A review of land use, visibility and public perception of renewable energy in the context of landscape impact

R. Ioannidis, and D. Koutsoyiannis, A review of land use, visibility and public perception of renewable energy in the context of landscape impact, Applied Energy, 276, 115367, doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115367, 2020.

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[English]

Landscape impacts associated with aesthetics have been a persistent cause of opposition against renewable energy projects. However, the current uncertainty over the spatial extents and the rationality of reported impacts impedes the development of optimal strategies for their mitigation. In this paper, a typology of landscape impacts is formed for hydroelectric, wind and solar energy through the review of three metrics that have been used extensively for impact-assessment: land use, visibility and public perception. Additionally, a generic landscape-impact ranking is formed, based on data from realized projects, demonstrating that hydroelectric energy has been the least impactful to landscapes per unit energy generation, followed by solar and wind energy, respectively. More importantly, the analysis highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each technology, in a landscape impact context, and demonstrates that, depending on landscape attributes, any technology can potentially be the least impactful. Finally, a holistic approach is proposed for future research and policy for the integration of renewable energy to landscapes, introducing the maximum utilization of the advantages of each technology as an additional strategy in an effort to expand beyond the mitigation of negative impacts.

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Our works referenced by this work:

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Our works that reference this work:

1. G.-F. Sargentis, T. Iliopoulou, S. Sigourou, P. Dimitriadis, and D. Koutsoyiannis, Evolution of clustering quantified by a stochastic method — Case studies on natural and human social structures, Sustainability, 12 (19), 7972, doi:10.3390/su12197972, 2020.
2. G.-F. Sargentis, R. Ioannidis, T. Iliopoulou, P. Dimitriadis, and D. Koutsoyiannis, Landscape planning of infrastructure through focus points’ clustering analysis. Case study: Plastiras artificial lake (Greece), Infrastructures, 6 (1), 12, doi:10.3390/infrastructures6010012, 2021.
3. G.-F. Sargentis, P. Siamparina, G.-K. Sakki, A. Efstratiadis, M. Chiotinis, and D. Koutsoyiannis, Agricultural land or photovoltaic parks? The water–energy–food nexus and land development perspectives in the Thessaly plain, Greece, Sustainability, 13 (16), 8935, doi:10.3390/su13168935, 2021.
4. R. Ioannidis, G.-F. Sargentis, and D. Koutsoyiannis, Landscape design in infrastructure projects - is it an extravagance? A cost-benefit investigation of practices in dams, Landscape Research, doi:10.1080/01426397.2022.2039109, 2022.
5. R. Ioannidis, N. Mamassis, A. Efstratiadis, and D. Koutsoyiannis, Reversing visibility analysis: Towards an accelerated a priori assessment of landscape impacts of renewable energy projects, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 161, 112389, doi:10.1016/j.rser.2022.112389, 2022.
6. G.-F. Sargentis, R. Ioannidis, I. Bairaktaris, E. Frangedaki, P. Dimitriadis, T. Iliopoulou, D. Koutsoyiannis, and N. D. Lagaros, Wildfires vs. sustainable forest partitioning, Conservation, 2 (1), 195–218, doi:10.3390/conservation2010013, 2022.
7. G.-F. Sargentis, and D. Koutsoyiannis, The function of money in water–energy–food and land nexus, Land, 12 (3), 669, doi:10.3390/land12030669, 2023.
8. A. Roxani, A. Zisos, G.-K. Sakki, and A. Efstratiadis, Multidimensional role of agrovoltaics in era of EU Green Deal: Current status and analysis of water-energy-food-land dependencies, Land, 12 (5), 1069, doi:10.3390/land12051069, 2023.
9. A. Zisos, G.-K. Sakki, and A. Efstratiadis, Mixing renewable energy with pumped hydropower storage: Design optimization under uncertainty and other challenges, Sustainability, 15 (18), 13313, doi:10.3390/su151813313, 2023.
10. K. Moraiti, S. Sigourou, P. Dimitriadis, R. Ioannidis, I. Benekos, T. Iliopoulou, O. Kitsou, N. Mamassis, D. Koutsoyiannis, and G.-F. Sargentis, Documenting the changing floodplain of Nileas Basin in North Euboea (Greece) before and after Storms Daniel and Elias, Rural and Regional Development, 2 (3), 10013, doi:10.35534/rrd.2024.10013, 2024.

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