Int. J. Global Energy Issues, Vol. 32, Nos. 1/2, 2009 139 Copyright © 2009 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. A systematic approach to assessing the sustainability of the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) under the proposed American Renewable Energy Act (H.R. 890) Tarsha N. Eason* US Environmental Protection Agency, ORD-NRMRL-STD, Sustainable Environments Branch, 26 West Martin Luther King Drive, MS498, Cincinnati, Ohio 45268, USA E-mail: eason.tarsha@epa.gov *Corresponding author Yaw A. Owusu and Hans Chapman Research Center for Cutting-Edge Technologies, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Florida A&M University, 2525 Pottsdamer St., Tallahassee, Florida 32310, USA E-mail: owusu@eng.fsu.edu E-mail: hanschap@eng.fsu.edu Abstract: Assessing sustainability is a complex challenge for policy makers, scientists and engineers. In an effort to evaluate industrial systems, a range of alternative methods have been developed; unfortunately, these methods stop short at demonstrating how industrial activity affects sustainability. In response to this need, the Population based Model for Assessing Sustainability Implications (PMASI) was developed through a systematic view of the factors affecting sustainability. This paper provides background on the method development and implementation of the approach for evaluating scenarios of the USA energy sector in accordance with the RES standard proposed in the American Renewable Energy Act (H.R. 890). Keywords: sustainability; American Renewable Energy Act (H.R. 890); ES; energy security; RES; renewable energy standard; sustainable development; USA; alternative scenarios Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Eason, T.N., Owusu, Y.A. and Chapman, H. (2009) ‘A systematic approach to assessing the sustainability of the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) under the proposed American Renewable Energy Act (H.R. 890)’, Int. J. Global Energy Issues, Vol. 32, Nos. 1/2, pp.139–159. Biographical notes: Tarsha N. Eason is Post-Doctoral Environmental Engineer with the US Environmental Protection Agency. She is also a Research Associate with the Research Center for Cutting-Edge Technologies (RECCET)