A recent study by the Sustainability Observatory (OS) for the Energy and Territory Alliance (ALLIENT) indicates that locating up to ten times the photovoltaic production of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) with minimal environmental impact possible. them already in artificial fields.
About 50% of the plates will be distributed on already built-up and industrialized land and the rest in highly humanized areas with low environmental value: coal mines, landfills, dumps, already consolidated greenhouse areas such as in AlmerÃa, where they Up to 45 gigawatts (GW) can be installed, with their 42 GW being the mining sector, road infrastructure, highways, highways, highways and railways, which can contribute another 15 GW (and pay for their maintenance part). canal coverage with 8.5 GW (which can also help reduce evaporation) and landfills and dumps, which can contribute up to 3.5GW.
In addition, reservoir frontages and large expansions can be added which, after detailed impact studies, can increase these production capacities and reduce evaporation substantially. The attached table summarizes these figures.
These productions have been calculated very conservatively, so it can be assumed that the energy output will be very high. All areas of the Nature Network, areas important for birds, mammals and all biosphere reserves are excluded from the calculation in the case of mining areas, landfills and dumps.
In other words, biodiversity has been taken into account. The production ratio has also been very conservative. For example, CIEMAT has installed rooftop solar generation of about 300 GW (the OS report estimates it to be about 155 GW). For the rest of the parameters, variables such as land availability have been used, culled with hundreds of images and contrasted with data from SIOSE, and already ongoing initiatives such as the Navarra Canal; ADIF’s initiative in the case of railways, where it already talks about 35 GW, or highways, as do other countries such as Germany.
But the simplest and most paradigmatic case and where it can already be implemented on a large scale remains in mining areas. We can see cases of lignite mines in Germany or China. In Spain, in the Andorra region, in Teruel, it is already being implemented. In these areas and with minimal impact, photovoltaic energy can be produced intensively and in an exceptionally viable manner. Of course, the location of these surfaces will not exempt them from more detailed environmental impact studies.
But the matter of energy generation is very important on residential roofs, commercial areas, industrial areas, sports centers, schools, public administration roofs, train stations, buses, football fields, parking lots, etc.
These roofs can be used by small and medium-sized companies, by citizens, by energy communities. And here, energy reaches people directly, a significant part of the population is involved in the production and management of energy, promoting self-consumption and distributed energy.
It is possible, almost for the first time in history, that this technological revolution will directly affect the vast majority of citizens, not just a few companies so far. Here we also see that other countries are far ahead of us. For example, China has put just 27 GW of rooftop solar into production. By 2021 and 2023, many municipalities are expected to install panels on 50% of available floor space in government buildings, 40% in schools and hospitals, 30% in industrial buildings and 20% in rural homes.
Germany already has 2 million solar roofs, UK 800,000, Italy 600,000, Australia already has 3 million homes with solar panels. Or California, which has already passed one million solar roofs in 2019. And here, in the “country of the sun”, we are constantly delayed, with a negative balance for the manufacturer, and stale bureaucracy and obsolete laws. Only 200,000 have been reached, but this may already be as high as 5.2 GW.
Therefore, it is necessary to promote these facilities on a large scale and in a disruptive manner, with cost reduction through bulk purchases from local authorities, with direct assistance from the administration (with funds from Europe?), all roofs and potentially Available to install in urban surfaces.
In addition, these solar power installations will benefit in employment generation, especially in small and medium-sized companies, it will reduce the cost of electricity for consumers, it will promote R&D solutions, it will reduce CO2 emissions and energy dependence will reduce
PNIEC indicates 39 photovoltaic GW for 2030, when there are already some 17 GW. In other words, some 22 GW will be missing by 2030. This report proposes solutions for these 22 GW to choose between solutions with the lowest environmental impact, maximum benefit to society, and lowest economic cost.
The development in recent years of renewable energy, in general, has had a strong impact on the landscape, biodiversity and hundreds of communities, generating a significant rejection of these technologies, despite the fact that they are the key to the decarbonization of the economy and To be able to reach the increasingly distant objective of not reaching 1.5°C with the consequences we already know.
On the other hand, it has been verified that some autonomous communities are bearing the burden of the entire energy transition. Ironically, in many cases the same ones used to be the most polluting power plants. Catalonia, the Basque Country or Madrid should start accepting their co-responsibility with respect to electricity consumption. Finally, it should be remembered that a major development of photovoltaics will allow the wind projects to be the most questioned by society and reviewed on the greatest environmental impact and biodiversity.
This report can be summed up with the hashtag #renovablesasiSI, which seeks to reduce the conflicts that certainly arise in relation to renewable energy installations against people’s norms and the vast community-to-community work of Alliant. I should never have happened. And it shows a winning formula where the whole of society benefits: citizens, through energy communities or on their own rooftops, participating in this solar revolution; ecosystems, landscapes and biodiversity; and agriculture and forest areas where there will be no impact.
Why do we insist on continuing to occupy agricultural or forest areas or areas of interest for conservation when alternatives exist? Data is not appealable and cannot be postponed. Let’s start down the path to sustainable renewable energy. We all will win.
