A rapid transition to renewable energy is essential for climate change mitigation, yet poorly planned developments risk contributing to the biodiversity extinction crisis and losing social licence through impacts on sensitive species.

So, it is critical to understand how renewable energy be strategically deployed to effectively reduce biodiversity impacts while meeting energy needs. We quantify how increasing levels of biodiversity protection only modestly increases costs of renewable energy infrastructure projects required to meet electricity demand in a net-zero emission energy system in 2050.

Significant biodiversity avoidance adds just 2-4% to electricity bills in 2050. These cost increases are likely much smaller than the uncertainty of the planning task, rendering them effectively unobservable. We show how other Australian states also have high land use flexibility relative to energy demand.

Our approach reveals opportunities for biodiversity protection within energy transition planning and challenges the perception that global renewable energy and biodiversity protection targets are irreconcilable.

Speaker

Dr Andrew Rogers (University of Melbourne)

I am a spatial ecologist interested in conservation in multi-functional landscapes. I am interested in threatened species conservation, community ecology, invasive species dynamics, and urban ecology. I have experience working in industry, NGOs and Universities in a mix of field and research roles.

My current work is on Biodiversity and Energy System Planning which is a part of the Net Zero Australia phase 2 research program. This work is a collaboration between the Melbourne Energy Institute and the Melbourne Biodiversity Institute at the University of Melbourne.