EnergyScapes and Ecosystem Services

能源景观和生态系统服务

• 批准号: NE/H010521/1
• 负责人: Timothy Cockerill
• 金额: $ 2.72万
• 依托单位: Imperial College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2010 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FH010521%2F1
• 关键词: EnergyScapes; Ecosystem; Services

Renewable energy has recently received considerable media and public attention because of perceived benefits to the environment, including climate change, the potential to replace imported sources of energy, the possible impact on food production, and aesthetic issues related to the location of wind turbines. Potential sources of land-based renewable energy include bioenergy from forests, arable crops, energy crops and waste, solar heating and electricity, hydroelectricity, ground-source heat, and wind-energy. The spatial organisation of such energy sources, together with energy demand, energy infrastructure and other energy-sources within a particular landscape can be termed the 'EnergyScape'. 'Ecosystem Services' is a collective term to describe the various services we obtain from land and its associated ecosystems. They include the provision of food, fibre and fuel, the regulation of nutrients, water supply and water quality, the creation of opportunities for recreation and education, the maintenance of biodiversity, and the space to build and maintain our supporting infrastructure. The development and use of land-based renewable energy resources will have both negative and positive impacts on these services. Positive aspects may include increased biodiversity from biomass crops; negative aspects may include reduced river flows and increased road transport of biomass. This one-year research project aims to determine, through a pilot study, how a systematic understanding of the 'EnergyScape' and 'Ecosystem Services' could help guide the deployment of land-based renewables. For the pilot study we have selected Marston Vale in Bedfordshire which is a sub-catchment of the Great Ouse river, and contains a mix of agricultural, forestry and urban land. It is the site of a community forest and there is local interest in renewable energy. Working with national and local stakeholder groups, the project will identify the key sources of renewable energy within the study area and the key ecosystem services likely to be affected by the development of land-based renewables. Using spatial data, geographical information systems and existing models, the project will then develop a spatial description of the EnergyScape and the key ecosystem services for the study area. Because some models are weaker than others, we will use a 'Plug and Play' framework, as used in computing, so that new and improved models can be introduced as they become available. Similarly, the approach will allow new data sources to be included as they become available. Starting from the base-line description, we will then investigate the benefits and losses associated with the deployment of different combinations of land based renewables. Because renewable energy sources have different spatial and temporal characteristics relative to the demand for energy, the outputs will not be simply additive. Similarly, there will be complex interactions between energy generation and different ecosystem services, and amongst the ecosystem services. Some interactions will be antagonistic (e.g. solar power v demand for heating; food v biofuel) whereas others may be complementary (e.g. sharing of facilities; biofuel v biodiversity). By using appropriate visualisation tools, we hope that the key interactions can be explained to stakeholder groups, who can then use the information to inform future decisions. We intend that the approach developed in this research, which will be limited to the renewables and ecosystems of a specific area, can be applied to other regions and at a national spatial scale in future research projects. To validate the academic efficacy of our approach, we will submit papers for peer review, seeking to get them published in high-impact scientific journals.

由于感知到环境的好处，包括气候变化，替代进口能源的潜力，对粮食生产的可能影响以及与风力涡轮机位置相关的美学问题，可再生能源最近受到了广泛的媒体和公众关注。陆基可再生能源的潜在来源包括森林，可耕作，能源作物和废物的生物能源，太阳能供暖和电力，水力发电，地面源热和风能。此类能源的空间组织，以及能源需求，能源基础设施和特定景观中的其他能源，可以称为“ EnergyScape”。 “生态系统服务”是一个集体术语，可描述我们从土地及其相关生态系统中获得的各种服务。其中包括提供食物，纤维和燃料，养分的调节，供水和水质的调节，为娱乐和教育的创造机会，生物多样性的维护以及建立和维护我们的支持基础设施的空间。可再生能源的开发和使用将对这些服务产生负面影响和积极影响。积极的方面可能包括增加生物量作物的生物多样性；负面的方面可能包括减少河流和生物质的道路运输增加。这个为期一年的研究项目旨在通过试点研究来确定对“ EnergyScape”和“生态系统服务”的系统理解如何有助于指导基于土地的可再生能源的部署。在试点研究中，我们选择了贝德福德郡的Marston Vale，这是大奥斯河的一个子捕捉，并包含农业，林业和城市土地的混合。它是社区森林的所在地，对可再生能源充满了兴趣。该项目与国家和地方利益相关者群体合作，将确定研究区域内可再生能源的主要来源以及可能受土地可再生能源开发可能影响的关键生态系统服务。然后，使用空间数据，地理信息系统和现有模型，该项目将对研究区域的EnergyScape和关键生态系统服务进行空间描述。由于某些模型比其他型号弱，因此我们将使用计算中使用的“插件”框架，以便在可用时可以引入新的和改进的模型。同样，该方法将允许新的数据源在可用时包含。从基线描述开始，我们将研究与部署土地可再生能源组合相关的收益和损失。由于可再生能源相对于对能源的需求具有不同的空间和时间特征，因此输出将不仅仅是加性。同样，能源产生与不同的生态系统服务以及生态系统服务之间也会存在复杂的相互作用。某些相互作用将是拮抗作用（例如太阳能V对加热的需求；食物V Biofuel），而其他相互作用可能是互补的（例如，设施共享； Biofuel v Biovipty）。通过使用适当的可视化工具，我们希望可以向利益相关者群体解释关键交互，然后他们可以使用这些信息来为未来的决策提供信息。我们认为，这项研究中开发的方法将仅限于特定领域的可再生能源和生态系统，可以应用于其他地区，并以国家空间规模应用于未来的研究项目。为了验证我们方法的学术效果，我们将提交论文以进行同行评审，以便使它们在高影响力的科学期刊上发表。

项目成果

Energyscapes: Linking the energy system and ecosystem services in real landscapes

• DOI: 10.1016/j.biombioe.2012.05.025
• 发表时间: 2013-08-01
• 期刊: BIOMASS & BIOENERGY
• 影响因子: 6
• 作者: Howard, D. C.;Burgess, P. J.;Scholefield, P.
• 通讯作者: Scholefield, P.

A framework for reviewing the trade-offs between, renewable energy, food, feed and wood production at a local level

• DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2011.07.142
• 发表时间: 2012
• 期刊: Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews
• 影响因子: 15.9
• 作者: P. Burgess;M. Casado;Jerry Gavu;A. Mead;T. Cockerill;R. Lord;D. Horst;D. Howard