Sustainable Renewable Energy Planning in the Alps

120 Pages·2015·3.87 MB·English

Sustainable
Renewable Energy Planning
in the Alps
A handbook for experts
& decision makers
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Impressum
Publisher: recharge.green project
Editorial responsibility: SVADLENAK-GOMEZ, Karin1; TRAMBEREND, Peter6; WALZER, Chris1
Copy editing: READ, Brigitte6; LAMB, Ulrike6
Authors:
BALEST, Jessica8; BERCHTOLD-DOMIG, Markus21; BERTIN, Simone15; CIOLLI, Marco16; GAREGNANI, Giulia8; GEITNER,
Clemens7; GERI, Francesco16; GRILLI, Gianluca8; GROS, Julie8; HAIMERL, Gerhard4; HASTIK, Richard7; KRALJ,
Tomaž2; KRAXNER, Florian10; KUENZER, Nina20; LEDUC, Sylvain10; MIOTELLO, Francesca15; PALETTO, Alessandro17;
PETRINJAK, Alenka14; PISKE, Rok13; POLJANEC, Aleš5; PORTACCIO, Alessia18; SACCHELLI, Sandro19; SERRANO LEON,
Hernan10; SIMONČIČ, Tina5; SVADLENAK-GOMEZ, Karin1; VETTORATO, Daniele8; VRŠČAJ, Borut2; ZAMBELLI, Pietro8;
ZANGRANDO, Erica15; WALZER, Chris1
With contributions from:
AJMONE MARSAN, Franco (University of Turin); GIRAUDO, Luca (Natural Park of Maritime Alps); GOMEZ-ECHEVERRI, Luis
(Sustainable Energy for All - SE4ALL); NORDSTRÖM, Eva-Maria (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences - SLU);
PETTENELLA, Davide (University of Padova); REITERER, Markus (Alpine Convention); RÜF, Franz (Regional Development
of Vorarlberg); ZAFRAN, Janez (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food); ZEN, Sergio (Regione del Veneto)
Layout: SiDizajn
Photo credits: Photo front-page, Richard Bartz Munich, Makro Freak
Project partners:
1 - Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology (FIWI) of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, lead partner;
2 - Agricultural Institute of Slovenia (AIS); 3 - Agroscope – Swiss research into agriculture, nutrition and the
environment; 4 - Bavarian electric power company (BEW); 5 - Department for forestry and renewable forest
resources, University of Ljubljana; 6 - Environment Agency Austria; 7 - Institute for Geography, University of
Innsbruck; 8 - European Academy of Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC); 9 - International Commission for the Protection
of the Alps (CIPRA); 11 - International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA); 12 - Regional Development
Vorarlberg; 13 - Slovenia Forest Service; 14 - Triglav National Park; 15 - Veneto Region - Office for Economics and
the Development of Mountain Areas; 22 - Institut de la Montagne of the Université de Savoie
Project observers:
Alpine Town of the Year Association, Austrian Institute of Economic Research, ARPAV/Veneto Regional Agency for
Prevention and Environmental Protection, Austrian Biomass Association, Canton St. Gallen/Office for Environment
and Energy, Consorzio Bim Piave, Eawag/Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Institute for
Ecological Energy at the Bavarian Environment Agency, Office of the Lower Austrian Government/Department of
Rural Development, Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention, Platform Ecological Network of the Alpine
Convention, Province of Bolzano, Regional Governmental Office of the Land Salzburg/Department of Spatial
Planning, Regional Governmental Office of the Land Vorarlberg, Veneto Region
Other Contributors:
16 - Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering (DICAM-UNITN) University of Trento (Italy);
17 - Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), Forest Monitoring and Planning Research Unit (Italy);
18 - University of Padova; 19 - University of Florence; 20 - blue! advancing european projects GbR, 21 - Heimaten
September 2015
Download: http://www.recharge-green.eu/
ISBN: 978-3-200-04346-6
S R e P a / 3
uStainable enewable neRgy lanning in the lPS
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Table of
Contents
Executive summary 5
1 Balancing Alpine energy and nature – the project recharge.green 7
Interview: A view from outside the Alps 8
2 Social science and ecosystem services 13
Interview: The importance of valuation of ecosystem services 14
2.1 Introduction of the ecosystem services approach 15
Science: Total Economic Value of ecosystem services 17
2.2 Participatory processes and social impact assessment 18
Science: Social Impact Assessment 20
Science: Challenges of the participatory approach 23
Best practice example: Stakeholder involvement in the Maè valley pilot region 25
2.3 Ecosystem services and soil functions 26
3 Decision support systems 29
Interview: The role of social science and decision support systems 30
3.1 Short general introduction to decision support systems 31
3.2 Introduction to strategic environmental assessment 33
Science: The use of GIS as a tool for Strategic Environmental Assessment 35
3.3 An Alpine wide DSS model for optimal plant location decisions 37
Science: The BeWhere model 40
3.4 An Alps-wide spatially explicit DSS for assessment and planning 41
of renewable energy potential
3.5 The DSS biomass-energy-biodiversity-landscape management system (BEBL) 45
in Triglav National Park
3.6 The spatially explicit DSS “WISDOM” model in Triglav National Park 49
3.7 A visual DSS approach that captures complexity – the Sample Hectare method 51
in Leiblach, Vorarlberg
3.8 The benefits and drawbacks of DSS 55
3.9 Some notes on data requirements 57
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4 Ecosystem services and biodiversity scenarios 60
Interview: Renewable energy development in Vorarlberg 61
4.1 Renewable energy impacts on provisioning services 62
4.2 Impacts on regulating and maintenance services 63
4.3 Impacts on cultural services 65
Interview: The importance of considering soils when valuing ecosystem services 66
4.4 Scenario discussion 67
5 Renewable energy exploitation and ecosystem 70
services: Alpine region and pilot area analysis
5.1 The recharge.green approach: results and best practices 71
Interview: Alpine Convention: towards “Renewable Alps” 77
5.2 The decision support system and the participatory approach in the 78
Mis and Maé valleys
Interview: What makes a DSS useful for public administrations? 84
5.3 Trade-off between energy exploitation and ecosystem services in 85
Gesso and Vermenagna valleys
5.4 Strategic environmental assessment in the bioenergy sector: 90
the natural capital concept and the environmental impacts
Interview: Ecosystem services in the Gesso and Vermenagna valleys 97
Science: Mapping ecosystem services 98
5.5 Forest biomass use and biodiversity in Triglav National Park 99
5.6 A best practice example from Slovenia that considers ecosystem services 108
Interview: A good forest management plan is the foundation for 109
balancing energy use and nature
5.7 A best practice example from Bavaria that benefits fish populations 110
Science: The Water Framework Directive 112
5.8 The potential for developing renewable energy in Leiblachtal, Vorarlberg 113
Best: Free and open source software in research projects 118
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Executive summary
The Alps, with their long cultural history factors. But how can decision-makers
and unique geographic and geological make better land-use planning deci-
particularities, are a biodiversity hot- sions?
spot. This extraordinary biodiversity,
and the ecosystem services resulting The recharge.green project concerned
from it, is being threatened by various itself with evaluating both the poten-
anthropogenic pressures, including tials and the trade-offs involved in ex-
climate change. Climate change miti- panding renewable energy production
gation measures such as the increased in the Alps. 16 partners from 6 Alpine
use of renewable energy can have both countries, including members of na-
positive and negative effects on the tional parks, local government, aca-
Alpine region. Siting decisions for new demia, civil society, and the private sec-
renewable energy production facilities, tor, have jointly developed a set of tools
whether hydropower, biomass, wind, to facilitate decision-making on renew-
or solar power, have to be carefully able energy extraction in the Alps. The
evaluated, taking into account not only tools can help to evaluate the ´renewa-
technical and economic potential, but ble energy carrying capacity’ of the bio-
also ecological sustainability and social diversity-rich Alpine ecosystems.
Chapter 1 provided by Alpine ecosystems. Soil eco-
provides a brief overview of historic and cur- system services are highlighted as an ex-
rent developments in the Alps and presents ample of the complexity of ecosystems and
a summary of the recharge.green project. It the impacts renewable energy may have on
outlines the economic and political dimen- them. The chapter discusses the potential
sions of land-use decisions and introduces conflicts that may develop between nature
established methodologies for calculating conservation and ecosystem services, and
the social costs of public investments. It among different types of ecosystem servic-
briefly introduces the concept of ecosystem es. The chapter then relates the participa-
services and the complexities associated tory process needed to involve stakehold-
with valuing these services. It then pre- ers and to integrate their perspectives into
sents a cursory introduction to the decision planning processes to avoid social conflict.
support tools developed by recharge.green, Such a process was implemented in the re-
which are explained in more detail in later charge.green pilot regions in relation to the
chapters. The tools are useful for obtaining valuation of ecosystem services and stake-
an overview of renewable energy production holder preferences for different renewable
siting options, insights into the potential en- energy development scenarios. Some of the
vironmental costs these will engender and implemented stakeholder involvement ex-
ultimately provide a basis for implementa- ercises are highlighted in the form of “best
tion of plant siting decisions. practice” examples.
Chapter 2 Chapter 3
introduces the role of social sciences in land explores the role of decision support sys-
use planning and renewable energy planning. tems in renewable energy planning. There
It goes into some detail on ecosystem ser- are different kinds of decision support sys-
vices approaches, including valuation meth- tems, but in general they are computerized
ods, with particular reference to the services tools that help users to identify solutions
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for complex situations. recharge.green de- Chapter 5
veloped four such systems, each targeted goes into the specific results produced by
at different levels and pilot regions in Aus- recharge.green. It presents the protection
tria, Italy, and Slovenia. One of the principal constraints that IIASA´s decision support
challenges for all computerized systems is system includes according to different sce-
obtaining sufficient and accurate input data. narios of protection levels. Depending on
Such data are often not available or costly to the protection level chosen, different rec-
obtain. DSS can be extremely powerful tools, ommendations will be made by the system.
and in recharge.green they have helped to This highlights the importance of properly
foster discussions, highlight conflicts and defining protected area management ob-
possible solutions. They are relatively easy jectives for each area under consideration,
to run, but may still require experts to oper- before applying the model to evaluate siting
ate them properly. They should also not be decisions for different types of renewable
thought of as providing one-stop solutions. energy. The chapter then zooms into the
They can bring science into decision-making project´s pilot regions and presents the sys-
processes, but still require careful reflection, tems and approaches used in the Veneto re-
planning and ultimately implementation. gion (Italy), Piedmont region (Italy), Triglav
National Park (Slovenia), Altusried (Bavar-
Chapter 4 ia, Germany), and Leiblachtal in Vorarlberg
homes in on the impacts renewable energy (Austria). Each of these regions had its own
production can have on ecosystem services special focus and applied various tools in
in greater detail. It differentiates between different ways. All regions, however, placed
forest biomass, hydropower, wind power, great emphasis on participatory approach-
and solar power impacts on provisioning, es, which are key to creating social support
regulating and maintenance, and cultur- for decisions and projects, in the domain of
al ecosystem services, using the Common renewable energy planning and elsewhere.
International Classification of Ecosystem
Services. Most impacts depend on par- We invite you to also read our additional
ticular management regimes and additional publications, which are available for down-
measures, but we have highlighted the major load on the recharge.green website http://
conflicts and their dimensions, which require www.recharge-green.eu/downloads/. In the
trade-off decisions. download links you will also find a link to the
online Decision Support Tool “JECAMI”, where
you can find some geographically explicit
visualization tools that recharge.green has
developed.
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Balancing Alpine
1
energy and nature
– the project
recharge.green
Authors:
SVADLENAK-GOMEZ1, Karin; WALZER, Chris1
„As fossil fuel-based energy sources are phased out, new decentralized energy production
patterns must be supported by social and environmental tax reforms and policies that pro-
mote energy efficiency and minimise ecosystem impacts. The regional scale seems appro-
priate to elaborate sustainable energy concepts. A “sustainable energy vision for the Alps” is
needed and should ensure that energy production is harmonised with the goals of nature and
landscape protection.” (CIPRA , FIWI, UIBK)
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Interview:
A view from outside the Alps
Luis Gomez-echeverri, msc., senior Advisor to sustAinAbLe enerGy for ALL (se4ALL) initiAtive
Question: The EU needs to decrease its across sectors. This is both an institutional
greenhouse gas emissions and has launched problem and a problem created by the lack
ambitious plans to increase renewable en- of tools for policy makers to allow them to
ergy production across its entire territory. analyse the trade-offs and impacts of their
The European Council has also asked the decisions. We need better tools for policy
Commission to elaborate an EU Strategy for analysis and to promote synergies across
the Alpine Region , which aims to ensure that sectors. But the tools need to be backed up
the region retains its Alpine natural (biodi- by sound analytical frameworks that allow
versity) and cultural heritage while seizing us to make projections even when there is
opportunities for sustainable and innovative a lack of data (for example modelling tools
development in a European context. The that use the most relevant science for the
Luis Gomez-Echeverri is a Senior production and use of energy in the Alps is region to which they are applied). Tools that
Advisor to the Executive Office
not happening in a vacuum. What global clearly identify the trade-offs will definitely
of the UN Secretary General on
patterns do you see affecting developments facilitate and improve policy dialogue.
the “Sustainable Energy for All
in Alpine countries?
(SE4ALL)” programme. He spear-
Answer: Global demands will increasingly Question: You are involved in a project that
headed and led the start up of
put pressures on the region´s natural re- aims to dramatically expand energy access
the SE4ALL programme in over
70 developing countries. Before sources, unless stringent protection meas- for people living in developing countries.
coming to IIASA in 2007 to work ures are in effect. One of the major global Are issues such as those we looked at in
on the Global Energy Assess- trends that will also affect the Alpine region recharge.green at all a concern in this pro-
ment, he had a long career work- is of course climate change, with impacts cess?
ing on sustainable development, across several areas: Changing weather Answer: Despite the fact that we are deal-
energy, environment and climate patterns may have an effect on energy de- ing with totally different conditions, there
change issues with the UNDP and
mand and potentials in the region and on are some common features in the challeng-
UNFCCC.
linked sectors such as water, food produc- es that we face. Providing energy access is
tion and health. Ecosystem changes may not simply about linking people to an electric
lead to migration patterns that could affect transmission line. A large number of factors
energy demand and have effects on fragile come into the question how to provide that
ecosystems. On the positive side, renewable energy in the most sustainable way: what
energy technology improvements, particu- is the cleanest and most affordable way to
larly in the area of storage, and decreasing provide it, are any ecosystems being dis-
costs of this technology, will allow the region turbed by a particular option, is the type of
to make the use of renewable energy more energy being provided suitable for the ener-
efficient. The Alpine region may also bene- gy services needed. We are not just talking
fit from scientific knowledge and adaptation about light bulbs, but about all kinds of en-
approaches in other regions. ergy that enhance productive capacities and
livelihoods in a community. So in fact we are
Question: The recharge.green decision sup- looking at the potential trade-offs.
port tools can help to analyse trade-offs be-
tween new renewable energy plants and the Question: In general, what do you see as
need to protect biodiversity and ecosystem the greatest barrier to sustainable develop-
services in the Alps. They could be adapted ment?
for any region where sufficient land-use and Answer: One of the greatest barriers is frag-
other data exist. Given your experience with mentation in policy- and decision making,
policy negotiation processes, do you think which we see all over the world. Rather than
such tools could in fact be helpful to reach close coordination among sectors, what we
better decisions? observe is competition. The internation-
Answer: Certainly. One of the most serious al community is not helpful in this regard.
problems that we have globally is the frag- It actually exacerbates this competition by
mentation of decision- and policy-making working in a fragmented way.
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The Alps are many things to many people. graphic and geological particularities, the
B
ackground
Settled since prehistoric times, the Alpine Alps are also a biodiversity hotspot – their
region features a rich cultural and industri- richly diverse ecosystems provide habitats
al heritage that now extends across eight for a multitude of plant and animal species.
national borders and is of great benefit to This extraordinary biological diversity is at
numerous sectors. From the 19th century the same time the foundation of what today
onward the region, with its abundant wa- is referred to as “ecosystem services”, the
ter resources and steep slopes, benefited benefits nature provides to people.
economically from the exploitation of hy- Biodiversity has increasingly been coming
dropower for primary industrial production under threat from multiple sources. Alpine
(e.g. iron ore and steel) and subsequently biodiversity is no exception in this regard,
electricity production. Multiple-use forest even if on the surface through protected
management also continues to be an impor- areas and nature protection policies, it ap-
tant type of land-use in the Alps, and due to pears well protected. The indirect global
natural re-growth and afforestation, forests toll of anthropogenic climate change also
are now increasing in the region, having ex- affects Alpine biodiversity and ecosystems
perienced a gradual decline until the end of negatively and is projected to continue to do
the 19th century 1. Because of their geo- so 2,3.
One of the principal strategies to reduce whether hydropower, biomass, wind, or solar
c
limate change
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in order to power, have to be carefully evaluated, taking

mitigation and
mitigate climate change is the expansion of into account not only technical and econom-
Biodiversity
renewable energy, which is promoted both ic potential, but also ecological sustainabili-
by the Alpine Convention 4 and by the Eu- ty and social factors. Decision making pro-
ropean Union 5. While in principle the use of cesses are, however, often flawed. Amongst
renewable energy over fossil-fuel based en- many issues, they may lack frame control,
ergy sources allows for a reduction in CO rigour and focus and not assess all aspects
2
emissions, it is also important to examine of an issue. In particular, despite legal obli-
the impacts that renewable energy produc- gations to undertake environmental impact
tion and use will have on natural ecosystems assessments for all major infrastructure
and their functions. Although reducing cli- projects, impacts on biodiversity and trade-
mate change impacts is expected to benefit offs between different ecosystem services
biodiversity, these benefits could be limited tend to be insufficiently taken into account
by additional adverse impacts from energy in decision making7.
developments, a fact that is acknowledged This is where the EU Alpine Space recharge.
in the Alpine Convention 4. For example, the green project can be of help. 16 partners
total economic value of energy produced by from 6 Alpine countries, including members
very small hydropower plants may well be of national parks, local government, aca-
negative, given their ecological impacts and demia, civil society, and the private sector,
insignificant production capacity 6. The Con- have jointly developed a set of tools to facil-
vention´s Energy Protocol contains a number itate decision-making on renewable energy
of clauses demanding the conservation of extraction in the Alps. The tools can help to
natural areas as habitats for wildlife. This evaluate the ´renewable energy carrying ca-
implies that siting decisions for new renew- pacity’ of the biodiversity-rich Alpine eco-
able energy production facilities in the Alps, systems.
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It is beyond the scope of this chapter to with these approaches because it is per-
e
conomic foundations
discuss details, but the overarching issue, ceived as a “commodification” of nature 16,17.
- a
caveat concerning
which drives all others, is human behaviour: In a recent expert survey we undertook for
ecosystem services
Short-term economic priorities that trump greenAlps, a related Alpine Space project,
valuation
nature conservation goals are exacting a di- 42% of respondents felt that not all ecosys-
rect toll, such as the disruption of ecological tem services should be assigned a market
connectivity through growth-oriented infra- value18. Some argue that focusing on eco-
structure development or through unsus- system services as a conservation tool risks
tainable agricultural methods. The trans- detracting from overall conservation agen-
formation of natural landscapes has been da, which is to protect nature for its own
called a “side-effect” of all socio-economic sake 19.
activities 8. Landscapes are managed based The authors of the widely quoted TEEB study
on context-driven decisions, influenced by propose various valuation techniques, but
factors such as the policy environment, his- also point out that valuation techniques
torical traditions, and institutional or per- have limitations, and that the inadequacies
sonal interests. Management decisions are of monetary valuation should be borne in
often political and not necessarily rational mind in view of the possibility of irreversible
from an economic point of view and even ecosystem change 12. They advise, as have
less from a sustainability perspective. economists before them, the use of a pre-
One of the older techniques that is often cautionary approach in situations of high
used to weigh up the divergence between uncertainty or ecological thresholds 9,12. This
private and social costs of public invest- is also a general principle for decision-mak-
ments is cost-benefit analysis (CBA), which ing in the EU - the precautionary principle is
has its roots in welfare economics 9. CBA detailed in Article 191 of the Treaty on the
calculates increases or reductions in human Functioning of the European Union. It aims
wellbeing arising from a project or policy. at ensuring a higher level of environmental
It uses the notion of total economic value protection through preventive action in the
(TEV), which measures the economic val- case of risk of environmental damage. The
ues of an environmental asset (such as an World Business Council on Sustainable De-
ecosystem), deconstructing it into use and velopment, a private business association
non-use values. Economists have developed and think tank, points out in its Guide to Cor-
various ways of estimating the intangible porate Ecosystem Valuation, that values of
values of environmental assets, which we biodiversity and ecosystem services do not
cannot go into here. In recent years the con- equal price lists, and that context is impor-
cept of valuing biodiversity for the ecosys- tant 20. They go on to say that even estimat-
tem services it underpins has been promot- ed values can be useful for decision-making,
ed and at times hotly debated 10,11. Practical and that valuation should be seen as com-
implementation, however, has remained a plementary to other tools, such as life cycle
challenge 7. Markets and public accounting assessment and multi-criteria analysis.
systems (GDP) still fail to trade and capture What we take from the diversity of ap-
ecosystem service values. proaches and opinions in the literature and
Part of the problem is the difficulty of under- within our own project team is that there is
standing all the complex linkages between still a lack of a consistent and practical defi-
ecosystem functioning, biodiversity, the nition of ecosystem services “units” that
impact of human activities, and the intrica- could be compared to those used to value
cies of differential impacts across time and conventional goods and services that are
space 12. Efforts to further the understand- used in national accounting. On the other
ing of ecosystem service values have been hand the definition of ecosystem servic-
ongoing across Europe 13–15. Market-based es at a regional or local scale can be a very
instruments, such as green accounting, useful awareness-raising tool to draw at-
payment for environmental services, and tention to the full value of ecosystems to
mitigation banking have been proposed as people. Recharge.green has demonstrated
effective conservation tools , but there is this through a practical approach in the pi-
also a great deal of discomfort among some lot areas of Vorarlberg and the Veneto re-