuel Excise Tax Creditc

Small Ethanol Producer Creditc

Credit for the Production of Cellulosic Biofuel

Biodiesel Excise and Income Tax Creditsc

Small Agri-Biodiesel Producer Creditc

Credit for Clean Fuel Burning Vehiclesc

Credit for Clean-Fuel Burning Vehicle Refueling Property

Electricity or heat 

incentives

c

Energy Production Credit

Exclusion of Utility Conservation Subsidies

Credit for Residential Energy Efficient Property

Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit

Energy Investment Credit

 

40This tax expenditure is known as the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit. Other tax 

expenditures administered by IRS provide similar excise tax credits for renewable 

alternative fuels sold or blended, including for alternative fuels other than ethanol, 

methanol, and biodiesel (50 cents per gallon), alcohol and alcohol fuel mixtures (60 cents 

per gallon), and biodiesel ($1.00 per gallon). IRS also administers other tax expenditures 

that support the production of renewable alternative fuels by providing an additional 10 

cent per gallon income tax credit on the first 15 million gallons of ethanol produced each 

year by both small ethanol and certain small biodiesel producers, and a $1.01 per gallon 

income tax credit for the production of cellulosic biofuels.
 

Page 34 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Type of incentive Tax expenditure name

Credit for Holding Clean Renewable Energy Bonds

Credit for Holding New Clean Renewable Energy Bonds

Direct Payment in Lieu of a Credit for Holding New Clean 

Renewable Energy Bonds

Credit for Holding Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds

Direct Payment in Lieu of a Credit for Holding Qualified Energy 

Conservation Bonds

Exclusion of Interest on Energy Facility Bonds (private activity 

bonds)

Accelerated Depreciation Recovery Periods for Specific 

Energy Property

Source: GAO summary of agency data.

Note: This list of tax expenditures was developed based on information provided by IRS officials to 

represent provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that provide support for renewable energy. The list 

was developed specifically to represent the criteria for collecting data on distinct renewable energy 

initiatives for this report. As a result, the count does not necessarily track Treasury’s published tax 

expenditure list which, for example, may encompass multiple provisions in a tax expenditure listed.

a

The ethanol excise tax credit is known as the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit.

b

The alcohol and alcohol fuel mixtures excise and income tax credits apply to alcohol fuels other than 

ethanol.

c

In addition to tax expenditures, under Section 1603 of the Recovery 

Act, Treasury offers payments for specific energy property in lieu of 

the Energy Production and Energy Investment tax credits. These 

payments provide an incentive for investment in property for electricity 

and heat production, particularly those applicants without sufficient tax 

liability to utilize a tax credit.

These tax expenditures, or, in some instances, certain components of them were set to expire on 

December 31, 2011, according to information provided by IRS. As detailed in appendix IV, agencies 

provided information on expiring initiatives as of fall 2011 and we did not update this information to 

reflect whether or not any of the initiatives expected to expire prior to the issuance of our final report, 

such as certain tax expenditures that supported ethanol or other biofuels, actually did expire.

• USDA. USDA leads the greatest number of commercialization and 

deployment efforts among federal agencies. USDA had 28 

commercialization and deployment initiatives, most of which 

supported the production of ethanol or other types of bioenergy.

Within USDA, the Farm Service Agency, Forest Service, Rural 

Business Service, and Rural Utilities Service provided incentives for a 

wide range of activities from producing biofuel feedstocks and building 

biorefineries to installing renewable energy generation projects on 

farms. For example, the Farm Service Agency’s initiatives focused on 

supporting the production of biomass crops for energy. Its key 
 

Page 35 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

initiative—the Biomass Crop Assistance Program—provides 

payments to farmers and foresters for biomass feedstock production.

In addition, the Farm Service Agency is working with other USDA 

agencies to develop a roadmap to meet Renewable Fuel Standard 

goals for biofuels production, while the Rural Business Service 

provided loan guarantees to support the development, construction, or 

retrofitting of commercial scale biorefineries. The Forest Service also 

supported commercialization and deployment of bioenergy through a 

variety of initiatives that provided incentives to utilize biomass 

collected from Forest Service and state and private lands for energy.

Other USDA initiatives supported a broader range of renewable 

energy sources. For example, the Rural Business Service’s Rural 

Energy for America Program provides guaranteed loans and grants to 

assist farmers, ranchers, and small businesses to install renewable 

energy systems. Most fiscal year 2010 renewable energy projects 

were solar or small-scale wind projects, but many other types of 

projects, such as biomass anaerobic digestors, were also funded. In 

addition, the Rural Utilities Service provided loans, loan guarantees, 

or grants to a variety of recipients to support projects that incorporate 

renewable energy to improve electric service in rural areas and to 

assist rural communities with high energy costs. 

Regulation, permitting, and compliance. Accounting for 6 percent of 

initiatives overall, initiatives within the regulation, permitting, and 

compliance key federal role—implemented by several key agencies such 

as Interior and EPA—affect a wide range of renewable energy 

development activities.41

• Interior. Interior had 24 initiatives related to regulation, permitting, and 

compliance of renewable energy projects on federal property—over 

half of the total number of initiatives across agencies related to this 

federal role. Interior’s Bureau of Land Management regulates solar, 

wind, and geothermal energy development on public lands. For 

example, the Bureau of Land Management conducted large-scale 

Specifically:

 

41FERC has an important role in regulating the sale and transmission of energy in general; 

however, FERC indicated that in large measure this role did not include a specific focus 

on renewable energy. FERC does have responsibility for licensing nonfederal hydropower 

facilities and has taken steps to ensure that renewable energy has equal access in the 

energy market. Since FERC did not identify itself as having a significant regulatory role 

with regard to renewable energy specifically, we did not identify it as a key agency for this 

federal role.
 

Page 36 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

solar resource assessments, environmental impact studies, and took 

other steps to streamline its regulatory processes to expedite solar 

development on its lands. In addition, in fiscal year 2010, Interior’s 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement 

(BOEMRE) was responsible for implementing a program to grant 

leases, easements, and rights-of-way for orderly, safe, and 

environmentally responsible renewable energy development, such as 

siting and constructing off-shore wind facilities on the outer continental 

shelf—generally beyond 3 miles from shore in most states.42

• EPA. EPA also has a key role in implementing renewable energyrelated regulation, permitting, and compliance activities to meet the 

objectives of federal legislation to protect the nation’s air, water, and 

human health. For example, under its Renewable Fuel Standard 

program, EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation establishes requirements 

and ensures compliance on the volume and types of biofuels used in 

the transportation sector, as required by the Energy Independence 

and Security Act of 2007. The Office of Air and Radiation also 

conducts vehicle emissions testing to support future regulation of 

biofuels emissions. In addition, the Office of Air and Radiation is 

responsible for oversight of state and local permitting authorities that 

issue permits to large industrial sources of pollution, such as factories 

and power plants, and ensure that pollution from these sources does 

not exceed limits imposed under the Clean Air Act. As part of this 

effort, EPA encourages these sources to consider using renewable 

energy to reduce emissions. EPA’s Office of Underground Storage 

Tanks also performs a regulatory function by overseeing and 

BOEMRE’s initiatives included holding intergovernmental task force 

meetings on siting for potential off-shore wind projects and conducting 

stakeholder outreach and coordination, and examining related 

technologies to understand their environmental impacts and develop 

standards and inspection guidelines. Recently, BOEMRE increased 

efforts—particularly for off-shore wind—in part due to heightened 

interest at the state level, according to officials.

 

42On October 1, 2011, BOEMRE reorganized into two independent entities: the Bureau of 

Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. 

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is responsible for managing development of 

the nation’s off-shore resources in an environmentally and economically responsible way, 

and its activities include oversight of leasing, environmental studies, and economic 

analysis. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is responsible for 

enforcing safety and environmental regulations. However, given the timeframe of our 

work, we refer to BOEMRE in this report.
 

Page 37 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

coordinating with state regulators and private fuel companies 

regarding the underground storage of biofuels.

For more detailed information on each agency’s renewable energy 

initiatives, see GAO-12-259SP. This e-supplement provides information 

on the components of each agency responsible for implementing 

renewable energy initiatives; a description of each initiative, including 

what it is, how it works, and how it relates to renewable energy; as well as 

data on the renewable energy sources, recipient types, and federal roles 

supported by each initiative. Readers who would like analyses of 

agencies’ renewable energy initiatives other than those presented in this 

report may download the data and sort it in different ways.

We provided Commerce, DHS, DOD, DOE, DOT, EPA, FERC, GSA, 

HUD, Interior, Justice, Labor, NASA, NSF, SBA, State, Treasury, USDA, 

and USAID with a draft of this report for review and comment. Commerce 

and DHS provided written comments in which Commerce generally 

agreed with the overall findings of the report as they relate to the 

Department of Commerce, and DHS neither agreed nor disagreed with 

our findings, but provided information on the Department’s energy 

efficiency efforts. Their written comments are presented in appendixes V 

and VI of this report, respectively. In addition, Commerce, DOE, DOT, 

EPA, HUD, Interior, Labor, NASA, NSF, SBA, and USDA provided 

technical or clarifying comments, which we incorporated as appropriate.

In particular, as part of its technical comments, NSF had one comment of 

a more general nature which was that the report’s title could imply 

excessive or wasteful federal efforts. In this regard, the report title 

conveys our primary finding, which is that federal agencies implement 

hundreds of renewable energy-related initiatives. We did not analyze the 

extent to which any of these initiatives might be considered excessive or 

wasteful. We made no change for this comment. DOD, FERC, GSA, 

Justice, State, Treasury, and USAID indicated they had no comments on 

the report.

As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce the contents of 

this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 14 days from the 

report date. At that time, we will send copies of this report to the 

appropriate congressional committees, the Secretaries of Agriculture, 

Commerce, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban 

Development, the Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, and the Treasury; 

the Attorney General of the United States; the Administrators of EPA, 

Agency Comments 

and Our Evaluation
 

Page 38 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

GSA, NASA, SBA, and USAID; the Chairman of FERC; and the Director 

of NSF. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on the GAO 

website at http://www.gao.gov. 

If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact 

me at (202) 512-3841 or ruscof@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices 

of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last 

page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions to this report 

are listed in appendix VII.

Frank Rusco

Director, Natural Resources

 and Environment
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

Page 39 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

This appendix provides information on the scope of our work and the 

methodology used to (1) identify federal agencies’ renewable energyrelated initiatives governmentwide and (2) examine the federal roles 

these agencies’ initiatives support. It also provides information on the 

steps taken to examine the extent to which the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) established, expanded, or 

modified agencies’ renewable energy-related initiatives, and to identify 

those initiatives for which authority has recently or will soon expire without 

congressional action.

To identify federal agencies’ renewable energy-related initiatives, we 

performed a series of steps to determine which agencies implement 

renewable energy efforts, and what should be reported as a renewable 

energy-related initiative. We then compiled an inventory of federal 

agencies’ renewable energy-related initiatives by collecting data (1) from 

agency documents and other information sources, (2) through a 

structured data request provided to the agencies, and (3) through 

interviews with agency officials.

At the outset of our work, we determined that it would not be feasible to 

examine every federal department, agency, or other entity to collect data 

on renewable energy efforts because many agencies indicated that data 

on such efforts were not tracked in a centralized, comprehensive, or 

consistent manner.1 Therefore, we began by focusing on the 24 agencies 

subject to the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (CFO Act), as these 

agencies were collectively responsible for 98 percent of federal outlays in 

fiscal year 2009.2

 

1

We refer to federal departments and independent agencies, as well as some 

subcomponents of these departments and agencies collectively as “agencies.”

Among these 24 agencies, we further focused our work 

on those with renewable energy-related activities that went beyond 

standard governmentwide efforts to incorporate renewable energy into 

their vehicle fleets and facilities in response to requirements and direction 

established by federal laws and executive orders. Specifically, we 

2

Pub. L. No. 101-576, 104 Stat. 2838 (1990). Some federal agencies not subject to the 

CFO Act may also implement renewable energy-related activities. For example, one 

function of the Tennessee Valley Authority is to market hydropower. Alternatively, the 

Export-Import Bank of the United States provides loans and other types of financing 

arrangements to help international buyers purchase U.S. goods and services, such as 

renewable energy equipment. We generally excluded the efforts of these and other 

agencies not subject to the CFO Act from the scope of our review.

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

Page 40 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

identified a number of the CFO Act agencies which, based on their 

missions, seemed unlikely to implement renewable energy-related efforts 

beyond vehicle fleets and facilities efforts. We reviewed these agencies’ 

fiscal year 2011 congressional budget justification documents and 

strategic plans by performing keyword searches for renewable energyrelated terms. We examined the text where renewable energy-related 

information was identified, followed up with agency officials and, as result, 

excluded the Department of Health and Human Services, Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Office of Personnel Management, and Social 

Security Administration from our work. In addition, while we originally 

included the departments of Education and Veterans Affairs in our scope, 

we later learned that they did not implement renewable energy efforts 

beyond vehicle fleets and facilities efforts and, therefore, we also 

excluded them. Through these efforts we found that 18 of the 24 CFO 

agencies had activities beyond incorporating renewable energy into their 

fleets and facilities. Within the Department of Defense (DOD), we 

collected data separately for each of the military services and from other 

DOD components that report to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

We also collected data for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

separately from the Department of Energy (DOE).3

• Department of Agriculture,

Therefore, our report 

provides data on the following 23 agencies:

• Department of the Air Force, 

• Department of the Army, 

• Department of Commerce,

• Department of Defense (other components that report to the Office of 

the Secretary of Defense),

• Department of Energy,

 

3

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is an independent agency that, while not a 

CFO Act agency, is listed under DOE in the federal budget.
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

Page 41 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

• Department of Homeland Security,4

• Department of Housing and Urban Development,

• Department of the Interior,

• Department of Justice,

• Department of Labor,

• Department of the Navy (Navy), 

• Department of the Navy (U.S. Marine Corps), 

• Department of State,5

• Department of Transportation,

• Department of the Treasury,

• Environmental Protection Agency,

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,

• General Services Administration,

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration,

• National Science Foundation,

 

4

The CFO Act included the Federal Emergency Management Agency as one the 24 

agencies subject to its provisions. However, in fiscal year 2005, the Department of 

Homeland Security became subject to the provisions of the CFO Act and the Federal 

Emergency Management Agency became part of the department.

5

Given the large number of Department of State (State) embassies and consulates 

overseas, the initiatives for which we obtained information from State represent only a 

portion of State’s renewable energy efforts. However, State indicated that they are 

representative of the types of renewable energy initiatives that are underway at its 

missions around the world. 
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

Page 42 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

• Small Business Administration, and

• U.S. Agency for International Development.6

To develop a definition of renewable energy we reviewed definitions used 

in legislation, by federal agencies, and by other organizations. We found 

that there were a number of similarities as well as some differences 

among the definitions. For example, while the definitions we reviewed 

generally defined renewable energy as regenerative and included energy 

sources such as solar or wind, some definitions considered hydrogen to 

be a renewable energy source while others did not. Also, definitions did 

not consistently include or classify waste, such as municipal solid waste, 

as a renewable energy source. Based on our review of these definitions, 

we defined renewable energy as energy derived from any of the following 

sources: bioenergy, such as liquid biofuel and solid biomass fuel; 

geothermal; hydropower; solar; wind; ocean energy, including wave, tidal, 

current, and ocean thermal energy; and waste conversion sources, such 

as landfill gas, and municipal solid waste. This energy can be applied in 

any form, including electricity, transportation, heating, or small scale 

applications such as streetlights or trash compactors.7

We defined a renewable energy-related initiative as a program or group of 

agency activities serving a similar purpose or function that involved 

renewable energy through a specific emphasis or focus, even if 

renewable energy was only one part of a broader effort.8

 

6

Given the large number of U.S. Agency for International Development field offices 

overseas, the initiatives for which we obtained information from the agency represent only 

a portion of its renewable energy efforts. However, the U.S. Agency for International 

Development indicated that they are representative of the types of renewable energy 

initiatives that are underway at its missions around the world.

These initiatives 

included both agency spending programs and tax expenditures. In some 

7

We did not include hydrogen as a renewable energy source, although we did consider 

efforts to produce hydrogen using renewable energy to be a renewable energy-related 

activity. Also, we did not consider technologies, such as fuel cells, to be a renewable 

energy source, although we did consider the use of renewable fuels as the power source 

for fuel cells to be a renewable energy-related activity.

8

Renewable energy activities may be part of broader initiatives the primary focus of which 

is not renewable energy. In these instances, renewable energy projects can be one of 

many eligible types of activities that receive support under an initiative. For example, 

initiatives aimed at promoting sustainability, energy efficiency, fuel economy, and other 

“green” measures may include a renewable energy component.
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

Page 43 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

instances, initiatives we identified corresponded to distinct agency 

programs or initiatives. In other cases, we identified and grouped similar 

activities into initiatives based on our own judgment when there did not 

already appear to be a formal name for the initiative, or disaggregated 

higher-level activities that included multiple initiatives. Where we identified 

individual renewable energy-related projects, such as a specific facility 

energy effort or grant award, we did not consider the projects to be 

initiatives themselves; rather we identified the broader program or area of 

effort to which they belonged as an initiative. As a result, the data that we 

developed do not necessarily represent initiatives that are of similar size 

in terms of agency financial commitments, number of projects involved, or 

other quantitative measures.9

 

9

In addition, our data do not always match agencies’ reported information on these 

activities, such as information contained in agency budget or strategic planning 

documents. Similarly, the list of tax expenditures included in this report was developed 

based on information provided by IRS officials to represent provisions of the Internal 

Revenue Code that provide support for renewable energy. The list was developed 

specifically to represent the criteria for collecting data on distinct renewable energy 

initiatives for this report. As a result, the count does not necessarily track Treasury’s 

published tax expenditure list which, for example, may encompass multiple provisions in a 

tax expenditure listed.

Also, as a result of this methodology, 

initiatives that supported or regulated renewable energy, but that were not 

specifically focused on renewable energy, were excluded from our 

inventory. For instance, the Department of the Treasury’s Internal 

Revenue Service administers a number of tax expenditures that provide 

incentives for certain activities, such as research or agricultural activities, 

that could involve renewable energy but which do not have a specific 

focus on renewable energy. Other federal agencies have broad regulatory 

roles that involve renewable energy, but do not have renewable energyfocused initiatives. For instance, within the Department of Agriculture, the 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Biotechnology Regulatory 

Services regulates genetically engineered plants that companies wish to 

commercialize. These genetically engineered plants may include biofuel 

crops, but the program has no particular focus on biofuel crops. Similarly, 

the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

Safety Administration has specific jurisdiction over the transportation of 

biofuels by pipeline. However, it exercises oversight of biofuel pipelines 

through its existing regulatory and enforcement program addressing all 

pipeline integrity and safety issues, rather than developing a program that 

focuses specifically on biofuel transportation.
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

Page 44 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Using these definitions of renewable energy and a renewable energyrelated initiative, and focusing on the 23 agencies included in our review, 

we developed data on agencies’ initiatives that were funded, planned, 

implemented, or authorized in fiscal year 2010. We did so by using a 

similar search approach as in our scoping work to examine agencies’ 

fiscal year 2010 and 2011 budget documents, strategic planning 

documents, other information sources, and agency websites.10

• the component(s) of the agency responsible for implementing the 

initiatives;

For each 

agency, we developed a structured data request that included information 

on that agency’s renewable energy-related initiatives as identified during 

our keyword searches. We sent the data request to officials from each 

agency for them to confirm, delete, or add initiatives as appropriate to 

ensure that the list of initiatives represented those agency activities that 

incorporated renewable energy in some specific way, and that were 

funded, planned, implemented, or authorized in fiscal year 2010. As part 

of the data request, we also collected the following information on each 

initiative, among other data requested:

• descriptions of the initiatives, including their purpose, how they are 

implemented, and how they relate to renewable energy;

• the renewable energy sources applicable to the initiatives;

• the direct recipients of funding, services, or other types of support 

from the initiatives;11

 

10We examined fiscal year 2011 budget documents to help identify fiscal year 2010 

activities because these documents provided information on how fiscal year 2010 funding 

was used.

11We generally classified the direct recipient of an initiative based on the initiative’s 

function (i.e., who received the funding to conduct research, install a renewable energy 

project at an agency facility, or deploy a renewable energy technology; or, who was 

regulated by the initiative). For example, in many instances, federal agencies work 

through the General Services Administration or DOD’s Defense Logistics Agency in 

implementing their fleets and facilities efforts. For purposes of our review, we did not 

consider these federal agencies to be recipients, but rather “pass-through” entities. We 

considered the recipients of agencies’ fleets and facilities efforts to be the vehicle and 

equipment manufacturers, fuel suppliers, and contractors that the General Services 

Administration and Defense Logistics Agency use to serve their federal agency 

customers.
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

Page 45 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

• the extent to which the Recovery Act established, expanded, or 

modified initiatives; and

• issues related to expiring legislative authority to implement the 

initiatives.

After receiving responses to the data request, we conducted interviews 

with agency officials responsible for providing the data to (1) assess the 

accuracy, reliability, and completeness of the data provided, and (2) 

collect additional data concerning the agencies’ renewable energy-related 

initiatives, such as qualitative information on trends in the agencies’ 

initiatives over time and the availability of data on the level of financial 

support specifically provided for renewable energy through the initiatives.

We determined the data to be sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this 

report. We then analyzed the data we collected to develop descriptive 

information on the agencies’ renewable energy-related initiatives.

Appendix II and GAO-12-259SP provide more detailed information on 

individual agencies’ initiatives. We also summarized the information 

collected on the extent to which the Recovery Act established, expanded, 

or modified initiatives and issues related to expiring legislative authority to 

implement initiatives. Information on these topics is provided in 

appendixes III and IV, respectively.

The number of initiatives agencies implement and related descriptive 

information are important to understanding renewable energy efforts 

governmentwide; however, we recognize that other measures of 

agencies’ activities are important as well. For example, data on the level 

of financial support agencies provide, coordination of efforts, and other 

information are also indicators of agencies’ renewable energy efforts.

During this review, we did not evaluate agencies’ renewable energyrelated initiatives on the basis of these other indicators. In particular, we 

did not collect information on the level of financial support agencies 

provide for their renewable energy efforts because, during follow-up 

discussions, officials stated that for many initiatives, financial support for 

renewable energy efforts is not tracked separately from other activities; 

therefore, we could not collect reliable funding data across the full 

inventory of initiatives we identified. We recognize that initiatives may 

vary greatly in the scale of their funding or the number of entities 

expected to benefit, among other things; however, in this report, we do 

not discuss these differences or compare the scale of the initiatives we 

identified.
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

Page 46 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

To examine the federal roles agencies’ renewable energy initiatives 

support, we analyzed the data we collected to identify the federal roles of 

the initiatives each agency implemented. Specifically, we categorized 

agencies’ initiatives on the basis of whether each initiative was most 

closely related to four key federal roles or “other” that we identified and 

defined for purposes of this work as follows:

• Research and development. Efforts that further the knowledge of or 

the ability to create, develop, or improve renewable energy 

technologies through, for example, grants or other forms of financial 

support to carry out such work. We included technology 

demonstration as part of this area for purposes of our analysis.

• Commercialization and deployment. Activities that provide incentives 

for the implementation or promote the competitiveness of renewable 

energy technologies in the commercial market place. The activities 

include, for example, loans, grants, and other financial support for the 

design and construction of renewable energy projects or nonfinancial 

project-specific assistance, such as technical assistance or legal 

support.

• Regulation, permitting, and compliance. Activities that ensure 

compliance with federal laws and regulations regarding renewable 

energy production, use, technologies, or facilities. These activities 

include, for example, processing applications, conducting compliance 

reviews and environmental assessments, inspections, and 

enforcement.

• Fleets and facilities. Efforts to incorporate renewable energy into an 

agency’s property, buildings, vehicles, and other transportation 

equipment. These efforts include, for example, installing renewable 

energy generation equipment at agency facilities or leasing alternative 

fuel vehicles. In addition, we included equipment, such as tactical 

military equipment, that is procured and deployed by agencies and 

that incorporates renewable energy technologies as part of the fleets 

and facilities federal role.

• Other. Other types of agency efforts related to renewable energy that, 

for example, provide information, services, or other types of support.

We conducted this performance audit from April 2010 through February 

2012 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 

standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to 

obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for 
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

Page 47 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe 

that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings 

and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 48 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

This appendix provides supplementary information to the data 

represented in figures and tables in the report. Figures 5 through 96 

present a series of four figures per agency. The four figures for each 

agency show: (1) the number of agency initiatives supporting each 

renewable energy source; (2) the number of energy sources supported by 

the agency’s initiatives; (3) the percentage of agency initiatives that 

support public sector or private sector recipients, or both; and (4) the 

percentage of initiatives for each agency that support each key federal 

role considered in our analysis or that we categorized as “other.”1 In 

addition, tables 8 through 14 show the number of agencies’ initiatives 

across the four key federal roles, according to energy source. Each table 

includes information for initiatives that target a single energy source as 

well as those that support multiple sources.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 105 initiatives supported 

every renewable energy source in our analysis, with a large majority of its 

initiatives supporting bioenergy, as figure 5 demonstrates. Moreover, 

figure 6 shows that about half of USDA’s initiatives targeted bioenergy 

exclusively, with a smaller number of initiatives targeted to other energy 

sources or multiple energy sources. Alternatively, figure 7 shows that 

USDA’s initiatives generally supported either private sector recipients 

alone or recipients in both the public and private sectors, and figure 8 

indicates that USDA’s initiatives were distributed across several federal 

roles, with a much smaller percentage of initiatives in the regulation, 

permitting, and compliance federal role. 

 

1

See appendix I for more information on our methodology and how we defined the key 

federal roles and “other.”

Appendix II: Information on Federal 

Agencies’ Renewable Energy-Related 

Initiatives

U.S. Department of 

Agriculture
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 49 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 5: Number of USDA Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Notes: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of USDA initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources. Also, this 

figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the applicable renewable 

energy sources based on the data USDA provided.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 50 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 6: Number of Energy Sources Supported by USDA Initiatives

Note: This figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the applicable 

renewable energy sources based on the data USDA provided.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 51 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 7: Percentage of USDA Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 105 USDA renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 52 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 8: Percentage of USDA Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Notes: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 105 USDA renewable energy initiatives 

we identified. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.

The Department of Commerce’s (Commerce) 45 initiatives supported all 

of the energy sources in our review, with wind, solar, and bioenergy 

supported the most, as figure 9 shows. In addition, figure 10 shows that 

roughly half of Commerce’s initiatives targeted specific energy sources, 

with bioenergy the most commonly targeted energy source. Commerce 

initiatives generally supported either private sector recipients alone or 

recipients in both the public and private sectors, as demonstrated in figure 

11, while figure 12 shows the initiatives supported all the key federal roles 

in our review, with the highest percentage supporting fleets and facilities.

Department of 

Commerce
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 53 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 9: Number of Commerce Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy 

Source

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of Commerce initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 54 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 10: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Commerce Initiatives
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 55 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 11: Percentage of Commerce Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 45 Commerce renewable energy initiatives 

we identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental 

recipients as private. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 56 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 12: Percentage of Commerce Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Note: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 45 Commerce renewable energy initiatives 

we identified.

The Air Force’s 17 initiatives supported all of the energy sources in our 

review, with solar energy supported more than any other source, as figure 

13 shows. Figure 14 demonstrates that the majority of the Air Force 

initiatives supported more than one energy source, while figure 15 shows 

that most initiatives supported recipients in both the public and private 

sectors. As shown in figure 16, half of the Air Force initiatives supported 

the research and development federal role and most of the other Air 

Force initiatives supported fleets and facilities.

Department of 

Defense, Air Force
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 57 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 13: Number of Air Force Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy 

Source

Notes: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of Air Force initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources. Also, this 

figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the applicable renewable 

energy sources based on the data the Air Force provided.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 58 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 14: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Air Force Initiatives

Note: This figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the applicable 

renewable energy sources based on the data the Air Force provided.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 59 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 15: Percentage of Air Force Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for 16 of the 17 Air Force renewable energy 

initiatives we identified. The figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the 

applicable recipients based on the data the Air Force provided. We generally classified governmental 

recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients as private. Percentages do not add to 100 due to 

rounding.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 60 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 16: Percentage of Air Force Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Notes: This figure provides data on the federal roles for 16 of the 17 Air Force renewable energy 

initiatives we identified. The figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the 

applicable federal role based on the data the Air Force provided.

The Army’s 30 initiatives supported every renewable energy source in our 

analysis, with solar, bioenergy, and waste conversion receiving the most 

support, as figure 17 shows. In addition, as figure 18 shows, more than 

half of the Army’s initiatives supported multiple energy sources, with solar 

energy receiving the most support from targeted initiatives. As figure 19 

demonstrates, 60 percent of the Army’s initiatives supported private 

sector recipients alone. Moreover, the vast majority of the Army’s 

initiatives supported two federal roles, shown in figure 20, with more than 

half supporting research and development and almost one-third 

supporting fleets and facilities efforts.

Department of 

Defense, Army
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 61 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 17: Number of Army Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Notes: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of Army initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources. Also, this 

figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the applicable renewable 

energy sources based on the data the Army provided.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 62 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 18: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Army Initiatives

Note: This figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the applicable 

renewable energy sources based on the data the Army provided.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 63 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 19: Percentage of Army Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 30 Army renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 64 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 20: Percentage of Army Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Notes: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 30 Army renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.

The Marine Corps’ 12 initiatives supported all of the energy sources in our 

review, with solar power supported by the largest number of initiatives, as 

figure 21 demonstrates. Figure 22 shows that more than half of the 

Marine Corps initiatives did not target a specific energy source, with those 

that did target a single source focusing on solar and bioenergy. Almost 60 

percent of the initiatives supported recipients in the private sector only, as 

seen in figure 23, and almost all of the initiatives supported the federal 

roles of fleets and facilities as well as research and development, as 

shown in figure 24.

Department of 

Defense, Marine 

Corps 
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 65 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 21: Number of Marine Corps Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy 

Source

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of Marine Corps initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 66 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 22: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Marine Corps Initiatives
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 67 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 23: Percentage of Marine Corps Initiatives Supporting Private or Public 

Sector Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 12 Marine Corps renewable energy 

initiatives we identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and 

nongovernmental recipients as private. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 68 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 24: Percentage of Marine Corps Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Notes: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 12 Marine Corps renewable energy 

initiatives we identified. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.

The Navy’s 16 initiatives primarily supported solar, bioenergy, and 

geothermal power, as figure 25 shows. Although more than half the Navy 

initiatives supported more than one energy source, most of its targeted 

initiatives focused on bioenergy, as figure 26 indicates. In addition, figure 

27 shows that half of the Navy initiatives supported recipients in the 

private sector alone, while the other half supported recipients in both the 

public and private sectors. The Navy initiatives were distributed primarily 

across two federal roles, shown in figure 28, with fleets and facilities 

supported by more than 50 percent of initiatives and research and 

development supported by most of the rest.

Department of 

Defense, Navy
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Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 69 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 25: Number of Navy Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Notes: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of Navy initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources. Also, this

figure does not include two initiatives for which we could not determine the applicable renewable 

energy sources based on the data the Navy provided.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

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Figure 26: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Navy Initiatives

Note: This figure does not include two initiatives for which we could not determine the applicable 

renewable energy sources based on the data the Navy provided.
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Figure 27: Percentage of Navy Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for 14 of the 16 Navy renewable energy initiatives 

we identified. The figure does not include two initiatives for which we could not determine the 

applicable recipients based on the data the Navy provided. We generally classified governmental 

recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients as private.
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Figure 28: Percentage of Navy Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Notes: This figure provides data on the federal roles for 15 of the 16 Navy renewable energy 

initiatives we identified. The figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the 

applicable federal role based on the data the Navy provided.

The other Department of Defense (DOD) components’ 41 initiatives 

supported all of the energy sources in our review, as figure 29 

demonstrates, although solar and bioenergy received the most support.

These two energy sources were also targeted the most by initiatives that 

supported a single energy source, as figure 30 shows. In addition, figure 

31 shows that about two-thirds of the other DOD components’ initiatives 

were targeted to the private sector alone. The other DOD component 

initiatives were fairly evenly split between the two federal roles of 

research and development and fleets and facilities, as figure 32 

demonstrates.

Department of 

Defense, Other 

Department of 

Defense Components
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Figure 29: Number of Other DOD Component Initiatives Supporting Each 

Renewable Energy Source

Notes: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of other DOD component initiatives because some initiatives supported multiple energy 

sources. Also, this figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the 

applicable renewable energy sources based on the data DOD provided.
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Figure 30: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Other DOD Component 

Initiatives

Note: This figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the applicable 

renewable energy sources based on the data DOD provided.
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Figure 31: Percentage of Other DOD Component Initiatives Supporting Private or 

Public Sector Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 41 other DOD component renewable energy 

initiatives we identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and 

nongovernmental recipients as private.
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Figure 32: Percentage of Other DOD Component Initiatives by Federal Role and 

Other

Notes: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 41 other DOD component renewable 

energy initiatives we identified. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) 92 initiatives supported every 

renewable energy source in our review, as demonstrated in figure 33.

Most DOE initiatives supported more than a single energy source; among 

initiatives targeting a single energy source, solar and bioenergy were 

most commonly supported, as shown in figure 34. In addition, figure 35 

demonstrates that more than 70 percent of DOE’s initiatives supported 

both the public and private sectors. Figure 36 shows that DOE’s initiatives 

were distributed across multiple federal roles, with the largest percentage 

of the agency’s initiatives supporting research and development.

Department of Energy
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Figure 33: Number of DOE Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Notes: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of DOE initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources. Also, this 

figure does not include 15 initiatives for which we could not determine the applicable renewable 

energy sources based on the data DOE provided.
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Figure 34: Number of Energy Sources Supported by DOE Initiatives

Note: This figure does not include 15 initiatives for which we could not determine the applicable 

renewable energy sources based on the data DOE provided.
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Figure 35: Percentage of DOE Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 92 DOE renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.
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Figure 36: Percentage of DOE Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Notes: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 92 DOE renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) 18 initiatives primarily 

supported three renewable energy sources—bioenergy, solar, and wind—

as figure 37 shows. DHS’s initiatives were evenly split between those that 

supported more than one source and those that targeted a single source, 

with bioenergy and solar targeted the most by initiatives that supported a 

single energy source, as shown in figure 38. Two-thirds of DHS’s 

initiatives supported recipients in the private sector alone, as figure 39 

indicates. Moreover, figure 40 shows that the majority of DHS’s initiatives 

supported fleets and facilities.

Department of 

Homeland Security
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Figure 37: Number of DHS Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of DHS initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources.
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Figure 38: Number of Energy Sources Supported by DHS Initiatives
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Figure 39: Percentage of DHS Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 18 DHS renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private.
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Figure 40: Percentage of DHS Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Notes: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 18 DHS renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 13 

initiatives supported 3 of the 7 energy sources in our review, as figure 41 

shows. In addition, figure 42 shows that most HUD initiatives supported 

multiple energy sources. Figure 43 demonstrates that most of HUD’s 

initiatives supported either private or public sector recipients with fewer 

initiatives supporting both. Three-fourths of HUD’s initiatives supported 

commercialization and deployment, with the remainder supporting fleet 

and facilities efforts, as shown in figure 44.

Department of 

Housing and Urban 

Development 
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Figure 41: Number of HUD Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Notes: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of HUD initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources. Also, this 

figure does not include four initiatives for which we could not determine the applicable renewable 

energy sources based on the data HUD provided.
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Figure 42: Number of Energy Sources Supported by HUD Initiatives

Note: This figure does not include four initiatives for which we could not determine the applicable 

renewable energy sources based on the data HUD provided.
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Figure 43: Percentage of HUD Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for 9 of the 13 HUD renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. The figure does not include four initiatives for which we could not determine the applicable 

recipients based on the data HUD provided. We generally classified governmental recipients as 

public and nongovernmental recipients as private. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.

Figure 44: Percentage of HUD Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Note: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 13 HUD renewable energy initiatives we 

identified.
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Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

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The Department of the Interior’s (Interior) 82 initiatives supported all of 

the renewable energy sources in our review, with wind and solar power 

supported the most, as figure 45 shows. Nearly half of Interior’s initiatives 

were targeted to a single energy source, although that energy source 

varied, as figure 46 demonstrates. Figure 47 shows that more than half of 

Interior’s initiatives supported both private and public sector recipients, 

and figure 48 indicates that the initiatives were distributed across all of the 

key federal roles, with more than half supporting the roles of regulation, 

permitting, and compliance and fleets and facilities.

Figure 45: Number of Interior Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of Interior initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources.

Department of the 

Interior
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Figure 46: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Interior Initiatives
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Figure 47: Percentage of Interior Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 82 Interior renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.
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Figure 48: Percentage of Interior Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Notes: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 82 Interior renewable energy initiatives 

we identified. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.

The Department of Justice’s (Justice) 14 initiatives supported 5 of the 7 

energy sources in our review, with bioenergy receiving the most support 

and targeted most often, as figures 49 and 50 show, respectively. In 

addition, figures 51 and 52, respectively, demonstrate that almost all of 

Justice’s initiatives supported private sector recipients alone and the 

federal role of fleets and facilities.

Department of Justice
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Figure 49: Number of Justice Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of Justice initiatives because some initiatives supported multiple energy sources.
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Figure 50: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Justice Initiatives
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Figure 51: Percentage of Justice Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 14 Justice renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private.
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Figure 52: Percentage of Justice Initiatives by Federal Role and Other 

Note: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 14 Justice renewable energy initiatives we 

identified.

The Department of Labor’s (Labor) 16 initiatives were fairly evenly 

distributed in their support of energy sources and most initiatives 

supported all 7 energy sources in our review, as shown in figures 53 and 

54, respectively. Figure 55 shows that more than two-thirds of Labor’s 

initiatives supported recipients in the private sector, and more than 80 

percent of them supported efforts outside of the four key federal roles in 

our review, with the rest supporting fleets and facilities, as shown in figure 

56.

Department of Labor
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Figure 53: Number of Labor Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source 

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of Labor initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources.
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Figure 54: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Labor Initiatives
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Figure 55: Percentage of Labor Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 16 Labor renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private.

Figure 56: Percentage of Labor Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Note: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 16 Labor renewable energy initiatives we 

identified.
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Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

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The Department of State’s (State) 20 initiatives provided support for all of 

the energy sources in our review, as figure 57 demonstrates. Figure 58 

shows that all of State’s five targeted initiatives supported bioenergy, with 

the rest of the initiatives supporting multiple sources. Figure 59 shows 

that State’s initiatives supported a mix of public and private sector 

recipients or both, while figure 60 demonstrates that 60 percent of State’s 

initiatives supported efforts outside of the four key federal roles in our 

analysis, such as training and capacity building.

Figure 57: Number of State Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Notes: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of State initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources. Also, this 

figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the applicable renewable 

energy sources based on the data State provided.

Department of State
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Figure 58: Number of Energy Sources Supported by State Initiatives

Note: This figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the applicable 

renewable energy sources based on the data State provided.
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Figure 59: Percentage of State Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for 19 of the 20 State renewable energy initiatives 

we identified. The figure does not include one initiative for which we could not determine the 

applicable recipients based on the data State provided. We generally classified governmental 

recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients as private.

Figure 60: Percentage of State Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Notes: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 20 State renewable energy initiatives we 

identified.
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Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

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The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) 36 initiatives supported all of 

the initiatives in our review, with bioenergy supported most often, as 

shown in figure 61. In addition, almost all of the 17 targeted initiatives 

supported bioenergy, although a majority of DOT’s initiatives supported 

more than one energy source, as demonstrated in figure 62. Initiatives 

also supported both public and private sector recipients, as figure 63 

shows, with private sector recipients alone supported by 50 percent of the 

initiatives. In addition, figure 64 demonstrates that DOT’s initiatives were 

distributed across all four of the main federal roles in our review.

Figure 61: Number of DOT Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of DOT initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources.

Department of 

Transportation 
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Figure 62: Number of Energy Sources Supported by DOT Initiatives
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Figure 63: Percentage of DOT Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 36 DOT renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private.
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Figure 64: Percentage of DOT Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Note: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 36 DOT renewable energy initiatives we 

identified.

The Department of the Treasury’s (Treasury) 31 initiatives supported all 

the energy sources in our review, with bioenergy most commonly 

supported by initiatives and more than a third of initiatives targeted 

bioenergy exclusively, as shown in figures 65 and 66, respectively. Figure 

67 shows that two-thirds of Treasury’s initiatives supported private sector 

recipients alone. Nearly three-fourths of Treasury’s initiatives supported 

the federal role of commercialization and deployment, as demonstrated in 

figure 68.

Department of the 

Treasury 
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Figure 65: Number of Treasury Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy 

Source

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of Treasury initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources.
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Figure 66: Number of Energy Sources Supported by Treasury Initiatives
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Figure 67: Percentage of Treasury Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 31 Treasury renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private.
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Figure 68: Percentage of Treasury Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Notes: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 31 Treasury renewable energy initiatives 

we identified. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.

Figure 69 demonstrates that most of the Environmental Protection 

Agency’s (EPA) 22 initiatives supported bioenergy, while a smaller 

number supported all other energy sources in our review except for ocean 

energy. Half of EPA’s initiatives supported a single energy source, with 

bioenergy the most targeted source, as figure 70 shows. Figure 71 

demonstrates that half of EPA’s initiatives supported recipients in the 

private sector alone, with most of the rest supporting both public and 

private sector recipients. Figure 72 shows that EPA’s initiatives supported 

all four key federal roles.

Environmental 

Protection Agency
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Figure 69: Number of EPA Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of EPA initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources.
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Figure 70: Number of Energy Sources Supported by EPA Initiatives
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Figure 71: Percentage of EPA Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 22 EPA renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private.
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Figure 72: Percentage of EPA Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Note: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 22 EPA renewable energy initiatives we 

identified.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) seven initiatives 

provided support for five of the seven energy sources with wind and solar 

power supported the most, as figure 73 shows. Three FERC initiatives 

each targeted a single source, shown in figure 74, while the other FERC 

initiatives supported between two and three energy sources each. More 

than half of FERC’s initiatives supported private sector recipients alone, 

as shown in figure 75, while figure 76 shows more than 40 percent of 

initiatives supported the regulation, permitting, and compliance federal 

role with the rest evenly split between research and development and 

fleets and facilities.

Federal Energy 

Regulatory 

Commission 
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Figure 73: Number of FERC Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of FERC initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources.
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Figure 74: Number of Energy Sources Supported by FERC Initiatives
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Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

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Figure 75: Percentage of FERC Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the seven FERC renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private.

Figure 76: Percentage of FERC Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Notes: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the seven FERC renewable energy initiatives 

we identified. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding.
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Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

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The General Services Administration’s (GSA) nine initiatives were 

generally evenly distributed across the five energy sources that they 

supported with waste conversion supported less commonly, as shown in 

figure 77. Of the four initiatives that targeted a single source, figure 78 

demonstrates that three supported bioenergy. Figure 79 shows that more 

than half of GSA’s initiatives supported private sector recipients alone. In 

addition, figure 80 demonstrates that most GSA initiatives supported 

fleets and facilities, with the rest supporting research and development.

Figure 77: Number of GSA Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of GSA initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources.

General Services 

Administration 
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Figure 78: Number of Energy Sources Supported by GSA Initiatives
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Figure 79: Percentage of GSA Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the nine GSA renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private.

Figure 80: Percentage of GSA Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Note: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the nine GSA renewable energy initiatives we 

identified.
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Figure 81 shows that the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration’s (NASA) 12 initiatives supported 5 of the 7 energy 

sources in our review, with solar power supported most commonly. Three 

of NASA’s four targeted initiatives provided support for solar power, as 

figure 82 shows. In addition, figure 83 shows that two-thirds of NASA’s 

initiatives supported private sector recipients alone. More than 60 percent 

of NASA’s initiatives supported the fleets and facilities federal role, with 

the rest supporting research and development, as demonstrated in 

figure 84.

Figure 81: Number of NASA Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Notes: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of NASA initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources. Also, this 

figure does not include three initiatives for which we could not determine the applicable renewable 

energy sources based on the data NASA provided.

National Aeronautics 

and Space 

Administration 
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Figure 82: Number of Energy Sources Supported by NASA Initiatives

Note: This figure does not include three initiatives for which we could not determine the applicable 

renewable energy sources based on the data NASA provided.
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Figure 83: Percentage of NASA Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for 9 of the 12 NASA renewable energy initiatives 

we identified. The figure does not include three initiatives for which we could not determine the 

applicable recipients based on the data NASA provided. We generally classified governmental 

recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients as private.
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Figure 84: Percentage of NASA Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Notes: This figure provides data on the federal roles for 9 of the 12 NASA renewable energy 

initiatives we identified. The figure does not include three initiatives for which we could not determine 

the applicable federal role based on the data NASA provided.

Figure 85 shows that the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) nine 

initiatives supported all of the energy sources in our review with solar, 

wind, and bioenergy receiving the most support. Most initiatives 

supported more than one energy source, as figure 86 demonstrates. In 

addition, figures 87 and 88, respectively, show that all of the initiatives 

supported only private sector recipients, with almost 90 percent

supporting the federal role of research and development.2

 

2

In commenting on a draft of this report, NSF indicated that its research activities are 

integrated with education in order to enhance the development of a world-class scientific 

and engineering workforce.

National Science 

Foundation 
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Figure 85: Number of NSF Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of NSF initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources.
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Figure 86: Number of Energy Sources Supported by NSF Initiatives
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Figure 87: Percentage of NSF Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the nine NSF renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private.

Figure 88: Percentage of NSF Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Note: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the nine NSF renewable energy initiatives we 

identified.
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The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) seven initiatives were fairly 

evenly distributed in their support for energy sources in our review and 

most supported multiple energy sources, as figures 89 and 90, 

respectively, show. Figure 91 demonstrates that a majority of SBA 

initiatives supported private sector recipients, while figure 92 shows that 

more than half supported efforts outside of the four key federal roles in 

our review.

Figure 89: Number of SBA Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of SBA initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources.

Small Business 

Administration 
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Figure 90: Number of Energy Sources Supported by SBA Initiatives
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Figure 91: Percentage of SBA Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both 

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the seven SBA renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private.

Figure 92: Percentage of SBA Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Note: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the seven SBA renewable energy initiatives we 

identified.
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Figure 93 shows that the U.S. Agency for International Development’s 

(USAID) 25 initiatives most commonly supported hydropower, solar, and 

wind energy. Also, a majority of USAID’s initiatives supported more than 

one energy source, as shown in figure 94. Figure 95 demonstrates that 

more than 50 percent of USAID’s initiatives supported both public and 

private sector recipients. Figure 96 shows that a large majority of USAID 

initiatives supported efforts outside of the four key federal roles in our 

review, such as training and capacity building.

Figure 93: Number of USAID Initiatives Supporting Each Renewable Energy Source

Note: The sum of the initiatives across the renewable energy sources adds to more than the total 

number of USAID initiatives because initiatives often supported multiple energy sources.

U.S. Agency for 

International 

Development 
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Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 131 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 94: Number of Energy Sources Supported by USAID Initiatives
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 132 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 95: Percentage of USAID Initiatives Supporting Private or Public Sector 

Recipients, or Both

Notes: This figure provides data on the recipients for the 25 USAID renewable energy initiatives we 

identified. We generally classified governmental recipients as public and nongovernmental recipients 

as private.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 133 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Figure 96: Percentage of USAID Initiatives by Federal Role and Other

Note: This figure provides data on the federal roles for the 25 USAID renewable energy initiatives we 

identified.

Table 8 provides information on agencies’ initiatives that support 

bioenergy across the four key federal roles. As shown in the table, the 

research and development and fleets and facilities federal roles have the 

most initiatives targeted on bioenergy specifically, while agencies’ 

commercialization and deployment initiatives that support bioenergy often 

support other renewable energy sources as well.

Table 8: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support Bioenergy across the Four Key Federal Roles

Research and 

development Fleets and facilities

Commercialization 

and deployment

Regulation, permitting, 

and compliance

Agency

Targeted 

on 

bioenergy

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

bioenergy

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

bioenergy

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

bioenergy

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Commerce 4 2 9 1 0 4 0 1 

DOD

 Air Force 2 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 

 Army 2 5 1 4 0 0 0 1 

 Marine Corps 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 

 Navy 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 

 Other DOD 4 3 6 3 1 0 0 0 

Agencies’ Initiatives 

across the Four Key 

Federal Roles, by 

Energy Source
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 134 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Research and 

development Fleets and facilities

Commercialization 

and deployment

Regulation, permitting, 

and compliance

Agency

Targeted 

on 

bioenergy

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

bioenergy

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

bioenergy

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

bioenergy

Supports 

multiple 

sources

DHS 0 2 4 4 0 0 0 0 

DOE 9 10 2 7 0 10 0 0 

DOT 8 3 2 1 0 10 1 0 

EPA 4 2 1 1 0 4 5 1 

FERC 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 

GSA 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 

HUD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Interior 4 1 7 3 2 4 0 2 

Justice 0 0 8 2 0 0 0 0 

Labor 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 

NASA 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 

NSF 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 

SBA 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 

State 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 

Treasury 0 0 3 1 8 12 1 0 

USAID 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 

USDA 20 8 8 4 11 14 0 0 

Total 62 46 61 40 22 66 7 5 

Source: GAO analysis of agencies’ data.

Note: This table does not include data for 22 initiatives for which we identified a federal role, but could 

not determine the applicable renewable energy sources based on the responses received from the 

following agencies: the Army (1), DOE (15), HUD (4), the Navy (1), and USDA (1).

Table 9 provides information on agencies’ initiatives that support solar 

energy across the four key federal roles. As shown in the table, the 

research and development federal role has the most initiatives targeted 

on solar energy specifically. Agencies’ fleets and facilities and 

commercialization and deployment initiatives generally support solar 

energy along with other energy sources.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 135 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Table 9: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support Solar Energy across the Four Key Federal Roles

Research and 

development Fleets and facilities

Commercialization and 

deployment

Regulation, permitting, 

and compliance

Agency

Targeted on 

solar

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on solar

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted on 

solar

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on solar

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Commerce 2 4 1 3 0 4 0 1 

DOD

 Air Force 2 3 0 6 0 0 0 0 

 Army 6 3 1 6 0 0 0 1 

 Marine Corps 1 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 

 Navy 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 

 Other DOD 8 2 5 6 0 0 0 0 

DHS 1 1 3 5 0 0 0 0 

DOE 6 11 0 7 2 8 0 0 

DOT 0 1 1 2 0 11 1 0 

EPA 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 

FERC 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 

GSA 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 

HUD 0 0 0 0 1 8 0 0 

Interior 0 3 2 10 1 7 1 13

Justice 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 

Labor 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 

NASA 2 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 

NSF 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 

SBA 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 

State 0 0 0 3 0 3 0 0 

Treasury 0 0 0 0 1 13 0 0 

USAID 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 

USDA 0 4 2 8 0 9 0 1 

Total 29 46 19 78 5 70 2 18

Source: GAO analysis of agencies’ data.

Note: This table does not include data for 22 initiatives for which we identified a federal role, but could 

not determine the applicable renewable energy sources based on the responses received from the 

following agencies: the Army (1), DOE (15), HUD (4), the Navy (1), and USDA (1).

Table 10 provides information on agencies’ initiatives that support wind 

energy across the four key federal roles. As shown in the table, agencies’ 

initiatives generally do not target wind energy specifically. Rather, 
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 136 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

agencies’ initiatives tend to support wind energy along with other energy 

sources across the four key federal roles.

Table 10: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support Wind Energy across the Four Key Federal Roles

Research and 

development Fleets and facilities

Commercialization 

and deployment

Regulation, permitting, 

and compliance

Agency

Targeted 

on wind

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on wind

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on wind

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on wind

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Commerce 1 4 2 3 0 5 0 1 

DOD

 Air Force 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 

 Army 0 3 0 4 0 0 0 1 

 Marine Corps 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 

 Navy 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 

 Other DOD 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 

DHS 0 1 1 6 0 0 0 1 

DOE 2 9 0 8 1 8 0 0 

DOT 0 1 1 3 0 11 0 0 

EPA 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 

FERC 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 

GSA 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 

HUD 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 

Interior 1 4 1 10 0 6 3 14

Justice 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 

Labor 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 

NASA 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 

NSF 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 

SBA 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 

State 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 0 

Treasury 0 0 2 1 0 12 0 0 

USAID 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 

USDA 1 4 0 8 0 9 0 1 

Total 5 37 10 70 1 68 3 20

Source: GAO analysis of agencies’ data.

Note: This table does not include data for 22 initiatives for which we identified a federal role, but could 

not determine the applicable renewable energy sources based on the responses received from the 

following agencies: the Army (1), DOE (15), HUD (4), the Navy (1), and USDA (1).
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 137 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Table 11 provides information on agencies’ initiatives that support 

geothermal energy across the four key federal roles. As shown in the 

table, most agencies’ geothermal energy initiatives are fleets and facilities 

or commercialization and deployment initiatives that support geothermal 

energy along with other energy sources.

Table 11: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support Geothermal Energy across the Four Key Federal Roles

Research and 

development Fleets and facilities

Commercialization and 

deployment

Regulation, permitting, 

and compliance

Agency

Targeted 

on 

geothermal

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

geothermal

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

geothermal

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

geothermal

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Commerce 0 1 0 2 0 4 0 1 

DOD

 Air Force 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 

 Army 0 2 0 5 0 0 0 1 

 Marine Corps 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 

 Navy 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 

 Other DOD 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 

DHS 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 

DOE 4 5 0 6 0 7 0 0 

DOT 0 0 0 2 0 11 0 0 

EPA 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 

FERC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

GSA 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 

HUD 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 

Interior 1 0 0 6 1 6 1 13

Justice 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 

Labor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

NASA 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 

NSF 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 

SBA 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 

State 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 

Treasury 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 138 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Research and 

development Fleets and facilities

Commercialization and 

deployment

Regulation, permitting, 

and compliance

Agency

Targeted 

on 

geothermal

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

geothermal

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

geothermal

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

geothermal

Supports 

multiple 

sources

USAID 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 

USDA 0 0 0 4 0 8 1 0 

Total 6 12 1 52 1 61 2 16

Source: GAO analysis of agencies’ data.

Note: This table does not include data for 22 initiatives for which we identified a federal role, but could 

not determine the applicable renewable energy sources based on the responses received from the 

following agencies: the Army (1), DOE (15), HUD (4), the Navy (1), and USDA (1).

Table 12 provides information on agencies’ initiatives that support waste 

conversion across the four key federal roles. As shown in the table, the 

commercialization and deployment role has the most initiatives supporting 

waste conversion, and agencies’ initiatives tend to support waste 

conversion along with other energy sources across the four key federal 

roles.

Table 12: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support Waste Conversion across the Four Key Federal Roles

Research and 

development Fleets and facilities

Commercialization and 

deployment

Regulation, permitting, 

and compliance

Agency

Targeted on 

waste 

conversion

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on waste 

conversion

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted on 

waste 

conversion

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on waste 

conversion

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Commerce 0 1 0 1 1 4 0 1 

DOD

 Air Force 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 

 Army 1 5 0 4 0 0 0 1 

 Marine Corps 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 

 Navy 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 

 Other DOD 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 

DHS 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 

DOE 0 7 0 3 0 6 0 0 

DOT 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 

EPA 0 2 0 1 1 3 0 1 

FERC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

GSA 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 

HUD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Interior 0 0 0 2 1 4 0 1 
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 139 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Research and 

development Fleets and facilities

Commercialization and 

deployment

Regulation, permitting, 

and compliance

Agency

Targeted on 

waste 

conversion

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on waste 

conversion

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted on 

waste 

conversion

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on waste 

conversion

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Justice 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 

Labor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

NASA 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 

NSF 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 

SBA 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 

State 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 

Treasury 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 

USAID 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 

USDA 1 6 0 2 2 13 0 0 

Total 2 35 0 25 5 48 0 4

Source: GAO analysis of agencies’ data.

Note: This table does not include data for 22 initiatives for which we identified a federal role, but could 

not determine the applicable renewable energy sources based on the responses received from the 

following agencies: the Army (1), DOE (15), HUD (4), the Navy (1), and USDA (1).

Table 13 provides information on agencies’ initiatives that support 

hydropower across the four key federal roles. As shown in the table, the 

commercialization and deployment role has the most initiatives supporting 

hydropower, and the majority of hydropower initiatives across the four 

roles support other sources as well.

Table 13: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support Hydropower across the Four Key Federal Roles

Research and 

development Fleets and facilities

Commercialization and 

deployment

Regulation, permitting, 

and compliance

Agency

Targeted 

on 

hydropower

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

hydropower

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

hydropower

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

hydropower

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Commerce 0 3 0 1 0 4 1 1 

DOD

 Air Force 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

 Army 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 

 Marine Corps 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 

 Navy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

 Other DOD 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 

DHS 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 

DOE 1 6 0 4 1 8 0 0 
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’ 

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 140 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Research and 

development Fleets and facilities

Commercialization and 

deployment

Regulation, permitting, 

and compliance

Agency

Targeted 

on 

hydropower

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

hydropower

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

hydropower

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on 

hydropower

Supports 

multiple 

sources

DOT 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 

EPA 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 

FERC 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 

GSA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

HUD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Interior 3 1 0 4 2 2 3 5 

Justice 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Labor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

NASA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

NSF 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 

SBA 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 

State 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 

Treasury 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 

USAID 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 

USDA 0 0 0 3 0 7 0 1 

Total 4 15 1 16 4 40 5 10

Source: GAO analysis of agencies’ data.

Notes: This table does not include data for 22 initiatives for which we identified a federal role, but 

could not determine the applicable renewable energy sources based on the responses received from 

the following agencies: the Army (1), DOE (15), HUD (4), the Navy (1), and USDA (1). In addition, 

some agencies implemented initiatives that provided important support for hydropower, such the 

energy generated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ and Bureau of Reclamation’s hydroelectric 

facilities. These activities were classified in our “other” category and are not included in the table, 

which focuses on the four key federal roles.

Table 14 provides information on agencies’ initiatives that support ocean 

energy across the four key federal roles. As shown in the table, the 

commercialization and deployment role has the most initiatives supporting 

ocean energy, and the majority of ocean energy initiatives across the four 

roles support other sources as well.
Appendix II: Information on Federal Agencies’

Renewable Energy-Related Initiatives

Page 141 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Table 14: Number of Agencies’ Initiatives That Support Ocean Energy across the Four Key Federal Roles

Research and 

development Fleets and facilities

Commercialization and 

deployment

Regulation, permitting, 

and compliance

Agency

Targeted 

on ocean

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on ocean

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted on 

ocean

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Targeted 

on ocean

Supports 

multiple 

sources

Commerce 0 2 0 1 0 5 1 1 

DOD

 Air Force 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 

 Army 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 

 Marine Corps 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 

 Navy 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 

 Other DOD 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 

DHS 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 

DOE 1 5 0 3 0 3 0 0 

DOT 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 

EPA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FERC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 

GSA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

HUD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Interior 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 12

Justice 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Labor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

NASA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

NSF 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 

SBA 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 

State 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 

Treasury 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 

USAID 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 

USDA 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 

Total 6 17 0 8 0 27 1 16

Source: GAO analysis of agencies’ data.

Note: This table does not include data for 22 initiatives for which we identified a federal role, but could 

not determine the applicable renewable energy sources based on the responses received from the 

following agencies: the Army (1), DOE (15), HUD (4), the Navy (1), and USDA (1).
Appendix III: Agency Information on the Extent 

to Which the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 Established, 

Expanded, or Modified Initiatives

Page 142 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

This appendix provides information on the extent to which the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) established, 

expanded, or modified renewable energy initiatives. Specifically, agencies 

reported that the Recovery Act established, expanded, or modified 157 

initiatives—nearly one-quarter of all renewable energy initiatives 

governmentwide.1

• Initiatives that were established by the Recovery Act. Across all of the 

agencies in our review, the Recovery Act established 20 initiatives.

These initiatives mostly supported the commercialization and 

deployment federal role. For example, the Department of the 

Treasury’s Payments for Specific Energy Property in Lieu of Tax 

Credits were established under Section 1603 of the Recovery Act to 

provide cash grants to eligible applicants who place specified energy 

property—primarily renewable energy systems—in service for use in a 

trade or business.

These effects fall into four groupings:

2

• Initiatives that received additional funding under the Recovery Act.

There were 106 initiatives that existed prior to the Recovery Act that 

received additional funding for renewable energy activities. Receiving 

additional funding was the most commonly experienced type of 

Recovery Act effect we identified among the initiatives. Approximately 

one-third of these initiatives (36) were implemented by the 

Department of Energy, primarily involving research and development 

of new renewable energy technologies. A number of Department of 

Defense fleets and facilities efforts also received additional funding 

under the Recovery Act. In addition, the General Services 

Administration’s efforts to purchase vehicles for federal agency fleets 

included a vehicle replacement program, which received Recovery 

Act funds for the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles. Under this 

program, federal agencies could exchange existing vehicles for more 

fuel efficient models at no cost to them.

• Initiatives that were extended or whose scope was changed by the 

Recovery Act. There were 26 initiatives that experienced an extension 

or change in their scope of authority under the Recovery Act. More 

than 80 percent of these initiatives (21) were implemented by the 

 

1

Some initiatives were affected by the Recovery Act in multiple ways.

2

The Department of the Treasury offered payments for specific energy property in lieu of 

the Energy Production and Energy Investment tax credits.

Appendix III: Agency Information on the Extent to 

Which the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 

2009 Established, Expanded, or Modified Initiatives
Appendix III: Agency Information on the Extent 

to Which the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 Established, 

Expanded, or Modified Initiatives

Page 143 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

departments of Energy or the Treasury. For example, for certain 

Department of the Treasury initiatives, the Recovery Act increased the 

bond authority available for allocation by the Internal Revenue Service 

to support renewable energy activities.

• Initiatives that were indirectly affected by the Recovery Act. There 

were 19 initiatives that experienced indirect effects from the Recovery 

Act aside from those mentioned above. For example, for some 

initiatives, agencies reported that staff workloads increased as a result 

of the Recovery Act even though the initiatives did not receive direct 

funding from the Recovery Act.

Table 15 shows the initiatives that the Recovery Act affected at each 

agency and the type of effects they experienced based on our analysis of 

agency-provided data. 

Table 15: Initiatives Established, Expanded, or Modified by the Recovery Act, by Agency

Agency

(number of 

initiatives) Initiative name

Initiative 

established by 

Recovery Act

Initiative received 

additional funding 

from Recovery Act

Initiative extended 

or scope changed 

by Recovery Act

Indirect 

or other 

impacts

Department of 

Agriculture (11)

Alternative Fuels and Fleet Efficiency 

Program X 

Recovery Act Wood to Energy Biomass 

Activity X 

Agricultural Research Service 

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Acquisition and 

Use

X 

 

Biomass Crop Assistance Programa X 

Business and Industry Guaranteed 

Loan Program X 

Energy Management Program X 

Farm to Fly: Sustainable Aviation 

Biofuel X 

Forest Service Alternative Fuel Vehicle 

Acquisition and Use X 

Forest Service-Funded Renewable 

Power Generation X 

Natural Resources Conservation 

Service Alternative Fuel Vehicle 

Acquisition and Use

X 

 

Woody Biomass Utilization Grant 

Program X 
Appendix III: Agency Information on the Extent 

to Which the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 Established, 

Expanded, or Modified Initiatives

Page 144 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Agency

(number of 

initiatives) Initiative name

Initiative 

established by 

Recovery Act

Initiative received 

additional funding 

from Recovery Act

Initiative extended 

or scope changed 

by Recovery Act

Indirect 

or other 

impacts

Department of 

Commerce (5)

Environmentally-Sustainable 

Development Investment Priority

 X 

Licensing Authority for Ocean Thermal 

Energy Conversion Facilities

 X 

Measurement Science for Net Zero 

Energy, High-Performance Buildings

 X 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology Smart Grid Research

 X 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology-Funded Renewable Power 

Generation

 

X 

Department of 

Defense, Air 

Force (2)

Air Force Non-tactical Alternative Fuel 

Vehicle Acquisition and Use

 X 

Air Force Renewable Energy Certificate 

and/or Direct Renewable Power 

Purchases

 

X 

Department of 

Defense, Army 

(5) 

Army Non-tactical Alternative Fuel 

Vehicle Acquisition and Use

 X 

Army Tactical Equipment Procurement 

and Deployment

 X 

Army-Funded Small Scale Renewable 

Power Generation

 X 

Corps Hydropower Program X 

Permitting Efficiencies for Regulatory 

Programs 

 X 

Department of 

Defense, 

Marine Corps 

(2) 

Marine Corps-Funded Medium Scale 

Renewable Power Generation

 X 

Marine Corps-Funded Small Scale 

Renewable Power Generation

 X 

Department of 

Defense, Navy 

(5) 

Alternative Fuels Program X 

Navy Non-tactical Alternative Fuel 

Vehicle Acquisition and Use

 X 

Navy-Funded Medium Scale 

Renewable Power Generation

 X 

Navy-Funded Small Scale Renewable 

Power Generation

 X 

Other Power Generation Research X 

Department of 

Defense, other 

Department of 

Defense 

Defense Logistics Agency Alternative 

Fuel Development and Testing

 X 

Defense Logistics Agency Portable 

Power Generation Research

 X 
Appendix III: Agency Information on the Extent 

to Which the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 Established, 

Expanded, or Modified Initiatives

Page 145 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Agency

(number of 

initiatives) Initiative name

Initiative 

established by 

Recovery Act

Initiative received 

additional funding 

from Recovery Act

Initiative extended 

or scope changed 

by Recovery Act

Indirect 

or other 

impacts

components 

(8) 

Defense Logistics Agency Renewable 

Energy Outreach X 

Defense Wide Manufacturing Science 

and Technology Program X 

Energy Conservation Investment 

Program X 

Environmental Security Technology 

Certification Program – Energy and 

Water Program

X 

National Security Agency-Funded Small 

Scale Renewable Power Generation X 

Net Zero Plus Joint Capability 

Technology Demonstration Program X 

Department of 

Energy (49)

Agile Delivery of Electrical Power 

Technology X 

Advanced Research Projects AgencyEnergy Funding Opportunity 

Announcement 1

X 

Bioenergy Research Centers X X 

Biomass and Biorefinery Systems 

Infrastructure X X 

Bonneville Power Administration Direct 

Funding X 

Bonneville Power Administration Fish 

and Wildlife X 

Bonneville Power Administration Wind 

Integration X 

Clean Energy Transmission and 

Reliability X 

Concentrated Solar Power X 

Conventional Hydropower Technology 

Development X 

Conversion Technologies X X 

Electrofuels X 

Emerging Technologies X 

Energy Efficiency and Conservation 

Block Grants X 

Energy Frontier Research Centers X 

Enhanced Geothermal Systems X 

Feedstocks X X 
Appendix III: Agency Information on the Extent 

to Which the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 Established, 

Expanded, or Modified Initiatives

Page 146 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Agency

(number of 

initiatives) Initiative name

Initiative 

established by 

Recovery Act

Initiative received 

additional funding 

from Recovery Act

Initiative extended 

or scope changed 

by Recovery Act

Indirect 

or other 

impacts

Federal Energy Management Program - 

Planning, Reporting and Evaluation X 

Federal Energy Management Program - 

Project Financing X 

Federal Energy Management Program - 

Technical Guidance and Assistance X 

Fuel Cell Systems Research & 

Development X 

Funding the work of the Western 

Governors Association to identify 

Western Renewable Energy Zone 

identification

X X 

Grid-Scale Rampable Intermittent 

Dispatchable Storage X 

Innovative Exploration Technologies X 

Integrated Biorefineries X X 

Low Temperature and Co-Produced 

Geothermal Technologies Resources X 

Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy 

Reliability Energy Storage X 

Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy 

Reliability Permitting, Siting, and 

Analysis

X 

Photovoltaic Research & Development X 

Power Marketing Administrations—

Transmission X 

Small Business Innovation 

Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Advanced Solar Technology 

Topic Area

X 

Small Business Innovation 

Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Catalysis Topic Area

X 

Small Business Innovation 

Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Geothermal Energy 

Technology Development Topic Area 

X 

Small Business Innovation 

Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Novel Membrane and 

Electrode Development for Advanced 

Electrochemical Energy Storage Topic 

Area 

X 
Appendix III: Agency Information on the Extent 

to Which the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 Established, 

Expanded, or Modified Initiatives

Page 147 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Agency

(number of 

initiatives) Initiative name

Initiative 

established by 

Recovery Act

Initiative received 

additional funding 

from Recovery Act

Initiative extended 

or scope changed 

by Recovery Act

Indirect 

or other 

impacts

Small Business Innovation 

Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Production of Biofuels from 

Cellulosic Biomass Topic Area

X 

Small Business Innovation 

Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Technologies for Clean Fuels 

and Hydrogen from Coal Topic Area

X 

Small Business Innovation 

Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Technologies Related to 

Energy Storage for Hybrid Plug-in 

Electric Vehicles Topic Area 

X 

Small Business Innovation 

Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Wind Energy Technology 

Development Topic Area

X 

Smart Grid Research and Development X 

Solar Decathlon X X 

State Energy Program X 

Technology Advancement and 

Outreach Activities X 

Title XVII Section 1705 Loan Program X 

Tribal Energy Program X X 

Vehicle Technology Deployment X 

Weatherization Assistance Program X 

Wind Energy - Offshore Wind X 

Wind Energy - Technology Application X 

Wind Energy - Technology Viability X 

Department of 

Homeland 

Security (7)

Customs and Border Protection 

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Acquisition and 

Use

X 

Customs and Border Protection-Funded 

Renewable Power Generation X 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement 

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Acquisition and 

Use

X 

Coast Guard Alternative Fuel Vehicle 

Acquisition and Use X 

Coast Guard Third Party-Financed 

Medium Scale Renewable Power 

Generation

X X 
Appendix III: Agency Information on the Extent 

to Which the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 Established, 

Expanded, or Modified Initiatives

Page 148 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Agency

(number of 

initiatives) Initiative name

Initiative 

established by 

Recovery Act

Initiative received 

additional funding 

from Recovery Act

Initiative extended 

or scope changed 

by Recovery Act

Indirect 

or other 

impacts

Coast Guard-Funded Medium Scale 

Renewable Power Generation X X 

Coast Guard-Funded Small Scale 

Renewable Power Generation X X 

Department of 

Housing and 

Urban 

Development 

(3) 

Capital Fund Recovery Act Competitive 

Grant Program X 

Green Retrofit Program for Multifamily 

Housing X 

Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 X 

Department of 

the Interior (23)

Bureau of Land Management-Funded 

Renewable Power Generation X 

Conservation Planning Assistance 

Program X 

Consultation and Habitat Conservation 

Planning X 

Cooperative Water Program X 

External Renewable Energy Program X 

External Renewable Energy Training X X 

Fish and Wildlife Service Alternative 

Fuel Vehicle Acquisition and Use X 

Fish and Wildlife Service-Funded

Renewable Power Generation X 

Hazardous Fuels Reduction Program X 

Housing Improvement Program: 

Recovery Act Renewable Energy 

Projects 

X 

Indian Affairs-Funded Renewable 

Power Generation X 

Interior Renewable Energy Certificate 

and/or Direct Renewable Power 

Purchases 

X 

Interior Renewable Energy Policy 

Development and Management X 

Klamath Dam Removal Studies X 

National Park Service Alternative Fuel 

Vehicle Acquisition and Use X 

National Park Service-Funded 

Renewable Power Generation X 

Recovery Act Renewable Energy Efforts X 

Solar Energy Authorizations and 

Operations on Bureau of Land 

Management Public Lands

X 
Appendix III: Agency Information on the Extent 

to Which the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 Established, 

Expanded, or Modified Initiatives

Page 149 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Agency

(number of 

initiatives) Initiative name

Initiative 

established by 

Recovery Act

Initiative received 

additional funding 

from Recovery Act

Initiative extended 

or scope changed 

by Recovery Act

Indirect 

or other 

impacts

Solar Energy Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement X 

U.S. Geological Survey Alternative Fuel 

Vehicle Acquisition and Use X 

U.S. Geological Survey Third PartyFinanced Renewable Power Generation X 

U.S. Geological Survey-Funded 

Renewable Power Generation X 

WaterSMART Grant program (formerly 

known as Challenge Grants) X X 

Department of 

Justice (5)

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms 

and Explosives Alternative Fuel Vehicle 

Acquisition and Use

X 

Drug Enforcement Administration 

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Acquisition and 

Use 

X 

Federal Bureau of Investigation 

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Acquisition and 

Use 

X 

Justice Management Division 

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Acquisition and 

Use

X 

U.S. Marshals Service Alternative Fuel 

Vehicle Acquisition and Use X 

Department of 

Labor (4)

Energy Training Partnership Grant 

Program

X 

Green Capacity Building Grants X 

State Energy Sector Partnership and 

Training Grants X 

State Labor Market Information 

Improvement Grants X 

Department of 

Transportation 

(6) 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Acquisition and 

Use

X 

Fixed Guideway Modernization X 

Formula Grants for Other than 

Urbanized Areas X 

Major Capital Investments (New Starts 

& Small Starts) X 

Transit Investments for Greenhouse 

Gas and Energy Reduction X 

Urbanized Area Formula Program X 
Appendix III: Agency Information on the Extent 

to Which the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 Established, 

Expanded, or Modified Initiatives

Page 150 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Agency

(number of 

initiatives) Initiative name

Initiative 

established by 

Recovery Act

Initiative received 

additional funding 

from Recovery Act

Initiative extended 

or scope changed 

by Recovery Act

Indirect 

or other 

impacts

Department of 

the Treasury 

(12)

Accelerated Depreciation Recovery 

Periods for Specific Energy Property X 

Credit for Clean Fuel Burning Vehicles X 

Credit for Clean-Fuel Burning Vehicle 

Refueling Property X 

Credit for Holding New Clean 

Renewable Energy Bonds X 

Credit for Holding Qualified Energy 

Conservation Bonds X 

Credit for Residential Energy Efficient 

Property X 

Direct Payment in Lieu of a Credit for 

Holding New Clean Renewable Energy 

Bonds

X 

Direct Payment in Lieu of a Credit for 

Holding Qualified Energy Conservation 

Bonds

X 

Energy Investment Credit X 

Energy Production Credit X 

Payments for Specific Energy Property 

in Lieu of Tax Credits X 

Qualifying Advanced Energy Project 

Credit X 

General 

Services 

Administration 

(5) 

Geothermal Space Conditioning 

Technology Acceleration Program X 

Green Proving Ground Program X 

General Services Administration Fleet 

Purchasing X 

General Services Administration 

Renewable Power Generation Data 

Collection and Reporting

X 

General Services AdministrationFunded Renewable Power Generation X 

National 

Aeronautics 

and Space 

Administration 

(1) 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration Alternative Fuel Vehicle 

Acquisition and Use X 

Small Business 

Administration 

(4) 

Certified Development Company / 

Section 504 Loans X X 

Energy Grants for Green Technology X 
Appendix III: Agency Information on the Extent 

to Which the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 Established, 

Expanded, or Modified Initiatives

Page 151 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Agency

(number of 

initiatives) Initiative name

Initiative 

established by 

Recovery Act

Initiative received 

additional funding 

from Recovery Act

Initiative extended 

or scope changed 

by Recovery Act

Indirect 

or other 

impacts

Energy Savings Debenture X 

Entrepreneurial Mentor Corps Pilot 

Program X 

Source: GAO analysis of agencies’ data.

a

The Recovery Act provided the Department of Agriculture with the authority to use Biomass Crop 

Assistance Program funds for technical assistance. However, in commenting on a draft of this report, 

the Department of Agriculture indicated that, by the time it needed to use program funds for technical 

assistance, this authority had expired and no program funds were used to provide technical 

assistance.
Appendix IV: Agency Information on Expiring 

Initiatives

Page 152 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

This appendix provides information reported by agencies on initiatives 

that will or have expired, in full or in part, due to an expiration of 

legislative authority, depletion of available appropriations, or some other 

expiration under the law as written as of fall of 2011. This appendix 

includes information on initiatives that expired before the start of or during 

fiscal year 2010, or will expire after fiscal year 2010. However, all of these 

initiatives met our criteria as fiscal year 2010 renewable energy initiatives 

in some way and are included in the 679 federal renewable energy 

initiatives for which we provide data in this report. For example, although 

the Conservation Security Program was not re-authorized in the Food, 

Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 and is no longer available, 

contracts written while the program was still authorized can span up to 10 

years, and some contracts were still being implemented in fiscal year 

2010. Table 16 provides information on these initiatives, including the 

agencies implementing them and information reported by the agencies on 

their expiration. For additional information on the following initiatives, 

including their descriptions and associated renewable energy sources, 

federal roles, and recipients, see GAO-12-259SP. 

Table 16: Expiring Initiatives

Initiative (agency) Expiration information

Department of Agriculture

Recovery Act Wood to Energy Biomass Activity (Forest Service) This initiative was established by and ended with the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Conservation Security Program (Natural Resources Conservation 

Service) 

This program no longer exists.

Small Business Innovation Research Program: Aquaculture Topic 

Area (National Institute of Food and Agriculture)

Authorization for these programs is contingent upon 

reauthorization of the Small Business Innovation Development 

Act of 1982, as amended (15 U.S.C. 638).

Small Business Innovation Research Program: Biofuels and 

Biobased Products Topic Area (National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture) 

Small Business Innovation Research Program: Forests and 

Related Resources Topic Area (National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture) 

Small Business Innovation Research Program: Plant Production 

and Protection-Biology Topic Area (National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture) 

Small Business Innovation Research Program: Plant Production 

and Protection-Engineering Topic Area (National Institute of Food 

and Agriculture)

Small Business Innovation Research Program: Rural 

Development Topic Area (National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture) 

Appendix IV: Agency Information on Expiring 

Initiatives
Appendix IV: Agency Information on Expiring 

Initiatives

Page 153 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Initiative (agency) Expiration information

Small Business Innovation Research Program: Small and MidSize Farms Topic Area (National Institute of Food and Agriculture)

Community Wood to Energy Program (Forest Service) Authorization for these programs expires with the end of the 

Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. However, the 

Department of Agriculture reported that should funding remain 

available after the expiration of the act, it has the authority to 

continue program operations based upon existing regulations.

Forest Biomass for Energy Competitive Research and 

Development Program (Forest Service)

Woody Biomass Utilization Grant Program (Forest Service)

Biomass Crop Assistance Program (Farm Service Agency)

Feedstock Flexibility Program for Bioenergy Producers (Farm 

Service Agency)

New Era Rural Technology Program (National Institute of Food 

and Agriculture)

Sun Grant Program (National Institute of Food and Agriculture)

Biodiesel Fuel Education Program (National Institute of Food and 

Agriculture and Office of the Chief Economist)

Biomass Research and Development Initiative (National Institute 

of Food and Agriculture)

Conservation Innovation Grant Program (Natural Resources 

Conservation Service)

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (Natural Resources 

Conservation Service)

Advanced Biofuel Payment Program (Rural Business Service)

Biorefinery Assistance Program (Rural Business Service)

Repowering Assistance Program (Rural Business Service)

Rural Energy for America Program (formerly the Renewable 

Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program) 

(Rural Business Service)

Digester Project (Office of the Secretary) These initiatives are implemented through the other programs in 

this table that will expire at the end of the Food, Conservation, 

and Energy Act of 2008. USDA / Navy Memorandum of Understanding Project (Office of 

the Secretary)

USDA Energy Coordination and Collaboration (Office of the 

Secretary) 

Farm to Fly: Sustainable Aviation Biofuel (Rural Business Service)

Department of Commerce

Global Climate Change Mitigation Incentive Fund (Economic 

Development Administration)

The Global Climate Change Mitigation Incentive Fund is not a 

standing program, but rather a congressionally-directed funding 

stream, which requires annual submission of a report/spending 

plan to Congress summarizing how the funds will be used.

Department of Defense

Net Zero Plus Joint Capability Technology Demonstration 

Program (Office of the Secretary of Defense)

This was a one-time demonstration program with no further 

appropriations.

Defense Production Act Title III Program (Office of the Secretary 

of Defense)

Authority to execute Defense Production Act Title III projects 

expires September 30, 2014, unless the act is amended.
Appendix IV: Agency Information on Expiring 

Initiatives

Page 154 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Initiative (agency) Expiration information

Department of Energy

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Funding Opportunity 

Announcement 1 (Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy)

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy’s authorizing 

legislation, the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully 

Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science 

Reauthorization Act of 2010, was recently extended to until 2013. Agile Delivery of Electrical Power Technology (Advanced 

Research Projects Agency-Energy)

Electrofuels (Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy)

Grid-Scale Rampable Intermittent Dispatchable Storage 

(Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy)

Hydrogen Fuel R&D (Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy)

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence 

and Security Act of 2007 provide authorization for these activities 

through fiscal year 2015 or 2020 depending upon the activity. Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Crosscutting Activities 

(Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy)

Fuel Cell Systems R&D (Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy)

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (Office of 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy)

This program is currently funded through American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funding and not through annual 

appropriations. Without inclusion in future annual appropriations, 

the program terminates on December 31, 2011.

Title XVII Section 1705 Loan Program (Loan Programs Office)

b

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 added 

Section 1705 to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. There is a sunset 

date of September 30, 2011 on this initiative.

Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Wind Energy Technology Development Topic Area 

(multiple)

b

Continuation of the Small Business Innovation Research/Small 

Business Technology Transfer programs is contingent upon their 

reauthorization.

Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Technologies Related to Energy Storage for Hybrid 

Plug-in Electric Vehicles Topic Area (multiple)

Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Technologies for Clean Fuels and Hydrogen from Coal 

(multiple)

Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Production of Biofuels from Cellulosic Biomass Topic 

Area (multiple)

Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Novel Membrane and Electrode Development for 

Advanced Electrochemical Energy Storage Topic Area (multiple)

Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Geothermal Energy Technology Development Topic 

Area (multiple)

Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Catalysis Topic Area (multiple)

Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology 

Transfer - Advanced Solar Technology Topic Area (multiple)
Appendix IV: Agency Information on Expiring 

Initiatives

Page 155 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Initiative (agency) Expiration information

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (Office of Community and 

Planning Development)

This was an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

program and all grant funds were obligated as of February 11, 

2010. Grantees must complete expenditure of these funds by 

February 2013.

Mark to Market Green Initiative (Office of Housing) Statutory authority for this program ended at the end of fiscal 

year 2011.

Green Retrofit Program for Multifamily Housing (Office of 

Housing)

This was an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

program and all funding was obligated as of September 30, 

2010.

Capital Fund Recovery Act Competitive Grant Program (Office of 

Public and Indian Housing)

These grants were funded on a one-time basis in 2009 under the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Department of the Interior

Desalination and Water Purification Research and Development 

Program (Bureau of Reclamation)

This initiative ended at the end of fiscal year 2011.

Geothermal Leasing and Operations on Federal Lands (Bureau of 

Land Management)

Authorization recently expired for the Geothermal Steam Act 

Implementation Fund, which was established by Section 234 of 

the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and has been used to expedite the 

development of geothermal steam as part of this initiative. 

Existing funding is expected to be depleted in 2012.

Renewable Energy Program: Multipurpose Marine Cadastre 

(Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and 

Enforcement)

Authority for this initiative will expire at the end of fiscal year 

2014.

External Renewable Energy Training (Indian Affairs) These are one-time activities authorized under the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Housing Improvement Program: Recovery Act Renewable Energy 

Projects (Indian Affairs)

Recovery Act Renewable Energy Efforts (Bureau of Land 

Management)

Hydropower Optimization and Modernization (Bureau of 

Reclamation)

This initiative was funded through a one-time allocation, and will 

not be continued after funding runs out.

WaterSMART Grant Program (formerly known as Challenge 

Grants) (Bureau of Reclamation)

The authorizing legislation for this program includes an 

appropriations cap of $200 million, to remain available until 

expended.

Department of Transportation

Urbanized Area Formula Program (Federal Transit Administration) Authorization for these programs is contingent upon extension of 

the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity 

Act of 2005: A Legacy for Users. Transportation for Elderly Person and Persons with Disabilities 

(Federal Transit Administration)

New Freedom Program (Federal Transit Administration)

Major Capital Investments (New Starts & Small Starts) (Federal 

Transit Administration)

Job Access and Reverse Commute Program (Federal Transit 

Administration)

Formula Grants for Other than Urbanized Areas (Federal Transit 

Administration)
Appendix IV: Agency Information on Expiring 

Initiatives

Page 156 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Initiative (agency) Expiration information

Fixed Guideway Modernization (Federal Transit Administration)

Clean Fuels Grant Program (Federal Transit Administration)

Bus and Bus Facilities (Federal Transit Administration)

NextGen Environmental Research – Aircraft Technologies, Fuels 

and Metrics (Federal Aviation Administration)

The most recent extension of authority for the Federal Aviation 

Administration’s activities extends through January 2012.

NextGen – System Development – Environment and Energy 

(Federal Aviation Administration)

b

Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (Federal Aviation 

Administration)

Advanced Vehicle Technology Grants (Research and Innovative 

Technology Administration)

These initiatives were mandated under the Safe, Accountable, 

Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005: A Legacy for 

Users for fiscal years 2006 through 2009, and were extended 

through the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act of 2010 

for fiscal year 2010 only.

Advanced Research Program - Biobased Transportation 

Research (Research and Innovative Technology Administration)

Advanced Research Program - Alternative Fuels and Life Cycle 

Engineering (Research and Innovative Technology 

Administration)

This initiative was mandated under the Safe, Accountable, 

Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005: A Legacy for 

Users for fiscal years 2006 through 2009, but was not extended 

through the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act of 

2010.

Department of the Treasury

Payments for Specific Energy Property in Lieu of Tax Credits 

(Office of Domestic Finance)

Applications must be submitted before October 1, 2012, unless 

the Internal Revenue Code is amended. a

Credit for Holding Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (Internal 

Revenue Service)

The allocation period for Clean Renewable Energy Bonds

expired December 31, 2009.

Alcohol and Alcohol Fuel Mixtures Excise and Income Tax Credits 

(Internal Revenue Service)

These credits expire on December 31, 2011, unless the Internal 

Revenue Code is amended.

Alternative Fuel Excise Tax Credit (Internal Revenue Service)

b

Small Ethanol Producer Credit (Internal Revenue Service)

Ethanol Excise and Income Tax Credits (Internal Revenue 

Service) 

Biodiesel Excise and Income Tax Credits (Internal Revenue 

Service) 

Small Agri-Biodiesel Producer Credit (Internal Revenue Service)

Credit for the Production of Cellulosic Biofuel (Internal Revenue 

Service) 

This credit expires on December 31, 2012, unless the Internal 

Revenue Code is amended.

Accelerated Depreciation Recovery Periods for Specific Energy 

Property (Internal Revenue Service)

Bonus depreciation was extended through December 31, 2012, 

by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, 

and Job Creation Act of 2010. 

Credit for Residential Energy Efficient Property (Internal Revenue 

Service) 

Property must be placed in service by December 31, 2016.

Energy Production Credit (Internal Revenue Service) Projects must be placed in service by either December 31, 2012, 

or December 31, 2013, to be eligible.
Appendix IV: Agency Information on Expiring 

Initiatives

Page 157 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Initiative (agency) Expiration information

Credit for Clean Fuel Burning Vehicles (Internal Revenue Service) Credits for clean-fuel burning hybrid, advanced lean-burn 

technology, and alternative fuel vehicles expired December 31, 

2010; credits for plug-in electric vehicles expire December 31, 

2011, unless the Internal Revenue Code is amended; credits for 

plug-in electric-drive vehicles expire December 31, 2014, unless 

the Internal Revenue Code is amended; and credits for fuel cell 

vehicles expire December 31, 2014, unless the Internal Revenue 

Code is amended.

Credit for Clean-Fuel Burning Vehicle Refueling Property (Internal 

Revenue Service)

b

Unless the Internal Revenue Code is amended, the credit for 

qualified refueling property expires December 31, 2011, except 

for hydrogen refueling property, which expires December 31, 

2014. The higher credit rate and credit cap expired December 

31, 2010.

Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit (Internal Revenue 

Service) 

b

The application period for the first round of credit certification 

ended on December 31, 2010. All available amounts were 

allocated in 2010. Property certified in the first round must be 

placed in service within 3 years of certification (generally in 

2014). If some credits which were allocated are forfeited, it may 

be possible to reallocate them through 2013.

Energy Investment Credit (Internal Revenue Service) Wind projects must be placed in service by December 31, 2012, 

in order to claim the credit; other facilities specified under Internal 

Revenue Code Section 45 must be placed in service by 

December 31, 2013; solar electricity, heat, or light, geothermal 

electricity or heat, small wind, and other property specified under 

Internal Revenue Code Section 48 must be placed in service by 

December 31, 2016.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Third PartyFinanced Renewable Power GenerationThe on-site power generation initiative at the Kennedy Space 

Center was a pilot project during the time period when the 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration received 

temporary enhanced use lease authority, including in-kind 

consideration. The agency’s authority to enter into enhanced use 

leases expires on December 26, 2017; for this initiative to 

continue, the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 would 

need to be modified to extend or remove this sunset provision.

Small Business Administration

Energy Grants for Green Technology Authority to make grants under these programs ends in 2013.

Energy Efficiency Grants for Education and Technology

Source: GAO analysis of agencies’ data.

a

The Department of the Treasury offers payments for specific energy property in lieu of either the 

Energy Production or Energy Investment tax credits.

b

Agencies reported information on expiring initiatives as of fall of 2011 and we did not update this 

information to reflect whether or not any of the initiatives expected to expire prior to the issuance of 

our final report—such as certain tax expenditures that supported ethanol or other biofuels—actually 

did expire.
Appendix V: Comments from the Department 

of Commerce

Page 158 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Appendix V: Comments from the Department 

of Commerce
Appendix VI: Comments from the Department 

of Homeland Security

Page 159 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Appendix VI: Comments from the 

Department of Homeland Security
Appendix VI: Comments from the Department 

of Homeland Security

Page 160 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy
Appendix VII: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments

Page 161 GAO-12-260 Renewable Energy

Frank Rusco, (202) 512-3841 or ruscof@gao.gov

In addition to the contact named above, Keya Chateauneuf, Michele 

Fejfar, Mark Gaffigan, Bridget Grimes, Daniel Haas, Miles Ingram, 

Christopher Murray, Alison O’Neill, Amy Spiehler, Anne O. Stevens, and 

Barbara Timmerman made key contributions to this report.

Appendix VII: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments 

GAO Contact

Staff 

Acknowledgments

(361185)
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