Win-win for wind and wildlife: a vision to facilitate sustainable development.
Wind energy offers the potential to reduce carbon emissions while increasing energy independence and bolstering economic development. However, wind energy has a larger land footprint per Gigawatt (GW) than most other forms of energy production, making appropriate siting and mitigation particularly i...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2011-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3076357?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818564884566114304 |
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| author | Joseph M Kiesecker Jeffrey S Evans Joe Fargione Kevin Doherty Kerry R Foresman Thomas H Kunz Dave Naugle Nathan P Nibbelink Neal D Niemuth |
| author_facet | Joseph M Kiesecker Jeffrey S Evans Joe Fargione Kevin Doherty Kerry R Foresman Thomas H Kunz Dave Naugle Nathan P Nibbelink Neal D Niemuth |
| author_sort | Joseph M Kiesecker |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wind energy offers the potential to reduce carbon emissions while increasing energy independence and bolstering economic development. However, wind energy has a larger land footprint per Gigawatt (GW) than most other forms of energy production, making appropriate siting and mitigation particularly important. Species that require large unfragmented habitats and those known to avoid vertical structures are particularly at risk from wind development. Developing energy on disturbed lands rather than placing new developments within large and intact habitats would reduce cumulative impacts to wildlife. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that it will take 241 GW of terrestrial based wind development on approximately 5 million hectares to reach 20% electricity production for the U.S. by 2030. We estimate there are ∼7,700 GW of potential wind energy available across the U.S., with ∼3,500 GW on disturbed lands. In addition, a disturbance-focused development strategy would avert the development of ∼2.3 million hectares of undisturbed lands while generating the same amount of energy as development based solely on maximizing wind potential. Wind subsidies targeted at favoring low-impact developments and creating avoidance and mitigation requirements that raise the costs for projects impacting sensitive lands could improve public value for both wind energy and biodiversity conservation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T01:34:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f691cf1ebfe5425aa5d780a7349628c2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T01:34:16Z |
| publishDate | 2011-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-f691cf1ebfe5425aa5d780a7349628c22022-12-21T23:21:56ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032011-01-0164e1756610.1371/journal.pone.0017566Win-win for wind and wildlife: a vision to facilitate sustainable development.Joseph M KieseckerJeffrey S EvansJoe FargioneKevin DohertyKerry R ForesmanThomas H KunzDave NaugleNathan P NibbelinkNeal D NiemuthWind energy offers the potential to reduce carbon emissions while increasing energy independence and bolstering economic development. However, wind energy has a larger land footprint per Gigawatt (GW) than most other forms of energy production, making appropriate siting and mitigation particularly important. Species that require large unfragmented habitats and those known to avoid vertical structures are particularly at risk from wind development. Developing energy on disturbed lands rather than placing new developments within large and intact habitats would reduce cumulative impacts to wildlife. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that it will take 241 GW of terrestrial based wind development on approximately 5 million hectares to reach 20% electricity production for the U.S. by 2030. We estimate there are ∼7,700 GW of potential wind energy available across the U.S., with ∼3,500 GW on disturbed lands. In addition, a disturbance-focused development strategy would avert the development of ∼2.3 million hectares of undisturbed lands while generating the same amount of energy as development based solely on maximizing wind potential. Wind subsidies targeted at favoring low-impact developments and creating avoidance and mitigation requirements that raise the costs for projects impacting sensitive lands could improve public value for both wind energy and biodiversity conservation.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3076357?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Joseph M Kiesecker Jeffrey S Evans Joe Fargione Kevin Doherty Kerry R Foresman Thomas H Kunz Dave Naugle Nathan P Nibbelink Neal D Niemuth Win-win for wind and wildlife: a vision to facilitate sustainable development. PLoS ONE |
| title | Win-win for wind and wildlife: a vision to facilitate sustainable development. |
| title_full | Win-win for wind and wildlife: a vision to facilitate sustainable development. |
| title_fullStr | Win-win for wind and wildlife: a vision to facilitate sustainable development. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Win-win for wind and wildlife: a vision to facilitate sustainable development. |
| title_short | Win-win for wind and wildlife: a vision to facilitate sustainable development. |
| title_sort | win win for wind and wildlife a vision to facilitate sustainable development |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3076357?pdf=render |
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