Spatial planning of low carbon transitions and renewable energy siting
Power of PlaceThe Power of Place is a series of four groundbreaking studies funded by The Nature Conservancy that charts pathways for meeting energy sector emissions goals while avoiding negative ecological impacts. Prof. Wu led the design of a methodological framework for integrating land and ocean use considerations in energy sector modeling and assessing the land use impacts of a renewable energy build-out.
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Avoiding ecological and social impacts in achieving a low carbon electricity system for Southern Africa
Hydropower has historically been and continues to be Southern Africa’s most heavily relied upon low-carbon generation technology. At the same time, hydropower can cause tremendous harm to communities and ecosystems, yet power system planning studies—academic or government—fail to consider alternative technology investment portfolios that avoid the most socially and ecologically damaging projects. The abundant potential for onshore wind and solar PV development could serve as cost competitive alternatives, yet these technologies are also not without their negative socio-ecological impacts. In this study, we develop a comprehensive wind, solar, and hydropower candidate project screening approach that we integrate in detailed hydrological and power system planning models to examine the degree to which low impact wind and solar generation can substitute proposed high impact hydropower projects.
This paper was just published! https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-45313-z |
Factors driving wind and solar siting in the contiguous U.S.
Integrating hundreds of gigawatts of
new wind and solar power plants into an already crowded landscape will be a significant challenge for policy-makers, land use planners, conservationists, communities, and the industry. The ability to anticipate whether certain areas are desirable locations for wind and solar power plants by understanding the factors driving siting decisions will be critical for several aspects of renewable and land use planning—to examine possible environmental and social impacts, inform avoidance or mitigation measures if needed, and identify barriers to development in certain regions In this study, we aim to 1) understand technical, socio-economic, environmental, and political drivers of utility-scale wind and solar PV siting in the contiguous U.S., 2) predict areas of likely future development so as to be able to assess their potential environmental impacts and social implications. We are currently prepping the manuscript for this study. Stay tuned! |
The Multi-criteria Analysis for Planning Renewable Energy (MapRE) initiative
The MapRE initiative seeks to provide a framework for the systematic identification and valuation of areas for renewable energy development–focusing mainly on solar and wind technologies–for developing countries.
The World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP), the University of California Santa Barbara, and Development Seed developed and released the online REZoning tool (2021) based on the MapRE methodology and Tableau tool. Visit the MapRE website to learn more about the MapRE studies, methodology, and download the GIS tool. Resulting papers:
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Other projects on decarbonization planning
CDR primer, Chapter 3: Global Mapping of CDR Opportunities is a chapter published in the free online and print book, The Carbon Dioxide Removal Primer. Prof Wu collaborated with a team from the University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and CarbonPlan to conduct original research and analysis that synthesizes, for the first time, global datasets on renewable generation potential, sedimentary reservoirs, and carbon mineralization to produce a unique series of illustrative global maps of where the most promising technological CDR opportunities are located. The book is the first comprehensive and definitive volume on carbon removal strategies, intended for a broad audience, including the next generation of climate scholars and activists. Published under a Creative Commons License, the book's contents are not only freely accessible, but also free to share and adapt without the permission of the publisher or authors. |
Enabling a low-carbon electricity system for Southern Africa (published in Joule): Developing regions face the dual challenge of providing affordable energy to meet growing electricity demand while limiting carbon emissions and socio-environmental impacts. Southern Africa’s electricity demand is expected to double by 2040, and current official long-term power sector plans show continued reliance on and thus large-scale expansion of coal, natural gas, and hydropower generation. Wind and solar PV comprise less than 5% of the planned 2040 generation portfolio. In this study, we sought to investigate whether and how more renewable electricity can be cost effectively integrated in the Southern African power system. Our study is the most detailed and comprehensive study of the role of wind, solar, hydropower, and interregional transmission in the Southern Africa power system to date.
Climate solutions in the food and forestry sectors
More information coming soon. For now, see papers published under this research theme:
- Contributions of healthier diets and agricultural productivity toward sustainability and climate goals in the United States ( published in Sustainability Science)
- A decentralized approach to model national and global food and land use systems (published in Sustainability Science)
- How can diverse national food and land-use priorities be reconciled with global sustainability targets? Lessons from the FABLE initiative (published in Environmental Research Letters)