Full Title: Large-Scale Solar Siting: Encouraging Ecosystem Enhancement and Conservation While Producing Much Needed Zero-Carbon Electricity
Author(s): Dave Gahl and Ben Norris
Publisher(s): Solar and Storage Industries Institute
Publication Date: September 20, 2022
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
As electricity production moves away from central station, fossil fuel-fired power plants, and toward more spread-out clean energy projects that occupy more land, questions around where to put projects have come to the forefront. Siting large-scale projects also raises questions about changing land use patterns, the environmental impact of large-scale solar projects, as well as their impacts on the host community.
This new Solar and Storage Industries Institute policy brief proposes a siting framework for large-scale solar projects which will produce much needed zero-carbon electricity and can serve important ecosystem enhancement and conservation roles. This paper argues that large-scale solar projects should be designed and operated to maximize preservation of our natural capital and ecosystems and sited to minimize negative impacts on land.