University:
Boston University
Course:
CAS EE 600 | Environment and Development: A Political Ecology Approach
Academic year:

2022
Views:

471

Pages:

16
Author:

Hanusia3lug

Siting Solar Without Cutting Down Trees AMP and Lexington, Massachusetts • This project starts with the AMP’s Proposal to Lexington to be the anchor in a community solar deal • The project would have required a 10-acre deforestation and was backed with claims that solar panels have a better climate change value than trees • Better climate change value refers to the decrease in emissions from losing dependency on fossil fuels being greater than the carbon that 10-acres of forest would sequester. Is it Just about the Carbon Value? Trees offer much more than their functionality as carbon sinks • Trees sustain both habitats and biodiversity (a 2019 study from the UN’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services suggests 1 million plant and animal species worldwide face extinction) • Trees provide urban cooling and flood control • Prevent erosion • Filter toxins from the air and water • Provide natural resources • Raise property values Do Trees really need to be cut down? Forests offer vital and unquantifiable benefits aside from just carbon sequestration. Because solar panels can be fitted on many kinds of impervious surfaces, there are functioning, viable alternatives to deforestation for solar farms. DOER Model Zoning Bylaw • According to Mass Audubon: “In recent years, more than 25% of all new solar arrays were large-scale ground mounted arrays on former forests or farmlands.” At this rate, more than 100,000 acres of land will be converted. • DOER Model Zoning Bylaw discourages solar siting in locations that result in land or natural resource loss, such as farm and forest land. This is because of the environmental benefit of trees. • Not only is it environmentally beneficial to look at solar siting alternatives, but our bylaws also encourage it. Highways and Roads • Highways and roads offer an empty space for solar panels but, unfortunately, they have their pros as well as their cons. • Solar fitted on to highways and roads is often susceptible to weather damage and car accidents. • However, there are ways to circumvent these negatives PV-SÜD initiative • Conceptual solar-highway system based in Austria, Germany and Switzerland • Solar panels are fitted as a canopy over the highway to avoid damage from weather and car accidents. Daejeon-Sejong bike path • 20-mile bike path in South Korea running from Daejeon to Sejong. • Bike lane is fitted in between the highway lanes. • Generates 50 kwh per square meter annually Daejeon-Sejong bike path: Another Angle How NOT to do solar on Highways and Roads The picture shown is called the SolaRoad, the world’s first solar bikeway. It was built in Krommenie, Netherlands and was ultimately scrapped. SolaRoad has the same problem many other highway and road fitted solar panels do. They’re low-lying and thus, extremely susceptible to damages. Right of Way Solar on Highway Intersections One of the best sites for solar panels on highways is near exits, which are often surrounded by empty space. Right of Way Solar offers: • unshaded acreage • ease of access • public ownership status • lack of competing development efforts An Alternate Angle Right of Way Solar on a Korean Highway Right of Way Solar Under Powerlines • It’s estimated that all the space under powerlines in the United States combined could power 20% of the country. • However, some of the terrain is unviable for solar panels and utility companies still need some space for services and repairs. • An article by Grist includes these considerations with a heavily conservative estimate of there being 2,200 square miles of space under this powerlines available for solar. • These 2,200 is enough to supply over 720 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to the country but there aren’t any current iniatives to place these site solar panels under powerlines. Carports and Rooftops Parking lots and rooftops offer limitless space for solar, as well as other conveniences: Solar carports protect parked cars from heat and weather Carports also function as charging station for electric cars Extremely viable and already in practice.