Renewable-based energy systems have the potential to vastly increase the use of land devoted to energy, thus drastically changing landscapes and habitats, since conventional, fossil-based energy systems.
Note that the land use impact for electricity from storage is higher than all land use impacts except biomass and hydro. Still, only a portion of the storage land use (say 0.1%) would be allocated to one GWh of renewable energy.
Are underground pumped storage power stations a viable post mining land use?
Underground pumped storage power stations (UPSPS) is a form of beneficial post mining land use for closed underground coal mines. Its development potential is still largely unexplored in China. In this paper, a two-phase evaluation framework is developed for the site selection of UPSPS from regional to local scale. The main findings are as follows:
How do energy systems measure land use?
Multiple researchers have attempted to quantify land use by energy systems; three frequently used metrics are: ecological footprint, land use intensity, and power density . First, their calculations, basic equations, data used and units are provided and strengths and weaknesses of each method are outlined.
How important is land use for battery production?
If current battery installations are more power dense and more efficient, the proportion of land use from the production phase may become more relatively important. The largest battery currently planned is the Manatee Energy Storage Center in Florida, which covers 40 acres and is rated at 409 MW or 900 MWh .
How will the energy transition affect land use?
The energy transition will cause drastic changes to land use, which provides barriers to adoption of renewables. Storage has relatively high use of land, which has so far been almost unexplored in the literature. Natural gas has lowest land use but there is potential for renewables to improve land use profile via mixed-use development.
Which electricity source should we consider differently when calculating land use?
Wind is the most obvious electricity source that we should consider differently when it comes to land use. You find it separated from the other sources, at the bottom of the chart.4 There are several reasons for this. First, offshore wind takes up space, but it's marine, not land area.