An Approach to Enhance the Conservation-Compatibility of Solar Energy Development

The rapid pace of climate change poses a major threat to biodiversity. Utility-scale renewable energy development (>1 MW capacity) is a key strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but development of those facilities also can have adverse effects on biodiversity. Here, we examine the synergy between renewable energy generation goals and those for biodiversity conservation in the 13 M ha Mojave Desert of the southwestern USA. We integrated spatial data on biodiversity conservation value, solar energy potential, and land surface slope angle (a key determinant of development feasibility) and found there to be sufficient area to meet renewable energy goals without developing on lands of relatively high conservation value. Indeed, we found nearly 200,000 ha of lower conservation value land below the most restrictive slope angle (<1%); that area could meet the state of California’s current 33% renewable energy goal 1.8 times over. We found over 740,000 ha below the highest slope angle (<5%) – an area that can meet California’s renewable energy goal seven times over. Our analysis also suggests that the supply of high quality habitat on private land may be insufficient to mitigate impacts from future solar projects, so enhancing public land management may need to be considered among the options to offset such impacts. Using the approach presented here, planners could reduce development impacts on areas of higher conservation value, and so reduce trade-offs between converting to a green energy economy and conserving biodiversity

Energy Sprawl or Energy Efficiency: Climate Policy Impacts on Natural Habitat for the United States of America

Concern over climate change has led the U.S. to consider a cap-and-trade system to regulate emissions. Here we illustrate the land-use impact to U.S. habitat types of new energy development resulting from different U.S. energy policies. We estimated the total new land area needed by 2030 to produce energy, under current law and under various cap-and-trade policies, and then partitioned the area impacted among habitat types with geospatial data on the feasibility of production. The land-use intensity of different energy production techniques varies over three orders of magnitude, from 1.9–2.8 km2/TW hr/yr for nuclear power to 788–1000 km2/TW hr/yr for biodiesel from soy. In all scenarios, temperate deciduous forests and temperate grasslands will be most impacted by future energy development, although the magnitude of impact by wind, biomass, and coal to different habitat types is policy-specific. Regardless of the existence or structure of a cap-and-trade bill, at least 206,000 km2 will be impacted without substantial increases in energy efficiency, which saves at least 7.6 km2 per TW hr of electricity conserved annually and 27.5 km2 per TW hr of liquid fuels conserved annually. Climate policy that reduces carbon dioxide emissions may increase the areal impact of energy, although the magnitude of this potential side effect may be substantially mitigated by increases in energy efficiency. The possibility of widespread energy sprawl increases the need for energy conservation, appropriate siting, sustainable production practices, and compensatory mitigation offsets

The sustainable diffusion of renewable energy technologies as an example of an innovation-focused policy

Renewable energy technologies constitute a techno-economic system that is radically different from conventional systems, in terms of density, structure, regulatory and management practices. Consequently, their incorporation into the production and management of energy has to be approached as an innovative and sustainable diffusion process of an alternative technology with system-wide consequences for the whole energy system. Here, an alternative approach is proposed, which integrates the supply- and demand-side perspectives, arguing that a successful policy for the speedy deployment of renewables should focus on the systemic innovation processes that characterize the development and sustainable diffusion of renewables. It is suggested that a strategy that focuses on selected niches should aim at the integration of the innovation dimension into a policy for renewables. Such a perspective may contribute to the growth of successful applications as well as to the development of the corresponding industry of equipment production and services, leading to the deployment of a new technological regime. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Industrial solar thermal applications in Greece: Economic evaluation, quality requirements and case studies

Industrial solar thermal installations of the 1980s had to face problems of poor quality and high maintenance requirements. During the 1990s the situation began to change and today in Greece there exist installations which are both economically attractive and offer significant energy saving and environmental benefits. Good potential for applications of solar thermal systems exist in sectors such as agrofood, textiles, chemicals and beverages. In this paper these systems are evaluated in economic terms in comparison with energy equivalent systems such as diesel, LPG, fuel 1500 and natural gas. The development of local solar thermal markets is described and eight successful applications of solar thermal systems in Greek industry are presented.Solar energy Industrial applications Economic viability