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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