Analysis of Regulatory Possibilities and Obstacles to Expand Renewable Energy and Preserve Landscape Quality in the Silesian Voivodship

Abstract

Current international works on strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation cite energy transition as one of the main challenges of the 21st century. Many social, economic, and ecological aspects have to be addressed, especially in regions which, for decades, relied on coal energy. One of those are changes in spatial planning and land use, which will significantly affect the landscape of those regions. One of these examples is Silesian Voivodship in Poland, where the coal-mining tradition dates back to the 17th century. This research focuses on the question of how and where renewable energy development is planned in the Silesian Voivodship, based on provisions from local spatial polices and to what extent post-mining and industrial sites are planned to be reused and how many other types of landscapes would be transformed into renewable energy landscapes. We argue that permitting development of renewable energy (RE) without appropriate regulations on where and how it should be developed may contribute to irreversible changes in the landscape and, as a result, to its degradation. Methods consisted of query and analyses of available publications, datasets, strategy and planning documents, both at regional and municipal level. The main results show that existing renewable energy and its development is mainly planned away from mining and post-mining industrial areas. In the future, this will have a significant impact on the transformation of, e.g., rural, natural and agricultural landscapes into new industrial energy landscapes, changing views and perception of these places.