Environmental impacts of utility-scale solar energy

RENEWABLE & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS

卷:29

Review

Hernandez, R. R.^1,2  Easter, S. B.^2,3  Murphy-Mariscal, M. L.⁴  Maestre, F. T.⁵  Tavassoli, M.²  Allen, E. B.⁶  Barrows, C. W.⁴  Belnap, J.⁷  Ochoa-Hueso, R.⁸  Ravi, S.¹  Allen, M. F.^4,9,10 

[1] Dept Environm Earth Syst Sci, Stanford, CA 94305 USA

[2] Carnegie Inst Sci, Dept Global Ecol, Stanford, CA USA

[3] Ecofactor, Redwood City, CA USA

[4] Univ Calif Riverside, Ctr Conservat Biol, Riverside, CA 92521 USA

[5] Univ Rey Juan Carlos, Dept Biol & Geol, Mostoles, Spain

[6] Univ Calif Riverside, Dept Bot & Plant Sci, Riverside, CA 92521 USA

[7] US Geol Survey, Southwest Biol Sci Ctr, Moab, UT USA

[8] Univ Western Sydney, Hawkesbury Inst Environm, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia

[9] Univ Calif Riverside, Dept Biol, Riverside, CA 92521 USA

[10] Univ Calif Riverside, Dept Plant Pathol, Riverside, CA 92521 USA

关键词: Biodiversity;    Conservation;    Desert;    Greenhouse gas emissions;    Land use and land cover change;    Photovoltaic;    Renewable energy;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.rser.2013.08.041

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Renewable energy is a promising alternative to fossil fuel-based energy, but its development can require a complex set of environmental tradeoffs. A recent increase in solar energy systems, especially large, centralized installations, underscores the urgency of understanding their environmental interactions. Synthesizing literature across numerous disciplines, we review direct and indirect environmental impacts - both beneficial and adverse - of utility-scale solar energy (USSE) development, including impacts on biodiversity, land-use and land-cover change, soils, water resources, and human health. Additionally, we review feedbacks between USSE infrastructure and land-atmosphere interactions and the potential for USSE systems to mitigate climate change. Several characteristics and development strategies of USSE systems have low environmental impacts relative to other energy systems, including other renewables. We show opportunities to increase USSE environmental co-benefits, the permitting and regulatory constraints and opportunities of USSE, and highlight future research directions to better understand the nexus between USSE and the environment. Increasing the environmental compatibility of USSE systems will maximize the efficacy of this key renewable energy source in mitigating climatic and global environmental change. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free