Renewable Energy in the California Desert: Mechanisms for Evaluating Solar Development on Public Lands

Renewable Energy;Public Lands;Solar;Natural Resources and Environment

Flynn, NatalieGibbes, SamanthaGriffis, MatthewIssihiki, TakahiroKillian, SeanPalombi, LauraRujanavech, NerissaTomsky, SarahTondro, MeredithFernandes, Jessena, na ;

University of Michigan

关键词: Renewable Energy;    Public Lands;    Solar;    Natural Resources and Environment;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/69249/SolarDevelopmentFinal-revised.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

Solar energy development is experiencing significant growth today due to a variety of reasons,including national interest in increasing energy efficiency, reducing dependence on fossil fuels,increasing domestic energy production, and curbing greenhouse gas emissions. This national interestand the availability of high quality solar resources in the California desert have led to proposals for 54utility-scale solar facilities on public lands. These proposals have forced conservation organizations toconsider the tradeoffs between renewable energy generation as a means of combating climate change,and the preservation of the desert’s wildlands and biodiversity.This study analyzes the political, economic, and technological drivers for utility-scale solardevelopment on public lands, as well as the potential impacts to local residents and desert ecology.The goals of this report are to provide a series of qualitative and quantitative analyses of the potentialimpacts, describe a series of tools for evaluating proposed utility-scale solar energy projects, anddevelop a series of recommendations for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) permitting process.