Triple bottom line analysis of the Spanish solar photovoltaic sector: A footprint assessment

Abstract

Sustainable development, in its wider sense, i.e., economic, social and environmental, has emerged as one of the key challenges for humankind in the 21st century. Solar photovoltaic (PV) emerges as a key technology to meet not only the climate targets but also those related to social progress and economic growth. This paper's main objective is to capture the momentum and potentialities of the Spanish Solar PV sector using a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) analysis from a broad economic, social and environmental footprint perspective in an MRIO context in 2016.Regarding the economic impact, we find that the Spanish Solar PV sector accounts for 0.19% and 0.31% of GDP in direct and in total terms, respectively; besides, 60% of indirect GDP is created within Spanish economy and 40% is generated abroad, while 86% of induced GDP is generated within domestic economy. By activity, PV manufactures is the only one to generate most of its indirect GDP abroad (68%). In social terms, Solar PV activities are responsible for 5904 direct jobs and 18,377 in total in Spain in 2016, and the most important activity is energy production and distribution (50.2% of total generated employment). In environmental terms, the footprint of the whole Solar PV industry accounts for only 734 ktCO2, which helps to avoid a great volume of direct emissions in electricity generation, with more than 69% generated beyond Spain's borders.With regard to the potentialities of the Spanish Solar PV sector, and given the forecasted growing deployment of Solar PV in Spain by 2030 and 2050, this industry is set to be one of the leading sectors of the Spanish sustainability transition in the near future. Current policy requires the fast deployment of Solar PV throughout the country to ensure more sustainability-friendly economic, social and environmental development.