Solar parks as livestock enclosures can become key to linking energy, biodiversity and society

Abstract

Abstract The expansion of renewable energy generation sites in the landscape is controversial, as is repopulation by large predators, particularly wolves. Both range extensions are recent phenomena, and both lead to harsh incompatibilities that arise from exclusions. Regarding solar parks, the problems would be solvable by a paradigm shift, namely towards inclusions. The required changes sound trivial: First, it would be more multifunctional to make use of the valuable plant growth in solar parks. Second, it would be more sustainable to rely on grazing rather than mowing for solar park maintenance. Grazing livestock would need to be protected from wolves by strong fencing. If these changes become the reality, this could locally remove large predators like the wolf from the line of fire of social resistance. In addition, implementation would bring benefits across sectors by bringing together previously divergent and hardened utilization concepts, which would ultimately have positive impacts for renewable energy generation, biodiversity and society. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Keywords

• best management practices
• energy landscapes
• human–wildlife conflict
• land sparing
• multifunctionality
• renewable energy