MAP's principal focus in the renewable energy arena is acquiring royalty interests associated with commercial wind and solar projects in the onshore US.

The term "renewable energy" can have many meanings.  Most importantly it describes energy resources that can be harnessed in a manner where the use of the resource does not deplete it.

These energy sources can be categorized based on the nature of the resource:

Use of the Resource has no Bearing Upon Future Availability of the Resource

• Hydro
• Wind
• Solar
• Ocean energy

Use of the Resource Equals Production or Renewal

• Biomass
• Geothermal

If properly managed, use of biomass and geothermal resources is sustainable. Human management historically has NOT been successful. Historically populations have harvested more biomass than has been replanted or is available or use.  In the case of geothermal, the heat of the earth is renewable, however the heat transfer fluids, such as steam or hot water are often harnessed in a non-renewable manner - especially the larger the scale of the use.

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency is a renewable energy resource in the sense that once more efficient delivery of energy services are adopted, renewable rather than one-time resource use has been harnessed.

The "green-ness" of various renewable energy resources varies with generally the following ranking:

Energy Efficiency

Fully Renewable Resources

• Solar
• Wind
• Renewable Biomass
• Small Scale Hydro
• Small Scale Geothermal

Renewable Resources ONLY When Properly Constructed and Managed

• Large Scale Geothermal
• Large Scale Hydro

Renewable energy is currently a small wedge of the global and US energy mix but the growth rates are very high. Non-hydro renewable sources account for approximately 3% of total US energy production. Almost all clean use is for electricity generation.

Technology:  There have been continuous reductions in the cost of manufacturing and improvements in design that are making renewable energy more price competitive with traditional energy supplies.

Modularity and Flexibilitity:  Wind and solar can be built incrementally to meet demand and distributed through the evolving "smart grid" evolving in many power markets very efficiently.

Public Policy:  At the state, local and even federal levels voters are demanding cleaner sources of enery with less fuel price risk (the wind and the sun are free!). Twenty-two states have passed Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) helping drive renewable energy development in those states.