Social Land Use Research Articles

Interactions of wind energy project siting, wind resource potential, and the evolution of the U.S. power system

The interactions of wind energy project siting, resource potential, and power system evolution are critical to understand given interest in high renewable energy systems, particularly as wind costs have fallen and grid operators implement solutions to manage variable generation. This study applies an integrative approach that combines spatially-explicit resource potential analysis with high spatial resolution U.S. electricity system modeling. Multiple wind supply curves, representing variations in siting regimes that account for interactions with built infrastructure, regulatory, physical, and social land use factors, are evaluated to determine how siting could influence prospective wind development. Different siting regimes lead to variations in future wind capacity, with the greatest impacts observed under scenarios with high demand for clean energy. With the tightest emissions limit modeled, 2050 onshore wind capacity varied by +7% (49 GW) in the least-restrictive siting regime to a decrease of 37% (270 GW) under the most-constrained case. More-stringent siting restrictions lead to higher electricity prices and emissions that should be weighed with local impacts. Under restrictive siting regimes, wind deployment is also sensitive to transmission availability and wind plant design. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of local land use considerations in regional and national power system planning.

Confronting international research topics with stakeholders on multifunctional land use: the case of Inner Mongolia, China

The established pattern of land use in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is being challenged by China’s rapid overall economic transition. The provision of required land-related functions and services is subject to land management decision making. Scientific research can offer substantial support for this decision making by providing evidence of the interaction between land management and land function services. This paper’s objective was to identify the most important land use functions and services from a local perspective and to compare these functions and services with the land-related research topics addressed in the scientific literature. For this purpose, we conducted a workshop with local stakeholders (land use decision makers) in the West Ujimqin Banner (Inner Mongolia) as a specific case study and performed a comprehensive survey of the Inner Mongolian land use research published in international scientific journals. Our analysis indicated that the stakeholders assigned particular importance to social land use functions, such as jobs, as well as environmental land use functions and ecosystem processes. In contrast, the research topics were primarily concerned with natural science. We discussed possible shortcomings in the research agenda by emphasising and contrasting local stakeholder perspectives with the research topics and concluded that without bottom-up stakeholder participation, there would be a mismatch between the research interests of land use scientists and the needs of stakeholders. Future research that can contribute to local policy making with the aim of meeting the objectives of a multifunctional land use concept is required.