• Expanding renewable energy need not hind

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Tue Feb 1 21:30:40 2022
    Expanding renewable energy need not hinder conservation efforts

    Date:
    February 1, 2022
    Source:
    University of Southampton
    Summary:
    A study has found that expanding green energy production sites in
    the future won't necessarily be a threat to protected areas of land.



    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    A study led by the University of Southampton has found that expanding
    green energy production sites in the future won't necessarily be a threat
    to protected areas of land.


    ========================================================================== Researchers from Southampton studied if expanding land use requirements
    for wind and solar infrastructure would impact the ability to preserve biodiversity. They used global databases covering more than 24,500
    land-based renewable energy installations in 153 countries to examine
    overlaps with areas identified as important for biodiversity conservation,
    at 1-km resolution.

    Increasing the production and use of renewable energy sources is critical
    to meet climate targets. However, they require much more land to achieve
    the same energy production density as fossil fuels and can have local
    impacts on ecosystems, such as disruption of vegetation by solar panels.

    The team, including from the University of California, found that only 15 percent of onshore wind and solar energy installations occur in important conservation areas, including protected areas and wilderness. Also,
    only three European countries and three others, including the US and
    Brazil, show a higher than expected overlap of green infrastructure and conservation areas. In fact, when projecting the expansion of both types
    of land in the future, relatively little overlap was predicted in the
    near term, except in the Middle East and Central and Northern Europe.

    According to the authors, rollout of expanded green energy infrastructure
    need not present a major threat to conservation areas if subjected to
    careful land use zoning, especially in countries with limited land area
    and high human population density or species density.

    Professor Felix Eigenbrod, senior author on the study, adds "Our results
    are really encouraging as they suggest it should be possible, if we
    are careful, to ramp up wind and solar installations globally to help
    address the climate emergency without undermining critical efforts to
    conserve biodiversity." Lead author Dr Sebastian Dunnett added: "This
    study is really encouraging for tackling the ecological emergency, as of
    course biodiversity itself will be badly affected by climate change. If
    we can expand the roll out of an important part of the climate solution
    -- wind and solar power -- without undermining critical efforts to
    conserve biodiversity, this will be a big step in the right direction." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Southampton. Note:
    Content may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Sebastian Dunnett, Robert A. Holland, Gail Taylor, Felix Eigenbrod.

    Predicted wind and solar energy expansion has minimal overlap with
    multiple conservation priorities across global regions. Proceedings
    of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022; 119 (6): e2104764119
    DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2104764119 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220201115221.htm

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