1. Eligibility
Marin and Sonoma are local governmental entities
2. Proposed Project and Its Objectives
Our collaboration proposal is to build on the SolarApp model and enable the development of future iterations of the online permit process by addressing complicated permits to identify data elements for incorporation into the XBRL taxonomy, and to contribute towards the ongoing development of permitting platforms for all projects by enabling the IDEA data standard with all the future data elements needed.
This collaboration response is a continuation of prior and current federal initiatives like Orange Button and SolarApp and legislative acts like the 2014 DATA Act, 2023 Financial Transparency Act, 21st Century IDEA and the 2023 Infrastructure Acts (IRA & IIJA) that seek to establish digital ecosystems to innovate next generation infrastructure.
The eXtended Business Reporting Language (XBRL) and the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) are already aligned and establish the International Digital Ecosystem Architecture (IDEA) that can be expanded to reduce the estimated 40% waste in construction, align public and private data across multiple international market sectors, improve risk management and expand opportunities for small and local businesses.
Permitting is an effective collaboration starting point to form next generation digital ecosystems for infrastructure based on open standards that will enable innovations to drive down costs, including the cost and time to secure the permit.
Permit data will contribute to and improve ESG reporting.
Energy transmission is a major obstacle to the development of clean energy projects. Streamlining the permit process to incorporate and resolve transmission issues can reduce that barrier.
The 2023 Marin County Grand Jury report “Electrical Resiliency — It’s Time to Do More”, recommended:
- #2: the county select pilot projects for installing microgrids, and West Marin in particular. Spring Hill Ranch is in West Marin.
- #4: the Board of Supervisors will engage with County Planning to develop permitting and construction guidelines to accelerate the development of microgrids.
Research at Cal in public policy relating to permitting, microgrids and agrivoltaics will help pubic agencies to develop policies and procedures that will streamline the permit process.
Research at Texas A&M in next generation construction processes relating to the smart grid, microgrids and agrivoltaics and the formation of digital ecosystems will help developers and contractors to develop policies and procedures that can reduce the cost of constructing clean energy infrastructure by up to 40%.
That combined research coupled with the IDEA “will improve the chances of, and shorten the time required for, approval by the siting authority of the application relating to the siting or permitting”.
3. Identify Risks
Significant risk to all stakeholders is the high cost of permitting due to inefficiencies and time required in the manual permitting process. Risk can be mitigated for all stakeholders if the online DOE SolarApp permitting model was expanded to all permitting.
4. Overall Schedule
All research and Identification of data elements will be completed within 24 months.
5. Identify the Transmission Project
Covered transmission project.
- Five western states underground infrastructure tunnel utilizing next generation plasma tunnel-boring technology. Project is under NDA but will be revealed with encouragement notice.
Related Transmission Project
- Petaluma Creamery - Agricultural Infrastructure – Community Resiliency - Agrivoltaics
Research Partners:
- Cal Berkeley – Energy and Resources Group
- Texas A&M - Institute for Sustainable Communities
6. Qualifications, Experience, and Resources
Many of the collaboration participants were engaged in the DOE Orange Button to expand the XBRL taxonomy. Univ of California Berkeley and Texas A&M have extensive expertise in research and public policy.
7. Partners
Multiple collaborators
