Land Use in LCA: Characterization of Impacts, Geospatial Heterogeneity, and Renewable Energy Technologies

Special session coordinator: Thomas Seager, Rochester Institute of Technology

presentation

Although land use impacts are widely acknowledged to have profound consequences for biodiversity, water quality, and climate, there is currently no consensus regarding the treatment of land use in life cycle assessment (LCA). This is partly due to the emphasis in LCA on quantifying an inventory of material flows, rather than characterizing qualitative changes in scarce resources such as fresh water or ecological habitat. However, the problem of land use is compounded by the difficulty of describing geospatial heterogeneity in LCA. That is, both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of land use in LCA depend upon the location of the land -- particularly with regard to renewable energy systems such as wind, solar and biomass, which are significantly more land intensive than traditional fossil fuels. This special session provides an interim report on the progress of the Workshop on Land Use and Geospatial Aspects of LCA for Renewable Energy, which is running concurrently with LCA IX. The Chairs of the parallel sessions of LCA methods for land use will summarize the workshop discussions in their sessions in brief presentations and lead discussion with the conference participants in a panel format. Topics include changes in land use, characterizing land use impacts, understanding geographic variability in inventory data resulting from land use characteristics, and modeling geospatial aspects of distribution systems.

Presenters:

The Workshop on Land Use & Geospatial Aspects In LCA of Renewable Energy Systems
Thomas Seager, Rochester Institute of Technology

This presentation reviews the agenda and policy context for the National Science Foundation "Workshop on Land Use and Geospatial Aspects of LCA for Renewable Energy" that is being held concurrent to the LCA IX conference. It reviews some of the new policy initiatives in the United States that seek to curb renewable energy development and discusses the need for increased research attention to land use implications of wind and solar energy development, which have received little or no attention in the context of LCA, despite an increased level of concern in political or policy arenas.

Re-allocation of land as a consequence of renewable energy development
John Sheehan

This presentation summarizes the interim findings of the "Workshop on Land Use and Geospatial Aspects of LCA for Renewable Energy" with regard to estimating land use changes resulting from renewable energy development.

Considering transportation and energy distribution aspects of renewable energy: Report from the "Workshop on Land Use and Geospatial Aspects of LCA for Renewable Energy"
James Winebrake, Rochester Institute of Technology

This presentation summarizes the discussion of the parallel session on renewable energy collection and distribution aspects in LCA of renewable energy.

Impacts
Jane Bare, USEPA Office of Research & Development

This presentation summarizes the interim findings of the "Workshop on Land Use and Geospatial Aspects of LCA for Renewable Energy" with regard to quantifying impacts resulting from land use.

Coupling LCA and Geographic Information Systems -- Geospatial Variability in LCA for Renewable Energy
Roland Geyer, University of California - Santa Barbara

This presentation summarizes the interim findings of the Workshop with regard to geospatial variability.