A rapid transition away from fossil fuels and toward low-carbon and renewable energy resources is necessary in order to avoid dangerous climate change. This transition is fundamentally a shift from below ground stocks to above ground flows of energy.
Join Kirby Calvert and Rebecca Jahns as they summarize their research into the land-use requirements and landscape impacts of intensive renewable energy development. They will showcase a toolkit that is being developed in order to help understand and manage land-use impacts at the local level.
The toolkit combines two state-of-art methodologies into a single decision-support framework. First, a spatial multi-criteria assessment that standardizes the scientific assessment of renewable energy resources while accounting for policy-technology interactions that shape resource access. Second, a participatory mapping exercise that unpacks place-based sentiment toward renewable energy development. They conclude with their thoughts on how their research and decision-support can help to manage renewable energy development moving forward.
Dr. Kirby Calvert's teaching and research program addresses questions surrounding energy and energy transitions through a geographic lens. He is currently studying how and in what ways the implementation of renewable energy (RE) technologies is impacting patterns of land-use, resource management, and energy system governance. He is also applying geospatial information technologies to help facilitate informed decisions for renewable energy implementation and community energy planning (e.g., area-based resource assessments and spatial planning scenarios).
Rebecca Jahns is a Master’s student in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics at the University of Guelph. She has traveled extensively through Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley region for her pilot-study thesis, entitled Place-Based Conversations and Participatory Mapping: Contributing to Community-Informed Spatial Planning of Renewable Energy Projects. She is passionate about environmental protection and the advancement of renewable energy technologies, and hopes that her work will add meaningful insight to both of these research areas.
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