As windmills and solar panels proliferate across Europe, the debate over where these green technologies should and should not be deployed becomes more heated.
Transitioning to renewable energy comes with cross-cutting benefits that far outweigh their impacts when compared to fossil fuels. But this doesn’t mean that they can be implemented without any precaution: the benefits are many, but only if handled with caution and care for biodiversity as well. It can be a win-win situation for all, provided that some basic safeguards are respected.
Building on the Paris Agreement Compatible energy scenario, which shows the path to reach a 100% renewable energy grid by 2040, the EEB has designed a spatial planning strategy to scale up renewable energy capacity in harmony with nature protection and local communities.
The potential environmental impacts of renewable energy sources (RES) are mainly linked to their location and related infrastructure which, if not planned accordingly, might result in adverse effects on biodiversity and the surrounding ecosystems.
According to a LOCOMOTION project study published in Nature, between 0.5% and 2.8% of the EU’s total land area will be needed for solar energy by 2050 to achieve climate neutrality. The envisaged, accelerated uptake of renewables entails changes in land use as well as an increased need of raw materials to manufacture the turbines, solar panels, and other assets needed for the transition.
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