Renewables reduce land demand – strategic placement, supply side options, and innovation means less land in use

Distributed energy and energy efficiency can further reduce land demand

But the story doesn’t end there, because there are multiple ways to reduce the footprint of a 100% renewable energy system (or really, any energy system). In particular, distributed renewable energy generation – like rooftop solar, especially with battery energy storage – and improved energy efficiency could significantly reduce the amount of large-scale wind, solar, and transmission infrastructure the U.S. will have to build.

According to NREL, the U.S. has over 1,100 gigawatts (GW) of rooftop solar technical potential. The Net-Zero America and NREL analyses each include less than 17% of that potential in their respective future clean energy systems. Going big on rooftop solar would significantly reduce the land use of a future energy system, reducing the need for utility-scale generation infrastructure and transmission infrastructure. And the panels don’t have to be put only on people’s homes: big retail stores, warehouses and even parking lots could be important locations for distributed solar energy generation.

The two analyses, similarly, model less improvement in energy efficiency than is possible. While electrification and the transition to renewable energy improve efficiency in and of themselves by eliminating reliance on wasteful fossil fuel combustion, there are further opportunities to reduce energy use. For example, the NREL analysis specifies that it examines only “supply-side” options and notes that a similar report examining pathways to net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050 included the possibility of much more energy efficiency (and slightly less electrification), leading to 21% lower demand for electricity and 16%-20% less generation capacity needed in 2035 than in NREL’s reference assumptions. Less demand for electricity and less generation capacity needed would mean less land is required to generate and transmit that electricity.

Finally, maximizing the use of other tools, like demand response and distributed energy storage, would also help mold energy demand to supply and reduce the amount of generation capacity needed for a 100% renewable energy system. Increasing the use of other conservation methods – like taking more trips by walking, biking or public transportation instead of by car, or ordering and consuming less stuff in general – could reduce energy demand as well. And if wind and solar technologies continue to improve faster than expected, it may take less land than NREL and Net-Zero America modeled to provide the same amount of power.