Authors
Grace C Wu, Emily Leslie, Oluwafemi Sawyerr, D Richard Cameron, Erica Brand, Brian Cohen, Douglas Allen, Marcela Ochoa, Arne Olson
Publication date
2020/7/10
Journal
Environmental Research Letters
Volume
15
Issue
7
Pages
074044
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Description
A growing number of jurisdictions are passing ambitious clean energy policies. Yet few studies have accounted for natural and agricultural land impacts of low-carbon pathways and how environmental siting constraints affect electricity costs and technology choices. To address this gap, we developed an integrated land-energy planning framework to examine the land use trade-offs of renewable energy development required to achieve ambitious clean energy goals, using the state of California as a case study. Using high-resolution ecological and agricultural datasets for 11 Western US states, we modeled environmentally-constrained onshore wind, solar photovoltaic, and geothermal potential and used an electricity capacity expansion model to build generation portfolios for 2050. Here we show that California can meet its targets, but the technology mix, spatial build-out, and system costs are sensitive to land …
Total citations
20202021202220232024112131717
Scholar articles
GC Wu, E Leslie, O Sawyerr, DR Cameron, E Brand… - Environmental Research Letters, 2020