A recent report by the European Environment Agency (EEB) shows that the European Union has more than enough land to develop the necessary renewable energy projects, such as solar and wind farms, without at the same time endangering agriculture, food production or biodiversity. .
The study is called “Land for renewable resources” and reveals that achieving climate neutrality by 2040 will require only 2.2 percent of total EU land, mostly in rural areas. These lands also include degraded agricultural areas that can be used.
According to the report, by 2040, Germany plans to increase solar energy capacity (346 GW) and wind power capacity (113 GW). It is expected that these installations will produce about 74 percent of electricity. To achieve these goals, about 2.8 percent of Germany’s total land is needed by 2030 and 4.4 percent by 2040, which certainly poses challenges in terms of spatial planning.
Spain is also developing significant capacities of solar energy (247 GW) and onshore wind farms (98 GW) under the PAC scenario, which should meet about 84 percent of the country’s final energy demand by 2040. To accommodate these capacities, Spain is estimated to have about 1.4 percent of the land is needed by 2030 and 2.4 percent by 2040. Most of the land suitable for these technologies is located in rural areas.
In the PAC scenario, France plans about 260 GW for solar and 83 GW for wind power plants by 2040. These capacities should contribute about 46 percent of electricity production in France and satisfy about 30 percent of the total energy demand. For the realization of these plans, France would need about 0.8 percent of its land resources by 2030 and 2 percent by 2040.
Therefore, southern European countries such as Spain and Italy, which have a lot of fertile land and a large number of sunny days, look ideal for agrosolar projects. Agrosolar projects can protect crops, generate electricity or have animals on their plots. For example, in some agrosolar projects, the land is used for grazing, while the panels serve the animals to hide when the heat is strong.
In Eastern Europe, countries such as Romania and Bulgaria offer the potential for such projects due to their agricultural sector and the availability of land that can be dual-purpose — for growing crops and for solar energy production.
Energy portal
Source: energetskiportal.rs
