As the human population around the world grows, demand for food and energy will increase. Land conversion will become more and more rampant as countries grow crowded for space – any unprotected forests are sure to be felled to make way for people, and if not people, then their cows/crops, and if not that, then their fossil fuel wells. That’s a pretty dire picture, but there are always measures that can be taken to try limiting the development of land for new energy production, in an effort to slow the loss of nature and habitat for wildlife. A new article in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE claims that demand for energy will be the largest driver of land conversion, at least in the US.

The main solutions that the researchers offer to mitigate “energy sprawl” are “Improved siting, energy conservation, and more end-use energy production like rooftop solar.” according to lead author Anne Trainor. That way, energy production will have a lower carbon footprint and less impact on natural areas as well. My main takeaway from Trainor’s thoughts on her paper, which Cara Byington covered for Cool Green Science, is that, “If you’re saving energy, you’re saving land.” 

Byington reports:

These are high-stakes decisions: Land conversion causes significant habitat loss and fragmentation, which is the leading driver of species extinction. It also contributes to climate change when vegetation is lost and soils are disturbed. And it can trigger cascading negative effects on water and air quality, soil health, and other ecosystem services.

…

Because of technological advances, it is now economically feasible to extract energy from places that were once considered unprofitable. This means that many areas previously unsuitable for oil and gas development – as much as 1.3 million km² – are now at risk. Renewable energy also often targets places previously considered unsuitable for energy development, including many undeveloped areas that provide important wildlife habitat.

For example, mountain tops and rangelands are increasingly explored for their wind energy potential and deserts are attracting solar development. When considering a single year, renewables tap energy sources that are much more diffuse and therefore require more land than fossil fuels to produce the same amount of energy.

However, because renewables can re-use the same land every year, they produce a different kind of energy sprawl than fossil fuels, which must continually expand as mines are depleted and wells dry up. This means that, over several decades, renewables become more efficient than other types of energy production. And renewables have the additional advantage of being more climate-friendly than fossil fuel-based energy.

A notable exception to this is biofuels. When produced from dedicated energy crops, the land use efficiency of biofuels is significantly lower than that of oil production. This finding, says Fargione, “suggests that fuel cell and electric vehicles powered by wind, solar or nuclear would not only have lower greenhouse gas emissions, but also lower land use impact than biofuels.”

New Technologies and Old Fashioned Energy Conservation Can Help Avoid Energy Sprawl

There is no single solution to our energy development challenge. Meeting energy demands without exacerbating climate change and while conserving nature will require making smarter decisions on several fronts, including energy conservation, development of new technologies, more end-use production (e.g. rooftop solar), and thoughtful planning for siting and mitigation of future development.

Read the rest of the original article at The Nature Conservancy’s blog.