Solar Siting and Land-Use in Decarbonized Energy Systems

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The solar energy needed to decarbonize the electricity sector will require the use of millions of acres of land, but current modeling does not account for land use in a detailed way. The goal of this project is to better understand how various land uses or restrictions on solar deployment could impact the cost of decarbonizing the power sector. The team will compile data on the effects of future infrastructure development, climate change, and urbanization on the availability of land for solar installations. The data sets, modeling tools, and scenarios will be publicly available so researchers and the energy industry can generate future energy scenarios.

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