As part of the Paris Agreement, parties were urged to formulate their vision for
long-term low-emission development strategies beyond 2030. Then, in June 2019,
12 parties communicated their strategies to the secretariat: “The aim of the strategies
is to reduce emissions through substantial changes to countries’ economies; in this
context, some parties have set a vision of reducing emissions to net zero by 2050”
(United Nations Climate Change Secretariat 2019). Renewable energy creates the
possibility for the zero emission societies. However, renewable energy strategies
create critical trade-offs in the process of investing in landscape restoration.
Certain environmental trade-offs may be needed in order to reduce carbon
emissions and combat climate change. One major source of renewable energy—
solar power facilities in deserts—may have unexpected consequences for vulnerable
plants in an understudied ecosystem (Scarrow 2020). Grodsky and Hernandez
(2020) studied 35 plant species around one of the world’s largest concentrated
solar plants in the Mojave Desert, Ivanpah, California, and found that solar plant
facility development negatively affected the richness and evenness of the native
scrub and perennial species; the treatment of the ground during the installation of the
solar infrastructure destroyed biological soil crusts, which allowed invasive grasses
to spread more widely than they would have otherwise. The native plants in this area
provide services not only for the ecosystem but also for indigenous people, who rely
on the plants for food and cultural purposes. Thus, although deserts are prioritized as
recipient environments for solar energy development, there is a possibility for large
impacts from solar plant facilities on desert plant communities and their role in
supplying ecosystem services (ESs).
Land cover change from energy development, including solar energy, presents
land use trade-offs between the production of food and the conservation of ecosystems. Solar energy is a critical alternative energy source for mitigating climate
change and meeting policy milestones; however, the extent to which solar energy
development on nonconventional surfaces can mitigate land scarcity is understudied
(Hoffacker et al. 2017).
Scientists have only recently begun to quantify trade-offs (i.e., for the development of renewable energy development and between ecological, political, and
socioeconomic values), often using ground-mounted, utility-scale solar energy facilities (USSEs, !1 megawatt) as a model (Moore-O'Leary et al. 2017). With the
development of USSEs, the following five critical ecological concepts, applicable to
the creation of more sustainable USSEs with benefits over fossil fuel-generated
energy, were introduced: (1) more sustainable USSE development requires careful
evaluation of the trade-offs between land, energy, and ecology; (2) species responses
to habitat modification by USSE vary; (3) cumulative and large-scale ecological
impacts are complex and challenging to mitigate; (4) USSE development affects
different types of ecosystems and requires customized designs and management
strategies; and (5) long-term ecological consequences associated with USSE sites
must be carefully considered.
Further, Hernandez et al. (2019) proposed a techno-ecological synergy (TES), a
framework for engineering mutually beneficial relationships between technological
and ecological systems, as an approach for augmenting the sustainability of solar
6 Natural Capital-Based Societies in the Tropics
225
long-term low-emission development strategies beyond 2030. Then, in June 2019,
12 parties communicated their strategies to the secretariat: “The aim of the strategies
is to reduce emissions through substantial changes to countries’ economies; in this
context, some parties have set a vision of reducing emissions to net zero by 2050”
(United Nations Climate Change Secretariat 2019). Renewable energy creates the
possibility for the zero emission societies. However, renewable energy strategies
create critical trade-offs in the process of investing in landscape restoration.
Certain environmental trade-offs may be needed in order to reduce carbon
emissions and combat climate change. One major source of renewable energy—
solar power facilities in deserts—may have unexpected consequences for vulnerable
plants in an understudied ecosystem (Scarrow 2020). Grodsky and Hernandez
(2020) studied 35 plant species around one of the world’s largest concentrated
solar plants in the Mojave Desert, Ivanpah, California, and found that solar plant
facility development negatively affected the richness and evenness of the native
scrub and perennial species; the treatment of the ground during the installation of the
solar infrastructure destroyed biological soil crusts, which allowed invasive grasses
to spread more widely than they would have otherwise. The native plants in this area
provide services not only for the ecosystem but also for indigenous people, who rely
on the plants for food and cultural purposes. Thus, although deserts are prioritized as
recipient environments for solar energy development, there is a possibility for large
impacts from solar plant facilities on desert plant communities and their role in
supplying ecosystem services (ESs).
Land cover change from energy development, including solar energy, presents
land use trade-offs between the production of food and the conservation of ecosystems. Solar energy is a critical alternative energy source for mitigating climate
change and meeting policy milestones; however, the extent to which solar energy
development on nonconventional surfaces can mitigate land scarcity is understudied
(Hoffacker et al. 2017).
Scientists have only recently begun to quantify trade-offs (i.e., for the development of renewable energy development and between ecological, political, and
socioeconomic values), often using ground-mounted, utility-scale solar energy facilities (USSEs, !1 megawatt) as a model (Moore-O'Leary et al. 2017). With the
development of USSEs, the following five critical ecological concepts, applicable to
the creation of more sustainable USSEs with benefits over fossil fuel-generated
energy, were introduced: (1) more sustainable USSE development requires careful
evaluation of the trade-offs between land, energy, and ecology; (2) species responses
to habitat modification by USSE vary; (3) cumulative and large-scale ecological
impacts are complex and challenging to mitigate; (4) USSE development affects
different types of ecosystems and requires customized designs and management
strategies; and (5) long-term ecological consequences associated with USSE sites
must be carefully considered.
Further, Hernandez et al. (2019) proposed a techno-ecological synergy (TES), a
framework for engineering mutually beneficial relationships between technological
and ecological systems, as an approach for augmenting the sustainability of solar
6 Natural Capital-Based Societies in the Tropics
225