Recommendations For Future Research

Through our research we identified gaps in knowledge areas related to ecological understanding, ecosystem services, and transmission. As solar development has the potential to have widespread impacts on the California desert, it is important to have as much information as possible regarding the natural ecosystem, impacts of facilities and related infrastructure, and the role that distributed solar generation may have. We identified the following areas as topics that would benefit from additional research.

  1. Natural History of the California Desert
  2. Regional-Level Impacts
  3. Ecological Restoration Techniques
  4. Climate Change and the California Desert
  5. Ecosystem Services and the Non-Market Value of the Desert
  6. Transmission

1. Natural History of the California Desert

Interviews with scientists who study California desert ecology frequently revealed concerns about the great uncertainty associated with predicting the impacts of utility-scale solar development. Much of this uncertainty is due to incomplete information at the most basic level: what is out there, where is it, and how much is there? These questions regarding the location, structure, composition, and abundance of species and natural communities speak to a need for more natural history research on the California desert. Not only would this research help scientists predict the impacts of utility-scale solar development, but developers would also benefit, specifically from more complete maps of sensitive species. Since the presence of sensitive species, particularly those protected by federal mandate, can complicate, prolong, or even prohibit project approval, this research could assist developers during site selection.

If utility-scale solar development occurs in the California desert, research should be conducted on the cumulative impacts facilities will have on ecological processes and species. To understand the cumulative impacts from development, baseline studies must be undertaken before more development occurs. While these studies could help inform future siting decisions within the study area, they might also be used to extrapolate potential impacts of other types of development within the ecosystem as well as potential impacts to similar ecosystems outside of the study area where similar development may occur.

Data on plant species in particular is lacking. While many flowering species are surveyed by wildflower enthusiasts, these surveys typically take place in areas that are both easily accessible to the public and during a time of year that is tolerable for being outside for prolonged periods of time. For this reason, much of the survey data for plants are for flowering species in National Parks and Preserves, at higher elevations, at times of full bloom, and in the cooler spring months. It is important to note that another reason for a proportionately low amount of data on desert plants is the sheer number of plant species in the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA). As noted by Dr. Jim Andre, plant expert and Director of UC Riverside’s Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center, there are still many undescribed species throughout the desert, and a large number of rare plant species across the California desert.1 In reference to a site survey he completed for a proposed solar facility, Andre notes, “The CNDDB showed no previous records of rare plants there - it’ll say that for almost every site - and yet during project surveys 11 rare plant species were documented at the site. So if you get down and do the work, get out into the field and look...in a square mile...you are likely to find both rare or possibly new taxa there.”2 back

2. Regional-Level Impacts

While our research focused on the California desert, it is important to recognize that utility-scale solar development is proposed for much of the Southwest. Solar development that occurs in bordering states such as Nevada and Arizona could affect the California desert. For example, if Nevada places fewer restrictions on water use and solar technology than California, developers who wish to utilize water intensive technologies may decide to site their facilities in Nevada instead of California. However, water use in Nevada could potentially affect aquifers and surface waters that plant and wildlife species in California depend upon. Because ecological impacts are not contained by state boundaries, research on the cumulative impacts of multiple utility-scale facilities across the Southwest is necessary.  back

3. Ecological Restoration Techniques

Ecological restoration can be very expensive and many traditional restoration techniques may be inappropriate for desert ecosystems. Hence, more research should be undertaken to identify the most effective and economical methods for restoration of disturbed desert ecosystems. Long-term landscape-level impacts may be more effectively mitigated if we have better techniques in place for restoring disturbed parts of the desert – both following construction-phase impacts as well as after a facility is decommissioned. Existing and new restoration techniques may be made more effective if developed specifically for the region to which they are applied. back

4. Climate Change and the California Desert

Most land management and development decisions are made without regard for climate change. There is a great need to understand how and to what degree climate change will impact the California desert. A better understanding of the potential impacts on species and ecological processes could both inform public land management in the context of climate change, and inform an analysis of the tradeoffs between renewable energy development and habitat conservation in the CDCA. back

5. Ecosystem Services and the Non-Market Value of the Desert

Although most stakeholders are in favor of solar power generation, many are concerned about how the BLM will make siting decisions and issue permits because these decisions will have an impact on the non-market value of the land. The stakeholder survey revealed concern about the negative impacts on ecosystem services and varying opinions about the net benefit of solar development. One respondent commented:

“It is a perfect use for land that, except for the sunshine, has very little else going for it. However, to make such a project work it cannot put any further burden on existing facilities, waster use or emergency services. Water use is getting to be a very large deal breaker with the locals. They also need to hire local residents wherever possible. Also a big factor with the locals will be possible contamination of groundwater and dust control during construction.”

The issues identified by this respondent reveal a disconnection between the desire to maintain ecosystem service value (dust control) and a perception that the landscape has no current value other than solar resources. Solar development in the California desert will clearly have an impact on the ecosystem. How can we use our increasing knowledge of the desert ecosystem and evaluate the impacts from an anthropocentric perspective? Ecosystem processes provide critical services that benefit human existence including regulation of biogeochemical cycles, preservation of genetic diversity, conversion of solar energy to plant material, and even opportunities for spiritual or cultural enrichment (Appendix F). A better understanding of ecosystem service values in the California desert could greatly benefit the decision-making process for renewable energy siting dilemmas that must consider the tradeoffs from a human perspective. The lack of complete information about ecosystem services and functions, the presence of environmental externalities, and market interventions are all contributing to an economic market failure, which results in continued land conversion and negative impacts on ecosystem services.

The conflict surrounding development of utility-scale solar facilities in the California desert stems from the differing opinions about the inherent and instrumental resource values of the region. A tradeoff exists between the benefits of preserving the desert for conservation purposes, a non-use value, and developing the land for the purpose of providing an alternative source of energy, a use value.One respondent to our stakeholder survey expressed the need to evaluate the tradeoff: “Desert flora and fauna will be impacted. However the value to humans outweighs the loss to the amount of land used for the facility.” In order to understand the value of services provided by the landscape in its present state, we need to pause and consider the tradeoffs that result from solar development, which will impact water resources, erosion control, recreational resources, landscape aesthetics, wildlife, and creation of sound and light pollution. It is also important to consider how investments and demands drive decision making and how accounting for environmental externalities is somewhat subjective but still critical for understanding the societal costs and benefits associated with energy resource development. Research in the field of environmental economics is needed in order to compare the values of various development scenarios to society as a whole. back

6. Transmission

The current transmission system has also been identified as an area of concern for solar development for two primary reasons. First, the existing grid is aging and loaded down, making the addition of multiple new power plants difficult. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), electricity demand in the U.S. has risen by nearly 25 percent since 1990, yet the construction of transmission lines has declined by approximately 30 percent.3 This trend is manifested by congestion and bottlenecks, which can lead to electricity losses that reduce the overall efficiency of the system. Second, almost all solar proposals in California are located in the Mojave and Colorado deserts, which are within the CDCA. Because the CDCA has only modest pockets of development and a relatively small population, there are very few existing transmission towers and lines that could be connected to new solar energy power plants.

Given the relatively remote locations of many of these proposed projects and the limited amount of available capacity on the existing transmission grid, new utility-scale solar facilities will require new sections of transmission to be built. Additionally, the development of hundreds of miles of new transmission infrastructure is likely to have serious environmental implications. Potential effects on the local ecology include habitat fragmentation, increased threat of wildfires, and species disturbances and fatalities that could occur during the construction process. Unfortunately, our attempts to gather and analyze information related to the development of new transmission infrastructure to accommodate the boom in solar development faced unanticipated obstacles. First and foremost, the highly sensitive and secure nature of transmission data made it difficult to obtain information unless formally working with a government agency. Second, information that was available was often incomplete, insufficiently labeled, or dated, and never included any information on the specifics of proposed transmission. However, we believe that the ecological impacts related to transmission are both unavoidable and significant, and thus should not be overlooked.

There are currently two professional models and assessments of transmission in development: the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI) model and the Planning Alternative Corridors for Transmission (PACT) model. The RETI model is a joint effort by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the California Energy Commission (CEC), the California Independent System Operator (CalISO), and various utilities working in the state.4 The goal of RETI is to identify the location and nature of upgrades needed to California’s electric transmission system necessary to connect to competitive renewable energy zones (labeled as CREZs) to fulfill the state’s energy demands. The RETI model also includes some analysis of the potential environmental impacts related
to the build-out of transmission infrastructure. The PACT model is slightly less well-known and is being developed by the CEC to assist in identifying and developing the best routes for new transmission lines. As these models represent the most comprehensive and up-to-date information available as of this writing, we highly recommend that individuals and organizations working on renewable energy development make maximum use of these two models to inform their decisions.

Although the RETI model is one of the most comprehensive analyses to date, there are still areas of this issue that would benefit from additional research. One key concern is that Black & Veatch, the consulting firm working on the model, chose to exclude the costs of environmental mitigation as a factor in the economic analysis of transmission development. This is a relatively substantial omission. Due to the large amount of new transmission infrastructure that will need to be built, the mitigation requirements are also likely to be substantial. We believe this area in particular should be a prime consideration for future research. back

1 Jim Andre. Director, UC Riverside’s Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center. Personal Communication. October 5 2009.

2 Jim Andre. Director, UC Riverside’s Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center. Personal Communication. October 5 2009.   

3 United States Department of Energy. Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability. “Overview of the Electric Grid”. http://sites.energetics.com/gridworks/grid.html (accessed May 30 2009).

4 RETI Stakeholder Steering Committee, “Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative: Phase 1B Final Report”, RETI Coordinating Committee,January2009.