GC53D-1232
Environmental Co-Benefit Opportunities of Solar Energy
Friday, 18 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Rebecca R Hernandez, University of California Berkeley, Energy and Resources Group, Berkeley, CA, United States; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Climate and Carbon Sciences Program Area, Berkeley, CA, United States, Alona Armstrong, University of Lancaster, Lancaster, United Kingdom, Jennifer A Burney, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States, Shane B Easter, Wells Fargo, Environmental Finance, San Francisco, CA, United States, Madison Kinnoch Hoffacker, UC Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States; University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States and Kara Ann Moore, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States
Abstract:
Solar energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions by an order of magnitude when substituted for fossil fuels. Nonetheless, the strategic deployment of solar energy—from single, rooftop modules to utility-scale solar energy power plants—can confer additional environmental co-benefits beyond its immediate use as a low carbon energy source. In this study, we identify a diverse portfolio of environmental co-benefit opportunities of solar energy technologies resulting from synergistic innovations in land, food, energy, and water systems. For each opportunity, we provide a demonstrative, quantitative framework for environmental co-benefit valuation—including, equations, models, or case studies for estimating carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq) and cost savings ($US) averted by environmental co-benefit opportunities of solar energy—and imminent research questions to improve certainty of valuations. As land-energy-food-water nexus issues are increasingly exigent in 21st century, we show that environmental co-benefit opportunities of solar energy are feasible in numerous environments and at a wide range of spatial scales thereby able to contribute to local and regional environmental goals and for the mitigation of climate change.
