Abstract
The contributions of landscapes to produce renewable energy from sources such as wind, solar and biomass has recently attracted enhanced interest from policy and business stakeholders. At the same time, potential conflicts with nature conservation, tourism interests and the delivery of other ecosystem services have become apparent, originating from both increased pressures for land use intensification and changes in the energy grid. The objective of this chapter is to present a method for estimating sustainable renewable energy potentials and exploitable energy yields for wind and solar energy taking account of other ecosystem services. The method first spatially assesses energy potentials for each source. It then identifies the most suitable areas for decentralized renewable energy generation, considering both spatial efficiency and environmental trade-offs. A case study application in the Hanover region, Northern Germany, demonstrates the applicability of the method and the outputs that can be generated. The information generated by our method can usefully enhance landscape and spatial planning with important information on renewable energy potentials, and it can help to identify where investment in electricity grid infrastructure appropriate for harnessing these potentials might be required. Last but not least, the method can identify potential opportunities and conflicts in advance of developments, help alleviate conflicts and harness synergies between diverging interests.
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Work on this chapter was supported by grant number NE/M019713/1 for the ADVENT project (Addressing Valuation of Energy and Nature Together) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council.
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Palmas, C., Rode, M., Lovett, A.A. (2019). Renewable Energy Production Capacities and Goods. In: von Haaren, C., Lovett, A., Albert, C. (eds) Landscape Planning with Ecosystem Services. Landscape Series, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1681-7_12
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