Abstract
The need to limit emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from energy production stems directly from the impact these emissions have on ecosystem services. The link between energy production and the ecosystem, though, extends wider than GHG emissions. Maintenance of ecosystem services requires minimising the effects of all environmental impacts. If the polluter pays approach was followed, the energy cost of environmental impact control termed ecosystem maintenance energy (ESME) can be treated as an energy debt that the plant should pay to sustain withdrawal of primary energy. This energy cost reduces the energy available to society normally reported in energy accounting methods. Including ESME cost in calculations helps assess a system’s ability to produce net (green) energy over and above inputs and EMSE costs. The scale of the global climate challenge is enormous. A critical aspect is identifying energy generation options that deliver net green energy. This paper assesses whether common renewable energy systems, including on-shore wind, solar photovoltaic (PV) farms, and biomass electricity can produce net green energy. An important finding relates to the amount of land necessary to be reserved and enhanced in order to offset biodiversity loss, and the consequences this may have on global scale renewable energy production.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
SOLAR PV, WIND, BIOMASS, ECOSYSTEM MAINTENANCE, BIODIVERSITY OFFSET, CCS, LIFECYCLE
