Siting solar energy development to minimize biological impacts

Abstract

a b s t r a c tAfter solar and other renewable energy developers select generally suitable sites for exploration, they frequently encounter conflict over biodiversity conservation values that were not factored into the initial suitability rating methods. This paper presents a spatial multicriteria analysis method for modeling risk of conflict with biological resources and applies the model in the California deserts where such conflicts are rapidly rising. The premise of the model is that the least conflict will occur on sites that are the most ecologically degraded with low conservation value and that would engender low off-site impacts when connecting to existing transmission infrastructure. Model results suggest sufficient compatible land exists in flat, non-urban areas to meet state solar energy targets of 8.7 GW of installed capacity in the California deserts for 2040. The model is a promising tool to fill the gap between site suitability analysis for renewable energy and regional biodiversity conservation planning to identify areas where rapid impact assessment and permitting will generate the least regrets.

Mutually-Beneficial Renewable Energy Systems

“…Such efforts require broadened political and financial commitments and increased participation of diverse stakeholders (BirdLife Europe 2011). To achieve broad benefit, integrated ecological-energy systems at larger scales imply that both publicly-and privately-owned areas deserve assessment for compatibility, recognizing for example that areas most in need of restoration are often under private control (Stoms, Dashiell, and Davis 2013). Understanding and assessing benefits requires responsive governance (Chilvers and Pallett 2018) including ongoing monitoring of actual effects and publicly-available data on beneficial practices (Lintott et al 2016;RSPB 2016;Moore-O'Leary et al 2017).…”

“…Common mitigation measures for solar energy include selecting areas of low conservation value and implementing biodiversity-friendly Relations -6.1 -June 2018 http://www.ledonline.it/Relations/ operating procedures (Gasparatos et al 2017). Mutually-beneficial opportunities for solar energy broadly involve flexible siting options, supporting use of degraded lands and water bodies, co-location with other uses and technologies, restoration of ecosystem functions and habitats within and adjacent to installations, and integration within built environments (Stoms, Dashiell, and Davis 2013;Hernandez et al 2014;Hoffacker, Allen, and Hernandez 2017;Moore-O'Leary et al 2017).…”

“…Integrating rural and urban areas supports a shift beyond local projects toward hybrid, multi-scalar and dynamic infrastructures of human and non-human systems (Lokman 2017). This approach takes advantage of the opportunities to position renewable technologies such as solar PV within and across an ecologically degraded urban-agricultural landscape and in proximity to existing infrastructure (Stoms, Dashiell, and Davis 2013).…”

“…For electrification, transmission infrastructure can serve as ecological energy networks (IABR 2014) while seeking to minimize the need for transmission as much as possible (Capellán-Pérez, de Castro, and Arto 2017). Existing transmission systems may be re-routed or combined with ecological habitat and recreation (Uyterlinde et al 2017) and new transmission corridors may be planned to reverse fragmentation and support widespread regional connectivity (Stoms, Dashiell, and Davis 2013;Pevzner 2015). …”

GIS-Based Planning and Modeling for Renewable Energy: Challenges and Future Research Avenues

“…This is particularly surprising, as the value of using GIS-based approaches for solving questions in the energy domain have been proven in a number of research projects, including renewable energy potential assessment [3][4][5][6][7], energy consumption modeling [8][9][10], planning specific energy infrastructure projects [11][12][13], building energy demand estimation [14][15][16], site planning for renewable energy power plants [17][18][19] or visual impact assessment [20][21][22][23]. Although the above-mentioned approaches are promising and highly suitable for dedicated singular applications, no generic methods for trans-domain integration of energy (system) models and geospatial analysis processes have been defined yet.…”