A New Harvest: Using Solar Power to Refine Biodiesel on Native American Reservations

Abstract

Sustainability is a matter of survival. The rising cost of energy and the dwindling fossil fuel resources are disproportionally affecting Indigenous communities, making them the proverbial canary in the coalmine. Native American reservations can leapfrog past fossil fuel based energy production and assert their energy sovereignty by developing renewable energy projects. Native American tribes have already been investing in renewable energy projects with the goal of becoming energy independent. The thesis proposes that tribes invest in solar powered biodiesel refining to remove their dependence on off-reservation produced energy. I use spatial analysis and GIS to demonstrate which reservations will receive the most benefit from this technology. The goal of this project is to provide tribes with a practical, real-world solution that can elevate their energy concerns and ready for implementation.