concept

large-scale wind and solar energy

Also known as: LSWS, large-scale solar and wind energy

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Practitioners' perceived risks to biodiversity from renewable energy ... nature.com Nature Feb 27, 2025 48 facts

claimUnderstanding the perceptions of practitioners regarding biodiversity impacts from Large-Scale Wind and Solar (LSWS) projects helps identify risks and opportunities for balancing renewable energy deployment with biodiversity conservation.

claimA sizeable portion of practitioners in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States perceive that large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) projects have negative impacts on croplands.

claimPractitioners in the Northeast reported present impacts of large-scale solar and wind systems (LSWS) on forest ecosystems.

claimThe land use intensity of large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) projects can rival or exceed that of fossil fuel energy systems.

measurementLess than 1% of all land in the United States is currently used for large-scale wind and solar (LSWS), which is significantly less than the land area used for farmland (25%) and cropland (19%), as reported by Vilsack and Hamer (2024).

claimSiting large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) on agricultural lands may indirectly reduce pressure on conservation areas, but it may also impede local agricultural production or negatively affect communities' sense of rurality.

procedurePractitioners compared the direct net impacts on biodiversity from the land footprint of large-scale wind and solar energy (LSWS) with impacts from other industrial-scale land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) drivers, including agriculture, farming, urban growth, timber harvest, and fossil fuel extraction and operations.

referenceStakeholder perceptions of biodiversity risks during the siting and planning processes of large-scale wind and solar energy (LSWS) projects can influence the acceptance and success of those projects, according to Susskind et al. (2022).

claimProjections anticipate the expansion of large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) development into new frontiers.

claimPractitioners across all regions expect that urban, agrarian, and farming land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) will have greater impacts on biodiversity by 2050 compared to large-scale wind and solar (LSWS).

claimExisting research compares public perceptions of biodiversity risks versus carbon-mitigation benefits of Large-Scale Wind and Solar (LSWS) projects, but the perceptions of practitioners involved in LSWS siting decisions remain under-analyzed.

claimNeutral impact perceptions regarding large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) development may be partly attributed to advances in projects located in areas of low or common biodiversity.

procedureThe study surveyed practitioners to measure their perceptions regarding the type of net impact on biodiversity from large-scale renewable energy, the impact of large-scale renewable energy compared to six common drivers of land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) in 2023, the impact of large-scale renewable energy compared to other drivers of LULCC by 2050, and the impact of large-scale renewable energy on ecosystems currently and in the future.

procedureThe researchers identified keywords related to LSWS and biodiversity, including biodiversity conservation, photovoltaic solar energy project planning, electricity grid management, and native ecosystems, to use as structured search terms for identifying practitioners.

claimPractitioners from research institutes and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are more likely to express neutral perceptions regarding Large-Scale Wind and Solar (LSWS) impacts compared to state environmental agency practitioners, indicating a more optimistic outlook that may facilitate project support.

measurementPractitioners perceive the relative impact of large-scale solar and wind energy on biodiversity as less than any of the six other examined drivers of land-use and land-cover change (LULCC), with relative impact values ranging from 0.42 to 0.97 on a Likert scale.

referenceThe United States may need to increase its large-scale wind and solar energy (LSWS) generation capacity by nearly two terawatts to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035, according to Denholm et al. (2022).

claimMarginal and degraded landscapes, while abundant, may harbor unique species or essential habitat connections that are sensitive to large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) development.

claimPractitioners perceive that large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) energy projects have some merits when compared against other industrial-scale drivers of land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) in the United States.

claimConverting less biodiverse sites, such as agrarian landscapes, to large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) projects often faces local opposition, which can lead to project delays or cancellations.

claimLand managers in the Midwest region aim to balance large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) development with prairie biodiversity and productive agricultural lands.

claimThe study investigates the perceptions of governmental, academic, and non-profit practitioners working at the intersection of large-scale renewable energy (LSWS) development and biodiversity.

measurementA survey of 116 professionals working at the intersection of large-scale wind and solar energy (LSWS) and biodiversity protection in the United States found that practitioners perceive LSWS to impact biodiversity negatively, but less so than other land-cover change drivers such as fossil fuels and agriculture.

referenceExisting research documents that large-scale wind and solar energy (LSWS) development and operation causes habitat loss and fragmentation (Grodsky and Hernandez, 2020; Levin et al. 2023), native plant degradation (Grodsky and Hernandez, 2020), and animal mortality (Conkling et al., 2022).

claimPractitioners generally perceive the biodiversity impacts of large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) development to be less than the impacts from other land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) drivers, such as industrial agriculture and fossil fuel development.

measurementAt least one-third of surveyed practitioners believe that Large-Scale Wind and Solar (LSWS) development and biodiversity conservation can be balanced, such as through achieving a net-neutral impact on biodiversity.

claimLand managers in the Northeast region consider trade-offs related to urbanization, forests, and large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) development.

claimIn regions such as the Northeast or Pacific Coast, practitioners equate the biodiversity impacts of large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) siting with other drivers of land-use and land-cover change (LULCC), suggesting that spatial factors influence these perceptions.

claimLarge-scale wind and solar energy (LSWS) development may catalyze expansion into controversial development frontiers, such as prime agricultural land (Sustainable Development Goal 2.4), forests, or land needed to protect biodiversity (Sustainable Development Goal 15.1, 15.5).

claimThe expansion of large-scale wind and solar energy (LSWS) contributes to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7, which focuses on affordable and clean energy.

referencePractitioners from the Midwest region of the United States are the primary group who believe Large-Scale Wind and Solar (LSWS) development and biodiversity can be balanced, which aligns with the growth of biodiversity-friendly solar development in that region, according to Walston et al. (2022).

claimSiting large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) on land trusts requires practitioners to make value judgments when easement language does not explicitly outline whether the project aligns with conservation principles.

claimMany practitioners in the Southwestern region project that impacts from fossil fuel extraction will surpass impacts from large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) by 2050.

claimThe speed and success of deploying Large-Scale Wind and Solar (LSWS) projects may depend on whether state environmental agency practitioners believe those projects comply with environmental regulations, particularly in areas with high biodiversity significance.

accountIn the United States, solar energy siting controversies in the deserts of the Southwest have long exemplified the tensions between land managers and stakeholders when large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) development triggers federal environmental regulations.

measurementThe buildout of large-scale wind and solar energy (LSWS) to meet 2035 carbon-free electricity goals in the United States could impact up to 456,000 square kilometers of land, an area larger than California, according to Denholm et al. (2022).

claimAnimal mortality and behavioral changes resulting from large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) projects are well documented.

claimState environmental agency practitioners perceive negative impacts on biodiversity from large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) projects more frequently than practitioners from research institutes or non-governmental organizations.

claimThe physical overlap between large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) and biodiversity on a global scale is debated, which leads to varied perceptions regarding the extent and acceptability of project impacts.

claimEnvironmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, require practitioners to directly address biodiversity trade-offs when constructing large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) projects.

claimPractitioners involved in Large-Scale Wind and Solar (LSWS) projects play a pivotal role in the speed of decarbonization efforts because they influence project siting, design, and mitigation decisions.

claimPractitioners in the Southeast and Midwest perceive that large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) will have present and future impacts on artificial ecosystems, while practitioners in the Northeast report present impacts on forest ecosystems.

claimConventional large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) buildout can cause habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation.

claimState environmental agency practitioners have the authority to block or delay large-scale wind and solar projects if they determine that developers have insufficiently addressed environmental risks.

claimPractitioners across regions perceive that drivers of land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) other than large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) pose a greater threat to biodiversity.

claimRenewable energy expansion (SDG 7.2) presents a core tension because while it is considered an essential lever aiding biodiversity conservation (SDG 15.1), developing large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) can also directly contribute to biodiversity loss.

claimAdvances in low-impact, wildlife-friendly large-scale wind and solar (LSWS) design suggest that decarbonization projects on marginal lands pose a lower risk to biodiversity, according to research by Obermeyer et al. (2011) and Sinha et al. (2018).

claimLarge-scale wind and solar energy (LSWS) developments are defined as projects with greater than 1 megawatt of capacity.