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Global environmental change in arid environments: Solar energy potential, land-cover change, and soil ecology.

Record Type:	Electronic resources : Monograph/item
Title/Author:	Global environmental change in arid environments: Solar energy potential, land-cover change, and soil ecology./
Author:	Hernandez, Rebecca Renee.
Description:	236 p.
Notes:	Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 76-04(E), Section: B.
Contained By:	Dissertation Abstracts International76-04B(E).
Subject:	Environmental science. -
Online resource:	http://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=3581992
ISBN:	9781321445664

Global environmental change in arid environments: Solar energy potential, land-cover change, and soil ecology.
Hernandez, Rebecca Renee.

Global environmental change in arid environments: Solar energy potential, land-cover change, and soil ecology. - 236 p.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 76-04(E), Section: B.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2014.

This item is not available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.

PART I: Renewable energy is a promising alternative to fossil fuel-based energy, but its development can require a complex set of environmental tradeoffs. A recent increase in solar energy systems, especially large, centralized installations, underscores the urgency of understanding their environmental interactions. Synthesizing literature across numerous disciplines, the first chapter reviews direct and indirect environmental impacts---both beneficial and adverse---of utility-scale solar energy (USSE) development, including impacts on biodiversity, land-use and land cover change, soils, water resources, and human health. Additionally, we review feedbacks between USSE infrastructure and land-atmosphere interactions and the potential for USSE systems to mitigate climate change. Several characteristics and development strategies of USSE systems have low environmental impacts relative to other energy systems, including other renewables. We show opportunities to increase USSE environmental co-benefits, the permitting and regulatory constraints and opportunities of USSE, and highlight future research directions to better understand the nexus between USSE and the environment. Increasing the environmental compatibility of USSE systems will maximize the efficacy of this key renewable energy source in mitigating climatic and global environmental change. As utility-scale solar energy (USSE) systems increase in size and numbers globally, there is a growing interest in understanding environmental interactions between solar energy development and land-use decisions. Maximizing the efficient use of land for USSE is one of the major challenges in realizing the full potential of solar energy, however, the land-use efficiency (LUE; Wm-2) of USSE remains ambiguous. In Chapter 2, we quantified the capacity-based LUE of 183 USSE installations (> 20 MW; planned, under construction, and operating) using California as a case study. In California, USSE installations are concentrated in the Central Valley and interior regions of southern California and have a LUE of 35.0 Wm-2. The installations occupy approximately 86,000 hectares and more land is allocated for photovoltaic schemes (72,294 ha) than for concentrating solar power (13,604 ha). Photovoltaic installations are greater in abundance (93%) than concentrating solar power, but technology type and nameplate capacity has no impact on capacity-based LUE. More USSE installations are on private land (80%) and have a significantly greater LUE (35.8 Wm-2) than installations on public land (25.4 Wm-2). Our findings can be used to better understand and improve the LUE of USSE, thereby maximizing economic, energetic, and environmental returns on investments.

ISBN: 9781321445664Subjects--Topical Terms:

677245
Environmental science.

Global environmental change in arid environments: Solar energy potential, land-cover change, and soil ecology.
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100 1 $a Hernandez, Rebecca Renee. $3 3172366
245 1 0 $a Global environmental change in arid environments: Solar energy potential, land-cover change, and soil ecology.
300 $a 236 p.
500 $a Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 76-04(E), Section: B.
500 $a Adviser: Christopher B. Field.
502 $a Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2014.
506 $a This item is not available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
506 $a This item must not be sold to any third party vendors.
506 $a This item must not be added to any third party search indexes.
520 $a PART I: Renewable energy is a promising alternative to fossil fuel-based energy, but its development can require a complex set of environmental tradeoffs. A recent increase in solar energy systems, especially large, centralized installations, underscores the urgency of understanding their environmental interactions. Synthesizing literature across numerous disciplines, the first chapter reviews direct and indirect environmental impacts---both beneficial and adverse---of utility-scale solar energy (USSE) development, including impacts on biodiversity, land-use and land cover change, soils, water resources, and human health. Additionally, we review feedbacks between USSE infrastructure and land-atmosphere interactions and the potential for USSE systems to mitigate climate change. Several characteristics and development strategies of USSE systems have low environmental impacts relative to other energy systems, including other renewables. We show opportunities to increase USSE environmental co-benefits, the permitting and regulatory constraints and opportunities of USSE, and highlight future research directions to better understand the nexus between USSE and the environment. Increasing the environmental compatibility of USSE systems will maximize the efficacy of this key renewable energy source in mitigating climatic and global environmental change. As utility-scale solar energy (USSE) systems increase in size and numbers globally, there is a growing interest in understanding environmental interactions between solar energy development and land-use decisions. Maximizing the efficient use of land for USSE is one of the major challenges in realizing the full potential of solar energy, however, the land-use efficiency (LUE; Wm-2) of USSE remains ambiguous. In Chapter 2, we quantified the capacity-based LUE of 183 USSE installations (> 20 MW; planned, under construction, and operating) using California as a case study. In California, USSE installations are concentrated in the Central Valley and interior regions of southern California and have a LUE of 35.0 Wm-2. The installations occupy approximately 86,000 hectares and more land is allocated for photovoltaic schemes (72,294 ha) than for concentrating solar power (13,604 ha). Photovoltaic installations are greater in abundance (93%) than concentrating solar power, but technology type and nameplate capacity has no impact on capacity-based LUE. More USSE installations are on private land (80%) and have a significantly greater LUE (35.8 Wm-2) than installations on public land (25.4 Wm-2). Our findings can be used to better understand and improve the LUE of USSE, thereby maximizing economic, energetic, and environmental returns on investments.
520 $a The deployment of renewable energy systems, such as solar energy, to achieve universal access to electricity, heat, and transportation, and to mitigate climate change is arguably the most exigent challenge facing humans today. However, the goal of rapidly developing solar energy systems is complicated by land and environmental constraints, creating uncertainty about the future of the global energy landscape. In Chapter 3, we test the hypothesis that land, energy, and environmental (LEE) compatibility can be achieved within existing developed areas in California, a global solar energy hotspot. We found that the quantity of accessible energy potentially produced from photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) within these areas exceeds current statewide demand. Such areas comprise approximately 33,000--46,000 and 34,000 TWhy-1 of PV and CSP generation-based potential, respectively and could meet the state of California's 33% renewable energy goal between 127--1,300 times over across high, medium, and low demand scenarios. Even if solar generating capacity is located 100% within the built environment, generation potential meets the state's energy consumptive demand at least 4.8 and 2.7 times over for PV and CSP technologies, respectively. Our results show that energy needs can be met with solar resources in areas where land is premium and value criteria pose considerable constraints.
520 $a Utility-scale solar energy (USSE; i.e., > 1 MW) necessitates large quantities of space making the efficient use of land for USSE development critical to realizing its full potential. However, studies describing land-cover change and land-use patterns of utility-scale solar energy (USSE) are limited. In Chapter 4, we assessed land-cover changes from USSE installations (> 20 MW; planned, under construction, operating) in the California global solar hotspot. We used a multiple criteria model to create a compatibility index (i.e., "highly compatible", "compatible", "incompatible") to categorize and quantify the environmental compatibility of individual installations. We identified over 150 planned, under construction, and operating USSE installations in California, ranging in size from 20 to 1,000 MW. Currently, 29% are located on shrub- and scrublands, 23% on cultivated cropland, 13% on pasture/hay areas, 11% on grassland/herbaceous and developed open space, and 7% in the built environment. The majority (70.0%) of photovoltaic USSE installations are in compatible areas while 14.1% are located in highly compatible areas. For concentrating solar power installations, 55.5% are located in either highly compatible or compatible areas. Understanding impacts of USSE systems on terrestrial ecosystems is critical to mitigate energy sprawl, especially in other global regions with spatially complex resource opportunities and constraints.
520 $a PART II: Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are the most abundant plant symbiont and a major pathway of carbon sequestration in soils. However, their basic biology, including their activity throughout a 24-h day: night cycle, remains unknown. In Chapter 5, we employed the in situ Soil Ecosystem Observatory to quantify the rates of diurnal growth, dieback and net productivity of extra-radical AM fungi. AM fungal hyphae showed significantly different rates of growth and dieback over a period of 24 h and paralleled the circadian-driven photosynthetic oscillations observed in plants. The greatest rates (and incidences) of growth and dieback occurred between noon and 18:00 h. Growth and dieback events often occurred simultaneously and were tightly coupled with soil temperature and moisture, suggesting a rapid acclimation of the external phase of AM fungi to the immediate environment. Changes in the environmental conditions and variability of the mycorrhizosphere may alter the diurnal patterns of productivity of AM fungi, thereby modifying soil carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling and host plant success.
520 $a There is evidence African farmers are increasingly adopting sustainable agricultural practices including use of native shrub intercropping approaches. In Sub-Saharan Africa, farmers plant mango trees (Mangifera indica ) within the canopies of a native shrub (Piliostigma reticulatum ) found commonly in farmers' fields. Changes in the soil of intercropped mango may enhance production---as has been observed anecdotally---but this shrub-crop interaction has yet to be studied empirically. In a village cooperative mango farm (Thies, Senegal), we hypothesized that a shrub + mango intercropping system has a synergistic effect on soil chemistry, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi characteristics, soil enzyme activity, soil microbial biomass, and soil microbial community structure compared to mangos planted outside the influence of the native shrub. In Chapter 6, we found that the mango-shrub interaction conferred significantly unique soil conditions, including lower pH, higher arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonization, a unique enzyme profile, and higher microbial biomass compared to either plant alone. Phylogenetic analyses by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis showed that community structures of fungi, bacteria, and bacterial genes responsible for denitrification (nirK) of the soil from the rooting zone of the mango-shrub intercropping system were distinct from all other soil types. We conclude that P. reticulatum improves soils and that there is a synergistic effect of intercropping the mango with the native shrub, P. reticulatum, notably in soil with a more diverse community and greater potential to perform decomposition and mineralize nutrients.
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