Credit score: EDF Renewables North America
In a landmark accord, main photo voltaic builders, conservation teams, agricultural organizations, environmental and environmental justice teams and tribal entities introduced their settlement to advance large-scale U.S. photo voltaic growth whereas championing land conservation and supporting area people pursuits. The settlement is the results of a 20-month “Photo voltaic Unusual Dialogue” convened by Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Atmosphere, the Photo voltaic Power Industries Affiliation (SEIA) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
The settlement marks a significant turning level in resolving conflicts over creating main U.S. photo voltaic initiatives and associated conservation and neighborhood issues.
Over the following 10 years, U.S. photo voltaic power output is anticipated to extend five-fold, serving to to handle local weather change and convey clear and inexpensive power to extra communities. The speedy enhance in utility-scale photo voltaic additionally implies that the trade should deal with numerous points, together with agricultural land conversion, wildlife and habitat impacts and neighborhood engagement. The Photo voltaic Unusual Dialogue settlement stresses that the event of enormous photo voltaic initiatives have to be clear, equitable and environment friendly and acknowledges that this can require many trade-offs.
Signatories to the Photo voltaic Unusual Dialogue settlement have dedicated to bettering large-scale photo voltaic growth primarily based on the “3Cs”: local weather, conservation and neighborhood.
- Local weather emphasizes minimizing carbon emissions by means of clear power sources, like photo voltaic power and different instruments, together with pure local weather options;
- Conservation seeks to reduce impacts on pure and dealing lands; and
- Neighborhood commits to equitable distribution of renewable power challenge advantages.
The signatories are convening six working teams that may deal with key points and alternatives together with neighborhood engagement, siting-related danger evaluation and decision-making, power and agricultural applied sciences, tribal relations and coverage options.
These working teams will concentrate on advancing the 3Cs by way of improved public participation practices, photo voltaic siting mechanisms, regulation, monetary incentives, info instruments and different means. The objective is to create finest practices that photo voltaic firms, native governments and different stakeholders can use to successfully web site photo voltaic initiatives.
“Main U.S. photo voltaic initiatives are important to combating local weather change however are more and more opposed throughout the nation because of important neighborhood and land conservation issues,” mentioned Stanford power scholar Dan Reicher, who launched and leads the photo voltaic Unusual Dialogue. “It’s thrilling how motivated the events are to keep away from these conflicts and develop high-impact options — a triple play for local weather, conservation, and neighborhood,” added Reicher, who was U.S. Assistant Secretary for Power Effectivity and Renewable Power.
“Because the photo voltaic and storage trade grows, it’s important that we prioritize native engagement,” mentioned Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of SEIA. “We’re thrilled to affix our companions on this landmark settlement to assist us rapidly, responsibly and equitably deploy photo voltaic and storage initiatives. We’re assured that by thoughtfully addressing stakeholder issues from the beginning, we’ll have the ability to ship the equitable clear power future we have to see.”
“We’re dedicated to accelerating the renewable power buildout and need to go good to go quick,” mentioned TNC CEO Jen Morris. “Bringing environmental teams to the desk ensures that we strike the fitting steadiness, delivering clear power options whereas safeguarding our valuable pure assets and communities.”
The photo voltaic settlement grew out of a Stanford-organized “Unusual Dialogue,” a convening of cross-sector consultants and stakeholders designed to search out widespread floor and construct consensus round particular environmental challenges. A earlier Unusual Dialogue settlement on hydropower and river conservation led to $2.3 billion in federal funding for implementation of its working teams’ suggestions.
The photo voltaic dialogue and settlement have already spawned a brand new Unusual Dialogue to handle challenges dealing with U.S. electrical energy transmission growth for photo voltaic, wind and different new clear power initiatives.
Events to the Photo voltaic Unusual Dialogue Settlement
American Farmland Belief
Appalachian Voices
Affiliation of Fish and Wildlife Companies
Local weather Adaptive Infrastructure
EDP Renewables
energyRe
Intersect Energy
Invenergy
Land Belief Alliance
Lightsource bp
Nationwide Audubon Society
Nationwide Wildlife Refuge Affiliation
Pure Assets Protection Council
North American Indian Middle of Boston
Pine Gate Renewables
Photo voltaic Power Industries Affiliation
The Lyme Timber Firm
The Nature Conservancy
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
Union of Involved Scientists
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Information merchandise from SEIA
