The impact of large-scale infrastructure projects on public opinion can become a political and economic nightmare for developers. Although it’s often big, destructive projects which raise the ire of the people, protests against the location of some large renewable energy facilities have also made the news.
The gigantic 500-megawatt Topaz Solar Project in California was fully funded and had received the go-ahead from authorities when an appeal was lodged on behalf of environmental groups to halt construction due to concerns over endangered wildlife in the area. Another case before U.S courts was the $2.2 billion Ivanpah Solar Electric thermal plant in the Mojave Desert, held up because of the presence of a rare desert tortoise at the site.
While green groups battling green projects may sound odd, legitimate concerns are often raised and the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) sees the opposition as a serious issue. Large-scale solar power is a key platform of President Obama’s Sunshot program, aimed at helping solar reach grid parity and increasing the use of solar energy across America.
To this end, the DOE have made a grant of $2.8 million to Idaho’s Boise State University’s Energy Policy Institute (EPI) to spearhead the development of a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tool to identify utility-scale solar facility sites. The tool will be available on an open source platform, with users able to make improvements, but most importantly, the system will incorporate the ability to make scientific measurements of social risk and public acceptance of screened sites.
"Developing a measure of social acceptance and risk that incorporates public opinion is very important for any renewable energy project to be sited and eventually produce power," said David Solan, principal investigator on the initiative and director of EPI.
The GIS tool will also analyse the natural resources and physical characteristics of potential sites.
"It is critical to help do this up front so that resources are not wasted in pushing projects that are likely to fail. This is another tool that will help industry, government and the public make the most appropriate choices for the most appropriate places."
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