Defenders' Experts
Renewable Energy and Wildlife Habitat Considerations
Renewable Energy and Wildlife Habitat Considerations
Defenders of Wildlife strongly supports expanded development of renewable sources of energy. Doing so will help reduce emission of greenhouse gases, which contribute to global climate change. Generating power using wind, solar and other renewable resources will reduce the need for coal-fired and nuclear power plants, which will improve air quality and reduce the dangers associated with nuclear power and radioactive waste. Expansion of renewable energy resources in the U.S. will also help us reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and, in turn, our dependence on oil exporting nations.
While there are many advantages to expanding the use of renewable resources to generate heat electricity and replace gasoline as automotive fuel, we also recognize that even clean, renewable energy can have environmental impacts. These impacts can take the form of land requirements for growing biomass energy or siting wind farms, the construction of new facilities and roads, and other issues associated with the production and transmission of renewable energy. Defenders has taken a closer look at three types of renewable energy: biomass, wind and geothermal, and we present here our recommendations for development of these resources in a manner that reduces adverse impacts on wildlife habitat and the environment.
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Wind Energy In 2005, wind energy generated over 17 billion kilowatt-hours in the U.S., enough electricity to power 1.6 million homes. By 2020, wind energy could supply about 6% of the nations electricity. Geothermal Energy Geothermal energy uses the heat beneath the Earths surface to heat buildings or create electricity. Biomass Energy Biomass energy is energy derived from recently living (as opposed to fossil) biomass. |
