Renewable technologies increase energy sprawl—Biofuels will have the greatest impact on land use…

Published online 26 August 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.862

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Renewable technologies increase energy sprawl

Biofuels will have the greatest impact on land use and habitat, study finds.

Amanda Leigh Mascarelli

Millions of hectares of land will be needed to meet growing energy demands in the United States over the next two decades, according to new 'energy sprawl' estimates. The researchers behind the study say that biomass production for fuel or electricity generation will have the biggest impact on landscape and habitats.

The broad analysis of potential US energy and climate-mitigation scenarios compared the land and habitat impacts of various energy mixes — from nuclear power to biofuels — resulting from an array of policy options. The study is published this week in PLoS ONE^{http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090826/full/news.2009.862.html#B1">1}.

In a supplement to the paper, the authors re-ran their estimates to take account of the likely impact of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, also known as the Waxman-Markey bill. The bill, which is awaiting approval by the US Senate, includes a cap-and-trade system to regulate greenhouse gases.

The researchers estimate that regardless of whether the Waxman-Markey bill were enacted, the amount of land affected by energy development by 2030 will be between 21-70 million hectares — an area which is, even at its lower bound, about the size of the state of Wyoming

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