Wind power planning,landscapes and publics

Renewable energy is currently undergoing a renaissance. Efforts to achieve national targets that have announced forward invariably impact on the appearance of the physical landscape, and raise issues of spatial planning. Proponents of renewable energy—sometimes, planners themselves—have often taken the support of environmental NGOs and the wider public for granted, as they perceive renewable energy facilities to be ‘clean’, ‘green’ and a continuation of traditional technologies such as wind and water mills. But whilst large sections of the population in developed countries are indeed in principle in favour of renewables, in practice proposed facilities have often given rise to considerable public concerns.     

Spatial analyses of emerging and fading wind energy landscapes in Denmark

The development of wind energy in Denmark goes back 30 years, during which the technology was commercialised, up scaled and a series of planning systems were developed. After the millennium, the impact on landscapes increased, the planning regime failed and economic conditions were worsened with the removal of the fixed feed in tariff. The earlier forerunner country is left in the lee of the internationally boosting wind energy business. From a land use policy view it is interesting to analyse how this has happened and what impact the planning policy has had on the landscape effect of wind energy. In order to analyse the impact of wind turbine development through times and on the population of a region, the present paper analyses by means of geographical information systems and in time steps. The spatial relations between population, landscapes and the wind turbine development from 1982 to 2007 were modelled for the Northern Jutland region by means of proximity, density and visibility analyses. Results indicate that development was not continuous and impact on landscape and population was closely related to technology development. The paper concludes on the use of these methods and on the effectiveness of planning regimes.     

Adaptive responses to landscape changes from onshore wind energy development in the Republic of Ireland

Covering 26 years of Irish onshore wind energy development, this article tracks patterns in landscape changes from wind farm construction and identifies adaptive responses in public policy and by stakeholder groups. Wind farms face well-documented challenges with social acceptance due to landscape changes; however, little research has examined interactions between landscape change and social adaptations over the long-term. This article systematically reviews 20 policy documents, undertakes spatio-temporal linear modeling of 212 wind farms using 9 landscape change metrics, and analyzes 5 stakeholder group interviews on adaptive responses to landscape changes. Upward trends occur in turbine height, impact accumulation, placement in agricultural landscapes, construction delays, and new farms built per year. Downward trends occur in the number of turbines per farm, visual disruption of protected areas, and placement in wetlands. Key patterns in stakeholder groups’ adaptations include conflicting interpretations of landscape amenities and evolution, and expanded community outreach, networking, and public participation after exposure to infrastructure. Stakeholders adapt to existing infrastructure separately from adapting strategies to respond to new wind farms. Overall, a mutual relationship emerges wherein landscape changes from wind farms respond to policies and stakeholder activities, while policies and stakeholder groups adapt to the physical realities of landscape change.     

Trialling a method to quantify the ‘cultural services’ of the English landscape using Countryside Survey data

Increasing pressure on natural resources driven by population growth and higher levels of individual resource consumption have led to the need to measure and ultimately place values on the diversity of ecosystem services supported by land in order to manage it appropriately. The complexity underlying the provision of many seemingly simple ecosystem services, e.g. drinking water, make the process of identifying and making appropriate measures far from simple. Cultural services, defined as the nonmaterial benefits that people obtain from ecosystems, comprise a range of experiences of nature which enhance human well-being in a variety of ways. Measurement of the experiential benefits of ecosystems has proved difficult, despite their acknowledged importance. This paper describes a novel approach for providing measures of cultural services at national scale (England). The interdisciplinary approach described combines data from a national survey of the biophysical components of the UK countryside with data collected from regional assessments of experiential qualities of landscape in England. The paper discusses the results, merits and limitations of the datasets and approaches used.     

Social landscape: Ten years of planning ‘valuable landscapes’ in Estonia

This paper gives an overview of theme planning on designating valuable landscapes in Estonia (1999–2003) and traces its impacts through the decade up to the present. We claim that in addition to the mapped list of valuable landscapes and their attributes as we have described them, this planning exercise called forth changes in society as well as in landscapes and their appreciation. As the project applied participatory planning tools unprecedented in post-communist Estonia, the Estonian word for landscape (maastik) is now being used more in everyday language, according to the way its meaning altered in the process.     

The ‘Neighbourhood Effect’: A multidisciplinary assessment of the case for farmer co-ordination in agri-environmental programmes

In this paper we present a multi-disciplinary analysis of the potential impacts of undertaking similar environmental actions on multiple farms in a small geographic area, using organic farming as a proxy for a co-ordinated approach. Recent papers have called for more co-ordinated efforts between farmers in terms of their environmental actions, but there has been limited applied research demonstrating the environmental benefits or the economic and social implications to farmers of this approach. Comparative analysis of biodiversity, soil and water, and farm profitability were undertaken in England on 32 matched farms in areas of low and high organic farming concentration; qualitative interviews were also conducted with 48 farmers living in two of the eight areas. Findings demonstrate higher overall levels of biodiversity on organic farms (particularly in “hotspot” areas) but this was not universal across the species groups investigated. Higher water infiltration rates were found in organic grasslands, which could prove to be a useful measure to combat flooding. In terms of the technical efficiency of producing these environmental gains, conventional and organic farms in hotspot areas demonstrated equivalent efficiency from a financial perspective. Socio-cultural research identified the different amounts of trust farmers have in their neighbours, based in part on their performance as ‘good farmers’. We discuss the neighbourhood effect with a multi-disciplinary approach and conclude that encouraging local farmer co-ordination can have clear environmental benefits without high economic cost, but must be undertaken with caution - specifically regarding the trade-offs between benefits, local geophysical and social characteristics, and assumptions made about inter-farmer trust.     

The mismatch between regional spatial planning for wind power development in Germany and national eligibility criteria for feed-in tariffs—A case study in West Saxony

In future, wind power is to contribute decisively toward achieving climate policy goals. It can accomplish this, however, only if sufficient space for erecting wind turbines (WTs) is made available. In Europe we currently observe the trend that administrative landscape protection counteracts the desired development. Especially in Germany, the country that leads the world thus far in terms of installed capacity for wind power, the planning authorities are moving toward limiting locally available sites by designating so-called priority and suitability areas. These areas give the erection of WTs priority over other types of land uses but prohibit the erection of WTs outside these areas. The scale and the placement of these areas will be of great significance in future for securing wind energy supply at the regional level and thus for accomplishing national goals in climate policy. According to the regulations in the law revising the legal status of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, EEG, 2009), payment for wind power feed-in to the grid is granted only if, with regard to energy production, the WT to be erected yields at least 60% of a pre-defined standard performance level. With this regulation, the EEG wishes to prevent erecting WTs at locations inefficient for energy production. At the same time, however, higher standards are placed on the allocation of VE areas (priority and suitability areas) as a result. This poses the question: Does regional planning conform to such standards? With the example of the planning region West Saxony, we will evaluate the role the designation of VE areas plays in achieving Germany's wind energy ambitions. The case study reveals that the strategic search of VE areas by the regional planning authorities, involving local stakeholders and the public, hampers investment in state-of-the-art WTs as fostered by the EEG (2009). This leads us to the general conclusion that, even with a participatory design of strategic planning and a determined governmental policy, deployment of the wind resource is not a fast-selling item that in future may contribute decisively toward achieving the ambitious goals in energy and climate policy.     

Land use changes in protected areas and their future: The legal effectiveness of landscape protection

It is expected that the application of a restrictive legal instrument would be an important barrier to human pressures on protected areas in Brazil. One aspect that remains to be determined is whether the applied restrictions will be related to the quality of scenarios at the borders of protected areas. The objective of this work was to analyze the capacity for minimizing the impacts on two protected areas and to identify the effective function of the barrier imposed by an environmental legal border. The borders of two protected areas, the Despraiado Sustainable Development Reserve and the Jureia-Itatins State Ecological Station, as well as the corresponding buffer zone were studied. The historical evolution of the land cover/land use of these regions was analyzed by dividing the regions into 900 m² hexagonal units. The scenarios for the years 1962, 1980 and 2007 were overlaid for each hexagon. The hexagons were classified according to the possible effects of conservation, and the results were quantified in terms of the frequency of land use and ecological flows. A simulation of future land use in 2028 was performed using the Kappa index, Markov chain modeling, multi-criteria analysis and cellular automata modeling. Based on the trend for the last 45 years, a very dynamic interaction at the legal boundaries was identified; in certain cases, either conservation or degradation were stimulated, and the intended objectives of legal environmental measures were never fulfilled. The simulation showed that by 2028, the frontiers of these protected areas will retain less than 10% of the natural vegetation cover, and 43% of this area will be covered with banana plantations.     

福建东山县景观生态建设的探讨

在景观生态学理论的指导下,对东山县景观生态现状进行分析,得出随着社会的发展,景观类型破碎化程度加大,林地景观逐渐减少,农田景观和居民点及独立工矿景观逐渐增加,生态环境在逐步退化的结论;提出生态农业区和生态旅游区等景观生态建设途径。     

Sustainability and the multifunctional landscape: An assessment of approaches to planning and management in the Cairngorms National Park

Upland Scotland contains some of Britain's most prized areas of natural heritage value. However, although such areas may appear both ‘wild’ and ‘remote’, these are typically working landscapes which symbolise the interdependence of nature and society. The complexity of this relationship means that management responses will need to address a multitude of potentially conflicting priorities whilst at the same time ensuring that sufficient social and institutional capital exists to allow for the promotion of landscape integrity. The introduction of national parks to Scotland in the form of the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 allows for a high-level of protection for designated areas in upland Scotland. Yet, whilst the recent Act outlines the statutory purpose and direction national parks should take, it allows a significant degree of flexibility in the way in which the Act may be implemented. This level of discretion allows for significant local distinctiveness within the model but also raises questions about the potential effectiveness of chosen responses. In order to assess the potential implications of a model rooted in self-determination, we provide a case study review of the institutional basis of the Cairngorms National Park along with an assessment of the strategic character of the first National Park Plan. It is argued that whilst the Cairngorms National Park Authority has developed a significant level of stakeholder engagement, the authority may struggle to bridge the policy-implementation gap. Although a number of shortcomings are identified, particular concerns relate to the potential mismatch between strategic ambition and local level capacity.     

The role of landscape amenities in regional development: Evidence from Swiss municipality data

Several recent regional and migration studies have identified landscape amenities as potentially important drivers of migration and local economic change in the United States. To date, these empirical approaches have rarely been applied to European data in spite of an impressive European cultural landscape heritage. Here, we apply a regional adjustment model to data from 2467 municipalities in Switzerland to examine how landscape amenities and related policies affected regional development along with fiscal, demographic and infrastructure variables in the period from 1995 to 2005. In the population equation, the coefficients of the standard variables show a consistent pattern that parallels the findings of earlier work. Moreover, we find that population was positively affected by closeness to major lakes and by abundance of open space. However evidence on positive effects of traditional landscape elements such as extensive orchards and vineyards is limited. Furthermore, municipalities with national heritage townscapes grew less than those without, while the density of hiking trails had no significant effect. In the employment equation, employment was consistently affected by demographic factors and accessibility but not by the landscape amenity variables, except that employment grew less in municipalities that are part of an inventory of nationally significant landscapes. The lack of measurable local benefits from nationally significant landscapes and townscapes suggests that policies to preserve these amenities should be implemented and financed by the national government.     

Cultural landscapes and behavioral transformations: An agent-based model for the simulation and discussion of alternative landscape futures in East Lesvos,Greece

Agricultural intensification and abandonment have been identified as two of the more prominent and polarizing drivers of landscape change in Europe. These transitions may induce deterioration in landscape functioning and character, particularly in cultural landscapes demonstrative of evolving human-environment dynamics that have sustained environmental benefits through time. Cultural and behavioral motives are important root influences to such landscape transitions, yet efforts to address landscape degradation are often hampered by a failure to account for the heterogeneous decision-making nature of its agents of change and the inherent complexity of socio-ecological systems. Novel techniques are required to further disentangle responses to multi-level drivers and discuss alternative landscape development trajectories. Agent-based models constructed by means of participatory approaches present increasingly applied tools in this context. This study sought to capture and model the future perspectives emerging from presently occurring farming discourses in the region of Gera (Lesvos, Greece), characterized by persistent abandonment of its traditionally managed olive plantations. We constructed an agent-based model iteratively in collaboration with the local farming community and experts in landscape research. Empirical findings informed the model through the construction of a farmer typology, revealing a heavy reliance of the farming community upon sectorial profitability, prevalent cultural farming motives and emerging landscape initiatives. The model examined the de-coupled role of agricultural profitability and landscapes initiatives in shaping the behavior of land managers, mapping alternative landscape futures over a period of 25 years. Model results illustrate both increased profitability and action by landscape initiatives are required to reverse abandonment trends within the simulated time frame. The hypothesized ability of landscape initiatives to maintain and promote a cultural drive amongst adhering farmers is crucial for securing behavioral transformations towards professionalism. This study confirmed agent-based modelling to be intuitively received by stakeholders who significantly contributed to model structure refinement and the rejection of a status quo scenario.     

A method for analysing and planning rural built-up landscapes: The case of Sardinia,Italy

The implementation of the European Landscape Convention has paved the way for innovative tools able to analyse scattered and medium-small size elements, far beyond the usual isolated relevant landmarks. In this context, planners have been confronted with the problem of defining those characteristics of rural landscapes which are typical of agricultural and forestry activities and ecosystems. The specific focus on rural landscapes has attracted the interest of international scientists. They have approached the question from many perspectives, but have rarely analysed the interplay between landscapes, buildings, and settlements. In this paper we design and apply a method which is able to define, analyse and plan built-up rural landscapes. This method is based on organizing qualitative and quantitative landscape information in fact sheets, a tool that was often used in the last generation of landscape atlases in Italy. We have investigated three landscape units in Sardinia, Italy, one of the first administrations to approve a regional landscape plan which conformed with the European Landscape Convention. Our evidence demonstrates that the method is powerful, as it helps in the identification of the main characteristics of each rural built-up landscape and the drafting of general planning propositions. In particular, the method proves useful in stressing the cross-fertilization between building types and the shape of the rural landscapes: single story buildings on plains and multi-story buildings in mountainous areas. While the method is clearly influenced by the European Landscape Convention and the Italian local regulations, it is based on general principles and can be applied, with proper adaptations, to other cases worldwide.     

Unravelling the dynamics of access to farmland in Tigray,Ethiopia: The ‘emerging land market’ revisited

This article uses ethnographic evidence from Tigray to revisit the debate on informal rural land markets in present-day Ethiopia. It explores informal farmland rental from a historico-anthropological, micro-analytical perspective in relation to the formal allocation of land use rights and to other informal land transfer practices. It shows how different rationales for land rental give rise to different socially embedded tenancy configurations. On the basis of this empirical evidence, the paper questions the appropriateness of the common idea that in Ethiopia ‘the land rental market is expanding’. It argues that research and policy thinking on land in Ethiopia could gain analytical power and relevance by adopting a less monolithic and abstract view on people's informal land transfer practices.     

Modelling the likely impact of healthy eating guidelines on agricultural production and land use in England and Wales

Quadratic programming techniques were applied to household food consumption data in England and Wales to estimate likely changes in diet under healthy eating guidelines, and the consequences this would have on agriculture and land use in England and Wales. The first step entailed imposing nutrient restrictions on food consumption following dietary recommendations suggested by the UK Department of Health. The resulting diet was used, in a second step as a proxy for demand in agricultural commodities, to test the impact of such a scenario on food production and land use in England and Wales and the impacts of this on agricultural landscapes. Results of the diet optimisation indicated a large drop in consumption of foods rich in saturated fats and sugar, essentially cheese and sugar-based products, along with lesser cuts of fat and meat products. Conversely, consumption of fruit and vegetables, cereals, and flour would increase to meet dietary fibre recommendations. Such a shift in demand would dramatically affect production patterns: the financial net margin of England and Wales agriculture would rise, due to increased production of high market value and high economic margin crops. Some regions would, however, be negatively affected, mostly those dependent on beef cattle and sheep production that could not benefit from an increased demand for cereals and horticultural crops. The effects of these changes would also be felt in upstream industries, such as animal feed suppliers. While arable dominated landscapes would be little affected, pastoral landscapes would suffer through loss of grazing management and, possibly, land abandonment, especially in upland areas.     

The impact of collaboration on research about rural buildings and landscape: A case study in Italy

The importance of collaboration among peers in science is widely investigated: an essential issue is the relevance of credits shared among scholars for the good faith and cooperation in research projects. Despite its significance, so far in Italy the usefulness of collaboration in research activities is not taken in due consideration by both scientific community and research assessment bodies. In this study, the main aim is at investigating the actual up today extent of scientific collaboration among colleagues belonging to the Italian Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SDS) “AGR10 Rural buildings and agro-forest land planning”. We focus on research projects dealing with territory, landscape and rural buildings with the scope of raising consciousness on the key role of collaboration with other SDSs, international institutions or organizations. We harvested data through an on-line questionnaire about several research projects, scrutinized the responses, and found that the core area of current research developed by AGR10 colleagues includes topics concerning the analysis and planning of landscape. Furthermore, we found that the design of international project proposals attains mostly rural buildings and rural heritage analysis, reuse and enhancement, rural buildings and landscape integration, and rural buildings design. While the size of partnerships on international research activities is still limited, as for external synergies the SDS AGR01 ‘Agricultural Economics and Rural Appraisal’ is the most representative, and other SDSs involving ‘Ecology’ and ‘Informatics’ deserve to be mentioned. So, this study has been designed with the secondary aim of stimulating Italian -as well as other international- scientific communities in promoting similar investigations concerning the importance of collaboration and cross-fertilization for successful research activities. As a major output, official national or international research assessment authorities would be provided by a method for better appreciating the usefulness of collaboration and interdisciplinarity.     

The Role of Ownership in Determining the Rural Economic Benefits of On‐shore Wind Farms

The development of the wind energy sector is often promoted as a means of supporting rural economies. This paper focuses on how the ownership structure of on‐shore wind power plants (external, farmer or community) affects the size and distribution of impacts within the rural part of a region. Empirical analysis is based on a regional computable general equilibrium model of North East Scotland with the results compared to those generated from a standard social accounting matrix multiplier analysis. With no local ownership, while rural GDP increases, there is almost no effect on household incomes due to the limited direct linkages of the on‐shore wind sector. Local ownership increases the household income benefits but there are still limited positive spill‐over effects on the wider economy unless factor income is re‐invested in local capital. With re‐investment, farm household ownership gives rise to the largest increase in total household income but community ownership gives rise to the largest increase in rural (non‐farm) household incomes and welfare. The results contribute to the on‐going debate about the opportunity cost of external asset ownership in rural areas.     

The Value of Badger Populations and Control of Tuberculosis in Cattle in England and Wales: A Note

This note reports on the results of a choice experiment survey of 400 people in England and Wales, conducted to estimate the value that society places on changes to the size of the badger population. The study was undertaken in the context of the possible need to reduce the badger population by culling to help control bovine tuberculosis in cattle. The study found that people were concerned about the problem of bovine tuberculosis in cattle, which was reflected in their willingness to pay to control the disease, and gave a relatively low value to changes in the size of the badger population (within limits). However, people did not like the idea of a policy that intentionally killed large numbers of badgers and had a relatively very high willingness to pay not to have such a policy.     

环境管理与中国能源资源的开发利用

文章对我国能源资源开发利用的现状及对环境的负面影响进行了全面的分析 ,指出能源资源的开发利用对环境的负面影响除了自然的、科学技术方面的原因外 ,大多是管理上的问题 ,认为通过加强环境管理 ,很多问题可以得到解决。在此基础上提出了能源资源环境管理的概念、内容和原则。