Energy footprint: How oil, natural gas, and wind energy affect land for biodiversity and the flow of ecosystem services
Author: | Environment | Environment | Environment
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In comparison with oil and gas (and all fossil fuels), wind energy has the lowest lifecycle emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Many studies have indicated a significant loss in global biodiversity and ecosystem services as a result of increasing global temperatures from the use of fossil fuels. As such, wind energy development is being promoted as a “clean” alternative. However, this perspective often overlooks the ever-growing impacts of energy development on the landscape, which have been termed energy sprawl. Like oil and gas, wind energy requires a network of roads, transmission lines, and associated infrastructure to capture and transport the power. Information on the current and projected impacts of oil, gas, and wind energy development on habitat for biodiversity and land-based ecosystem services is scarce and warrants further investigation, given the potential of energy development to transform natural and human-dominated landscapes. …
Compared with other energy sources, such as hydroelectric or coal, oil, gas, and wind require less infrastructure but result in higher levels of habitat fragmentation, because their impacts are geographically scattered rather than concentrated. … In Europe, the loss of habitat and fragmentation associated with wind energy facilities is considered a greater impact than are collision-related fatalities on bird populations.
Nathan F. Jones, Liba Pejchar, Joseph M. Kiesecker
BioScience, Volume 65, Issue 3, 1 March 2015, Pages 290–301, doi: 10.1093/biosci/biu224
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