{"id":149143,"date":"2024-08-05T07:23:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-05T05:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=149143"},"modified":"2024-08-02T12:09:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T10:09:30","slug":"eu-renewables-compatible-with-food-production-nature-protection-and-maybe-humans-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/eu-renewables-compatible-with-food-production-nature-protection-and-maybe-humans-2\/","title":{"rendered":"EU renewables compatible with food production, nature protection \u2013 and maybe humans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

The EU\u2019s onshore wind and solar energy needs can be met without undermining food production or nature protection efforts, according to a report by the European Environmental Bureau released on Wednesday (24 July). However, this depends on human choices, at an individual and political level.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The
The report sees much potential for a closer integration of agriculture and both wind and solar on the same land. \u00a9 Shutterstock\/Jenson<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

As the realities of the EU Green Deal become more apparent, land use has become a hotly debated issue. Rival camps argue whether land should be used for food production, renewable energy generation, or nature protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new report by NGO European Environmental Bureau (EEB) says there is plenty of space in Europe for all these goals \u2013 if we make the right choices. \u2018Land For Renewables\u2019 estimates that wind and solar deployed on just 2.2% of the bloc\u2019s land can deliver net zero emissions and a 100% renewables power system by 2040.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is no reason to believe renewables will be an obstacle to food production and nature restoration\u201d the report\u2019s lead author Cosimo Tansini told Euractiv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analysis finds that across the EU, even when productive agricultural land and high key biodiversity areas are excluded, there remains plenty of space for wind and solar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this is not always the case within individual countries \u2013 for example, Italy and Germany will need to import power from their neighbours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report sees much potential for a closer integration of agriculture and both wind and solar on the same land. Alongside these \u2018dual use\u2019 options, around 10% of the EU\u2019s agricultural land meets the definition of facing \u2018high or very high degradation\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report argues that such lands are unproductive and at risk of abandonment by farmers, and are therefore prime candidates to welcome more wind and solar installations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bioenergy puzzle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The report is largely silent on how Europe\u2019s lands can accommodate biomass and biofuel production, alongside farming and nature protection, although it notes that 2.7% of EU land today is used to produce \u2018industrial crops\u2019, which includes bioenergy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many forecasts \u2013 including the European Commission\u2019s recent modelling to inform its 2040 climate target \u2013 see an increased requirement for land to absorb carbon from the atmosphere and produce biofuels for hard-to-abate sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2023 study by the EU\u2019s European Environmental Agency considered this \u201cbiomass puzzle\u201d but could not offer any definitive solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tansini noted that there was a practical need to restrict the scope of the analysis and said the work was based upon a scenario which assumes a substantial reduction in Europe\u2019s bioenergy use by 2040.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human choices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018Paris Agreement Compatible\u2019 scenario referenced by Tansini also relies upon assumed behavioural changes, such as a 17% reduction in air travel and a drop in energy demand far greater than the current EU targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These lifestyle changes could reduce the need for renewable energy and free up more land space. For example 2.5% of the EU\u2019s total land today is used to produce food for animals. A cut in meat consumption would in turn reduce this requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tansini acknowledged that the report\u2019s findings required lifestyle changes, \u201cbut not as much as other reports\u201d, and said their findings were \u201cmore reliant on technology efficiency\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report makes some allowances for local opposition to wind and solar installations by assuming \u2018buffer zones\u2019 around residential and industrial areas, where renewables cannot be deployed, and ruling out installations in protected areas that may be attractive for tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tansini acknowledged that this may not be sufficient, citing the Italian government\u2019s ban of solar on agricultural land, which he called \u201cpolitical symbolism.\u201d However, he insisted that early engagement with local communities will see sufficient renewable capacity deployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high-level policy approach to the energy transition matters too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tansini said that a \u201ccomprehensive\u201d and \u201cintegrated\u201d approach is needed, \u201cotherwise, the renewable capacity may not be there to reach climate neutrality in time\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an example, he cited policymaker\u2019s interest in hydrogen, noting that this would require more renewable energy deployments, which \u201cwill take up more land for a less efficient energy use may give us problems from a communities\u2019 or nature point-of-view\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The EU\u2019s onshore wind and solar energy needs can be met without undermining food production or nature protection efforts, according to a report by the European Environmental Bureau released on Wednesday (24 July). However, this depends on human choices, at an individual and political level. As the realities of the EU Green Deal become more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":149145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"As the realities of the EU Green Deal become more apparent, land use has become a hotly debated issue","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[6630,5838,5842,16496],"supplier":[4571,5585],"class_list":["post-149143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-agriculture","tag-bioeconomy","tag-biomass","tag-greendeal","supplier-european-environmental-bureau","supplier-european-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149143"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=149143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}