Abstract
Through the lens of ecologically based planning and design decisions for a renewable energy infrastructure, our project investigates a pilot method that assesses ecological, geographic, and sociopolitical opportunities and constraints. This method couples an application of the University of Pennsylvania Suitability Analysis Method, more commonly known as the McHarg Method, and a statistical analysis of the Appalachian Mountain Region of Pennsylvania in the United States. Despite the region’s high-quality natural resources, persistent reliance on coal industries has resulted in disadvantaged socioeconomic distress and risk. By unraveling linkages between socio-ecological systems and governance actions, the results of our pilot described challenges for the Appalachian Mountain Region in transitioning to a renewable energy infrastructure, while also formulating the basis for county-level strategies that may encourage the pro-environmental governance necessary to promote renewable energy initiatives. We find that Appalachian counties’ relatively low levels of infrastructure density, solar irradiation, population growth, limited access to education centers, and high-quality forests present challenges to allocating suitable areas for solar infrastructure. However, clusters of moderately suitable areas are identifiable throughout the region. Yet such opportunities may struggle to support solar energy initiatives as the region suffers from limited pro-environmental governance, particularly in areas with low-density infrastructure and historically higher levels of dependence on natural resource industries. Above all, our findings identify that the relationship between socio-ecological conditions and pro-environmental governance is complex and often in conflict in key areas of the region.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ajzen I (1991) The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Process. 50:179–211
Albright TA, McWilliams RH, Widmann RH et al (2014) Pennsylvania forests 2014. U.S. Forest Service, Washington
Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act. (2004). Pub. November 30, 2004, P.L. 1672, No. 213
Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) (2019). Counties in Appalachia. Retrieved from https://www.arc.gov/appalachian_region/CountiesinAppalachia.asp. January 2019
Asakereh A, Soleymani M, Sheikhdavoodi MJ (2017) A GIS-based fuzzy-AHP method for the evaluation of solar farms locations: Case study in Khuzestan province, Iran. Sol Energy 155:342–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2017.05.075
Baban Serwan MJ, Parry T (2001) Developing and applying a GIS-assisted approach to locating wind farms in the UK. Renewable Energy 24:59–71
Balint P, Stewart R, Desai A, Walters LC (2011) Wicked environmental problems: Managing uncertainty and conflict. Island Press, Washington, DC
Barriutia JM, Echebarria C (2019) Comparing three theories of participation in pro-environmental collaborative governance networks. J Environ Manage 240:108–118
Brewer J, Ames DP, Solan D, Lee R, Carlisle J (2015) Using GIS analytics and social preference data to evaluate utility-scale solar power site suitability. Renewable Energy 81:825–836. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2015.04.017
Carley S, Evans TP, Konisky DM (2018) Adaptation, culture, and the energy transition in American coal country. Energy Research & Social Science 37:133–139
Castillo CP, e Silva FB, Lavalle C (2016) An assessment of the regional potential for solar power generation in EU-28. Energy Policy 88:86–99
Charabi Y, Gastli A (2011) PV site suitability analysis using GIS-based spatial fuzzy multi-criteria evaluation. Renewable Energy 36(9):2554–2561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2010.10.037
Gergely, K. J., Boykin, K. G., McKerrow, A. J., Rubino, M. J., Tarr, N. M., & Williams, S. G. (2019). Gap analysis project (GAP) terrestrial vertebrate species richness maps for the conterminous U.S. U.S. geological survey scientific investigations report 2019–5034. https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20195034
Jacquet JB (2012) Landowner attitudes toward natural gas and wind farm development in northern Pennsylvania. Energy Policy 50:677–688
Kollmuss A, Agyeman J (2002) Mind the gap: Why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior? Environ Educ Res 8(3):239–260
Lewin K (1935) A dynamic theory of personality. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY
Mainzer S, Luloff AE (2017) Informing environmental problems through field analysis: Toward a community landscape theory of pro-environmental behavior. Community Development. 48(4):1–16
McHarg IL (1969) Design with nature. Published for the American Museum of Natural History [by] the Natural History Press, Garden City, NY
McHarg IL, Steiner F (eds) (1998) To heal the earth: Selected writings of Ian L. McHarg. Island Press, Washington, DC
McHarg IL, Steiner F (eds) (2006) The essential Ian Mcharg: Writing on design and nature. Island Press, Island, WA
Park J, Ha S (2012) Understanding pro-environmental behavior. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 40(5):388–403
Pennsylvania Department of State. (2018). Reporting center. https://www.electionreturns.pa.gov/ReportCenter/Reports. Accessed December 17th, 2018
Pennsylvania’s Solar Future Plan. (2018). Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. November 2018
Steiner F (2008) The living landscape: An ecological approach to landscape planning, 2nd edn. Island Press, Island Press, WA
Stern PC (2000) Toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant behavior. Journal of Social Issues. 56(3):407–424
Stoms DM, Dashiell SL, Davis FW (2013) Siting solar energy development to minimize biological impacts. Renewable Energy 57:289–298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2013.01.055
U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2018). Pennsylvania State Energy Profile. July 19, 2018
Watson Joss JW, Hudson MD (2015) Regional scale wind farm and solar farm suitability assessment using GIS-assisted multi-criteria evaluation. Landscape and Urban Planning 138:20–31
Wilkinson KP (1991) The community in rural America. First Social Ecology Press, Middleton, WI
Acknowledgements
This project was made possible in part by a Faculty Research Grant from the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture and the support of E + D: Ecology plus Design, a Penn State research center-in-development.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mainzer, S.P., Cole, C.A. & Flohr, T. Deep decarbonization and renewable energy in the Appalachian Mountains (DDREAM): a socio-ecological systems approach to evaluating ecological governance. Socio Ecol Pract Res 1, 249–263 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-019-00030-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-019-00030-6