Biodiversity Impacts of Land Occupation for Renewable Energy Infrastructure in a Globally Connected World

The
transition to renewable energy exacerbates direct land occupation
by infrastructure, leading to habitat degradation and biodiversity
loss. However, biodiversity loss driven by the production and consumption
of different renewable energy deployment scenarios remains largely
unquantified. Quantifying biodiversity loss associated with land occupation
of renewable energy infrastructure is essential for a sustainable
energy transition. Here, we developed a novel data set to evaluate
renewable energy-related biodiversity loss by considering the current
infrastructure setting and future development pathways. We found that
the land occupation of renewable energy infrastructure resulted in
global biodiversity loss equivalent amounting to 19 × 10–4 global pdf in 2015. Severe biodiversity loss was
concentrated primarily in densely populated and economically advanced
countries, such as China, the United States, Brazil, India, Australia,
Russia, and countries across Western Europe. International trade accounted
for 14% of the biodiversity loss. Future renewable energy transition
scenarios will lead to a global cumulative biodiversity loss of 1.2
× 10–2–2.2 × 10–2 global pdf during 2015–2060. By 2060, ambitious energy transition
policies are projected to increase the biodiversity loss by 1.7–1.8
times. The results underscore that while renewable energy could tackle
climate change, its deployment should avoid encroaching on biodiversity
hotspots.