Solar Park Impacts on Ecosystem Services: a Framework for Best-Practice (SPIES)

确保有足够的能源是一项全球挑战，原因是需求不断增加，以及需要转向低碳能源以避免危险的气候变化。光伏，包括安装在建筑物和地面上的光伏，预计将成为未来能源的关键组成部分，最近的美国清洁电力计划以及中国和日本的政策特别强调太阳能。此外，太阳能的成本竞争力越来越强，大规模太阳能公园的成本现在与传统能源的成本相似。在英国，47%的太阳能光伏是作为太阳能公园安装在地面上的。赤道35度以内的国家正在转向地面太阳能园区，预计欧洲也将转向大规模地面太阳能园区。与传统能源相比，太阳能公园生产的能源占用了相对较大的土地面积。然而，尽管太阳能公园占用的土地面积不断扩大，但人们对其建设、物理存在和管理对景观的影响知之甚少，也不知道我们如何利用这种土地利用过渡提供的机会来带来额外的好处，如增强绿色基础设施和生态连接。除了转向低碳能源之外，鉴于人口增长和资源压力加大，人们越来越认识到，我们需要保护我们的环境，因为环境提供了许多有助于社会福祉和经济繁荣的商品(如农作物)和服务(如碳储存)。太阳能公园的土地覆盖率不断增加，这为最大限度地提供此类商品和服务提供了绝佳的机会，与与太阳能公园建设相关的管理方案相比，管理方案的成本相对较低。因此，该项目将开发一个决策支持工具，以评估太阳能公园的影响，包括其建设、实际存在和管理对该景观提供的商品和服务的影响。它包括五个关键部分：1.综合现有的太阳能公园准则；2.制作太阳能公园对景观所提供的商品和服务的有益和有害影响的简编；3.量化太阳能公园在运营期间商品和服务的变化；4.开发一个决策支持工具，促进太阳能公园的最佳部署和管理；5.向更广泛的太阳能开发社区传播该项目的成果。共有11个项目合作伙伴，涵盖所有太阳能公园利益相关者：国家太阳能中心的Christine Coonick；Novus Solar的Ed Jessine；自然英格兰的Nick White；乔纳森·斯库洛克，全国农民联盟；乔恩·阿巴特，ADAS；理查德·温斯皮尔，RSPB；梅勒妮·多德，威尔特郡议会；亚当·特温，科利莫尔农场；詹姆斯·赖尔，Good Energy；菲利普·邓肯，Corylus。该项目的主要成果是SPIES(太阳能公园对生态系统服务的影响)决策支持工具，它将提供一种标准化的方法来确定安装和管理太阳能公园的最佳方式。因此，该工具将对开发商、被咨询者和监管机构有用，并可能减少冗长和昂贵的规划申请，这将对各方都有利。国家太阳能中心将帮助我们将这一工具纳入政策，从而为可持续能源发电以及从自然景观中提供商品和服务作出值得注意的持续贡献。此外，鉴于全球太阳能公园的激增和全球对我们自然环境重要性的日益认识，拟议的工具可以帮助刺激商业和投资机会的创新，并建立英国作为太阳能公园部署全球领导者的声誉。关键词：太阳能公园，低碳能源，生态系统服务，绿色基础设施

Ensuring there is sufficient energy is a global challenge, caused by increasing demand and the need to move to low carbon energy to avoid dangerous climate change. Photovoltaics, including those mounted on buildings and the ground, are predicted to provide a key component of energy in the future, with the recent US Clean Power Plan and policies in China and Japan placing particular emphasis on solar power. Further, solar energy is increasingly cost competitive, with large scale solar park costs now similar to that of conventional energy sources. Within the UK, 47 % of solar photovoltaics are ground-mounted as solar parks. There has been a shift towards ground-mounted solar parks in countries within 35 degrees of the equator and a shift toward large-scale ground-mounted systems in Europe is anticipated. Solar parks take up a relatively large area of land for the energy they produce compared with conventional sources of energy. Yet, despite the expanding land area occupied by solar parks little is known of the impacts of their construction, physical presence and management on the landscape, or how we can use the opportunities provided by this land use transition to bring additional benefits, such as enhanced green infrastructure and ecological connectivity. Alongside switching to low carbon energy sources, in the light of growing populations and heightened pressures on resources, it is becoming increasingly recognised that we need to protect our environment, since it provides many goods (e.g. crops) and services (e.g. carbon storage) that contribute to the wellbeing and economic prosperity of society. The increasing land cover of solar parks presents an excellent opportunity to maximise the provisioning of such goods and services, with management options relatively low cost compared with those related to solar park construction. Therefore, this project will develop a decision-support tool to assess the impacts of solar parks, including their construction, physical presence and management, on the goods and services the landscape provides. There are five key components:1. Synthesis of existing solar park guidelines;2. Production of a compendium of the beneficial and detrimental effects of solar parks on goods and services supplied by the landscape;3. Quantification of the change in goods and services over the operational life-time of solar parks;4. Development of a decision-support tool that promotes the optimal deployment and management of solar parks;5. Dissemination of the outcomes of the project to the broader solar development community.There are 11 project partners, covering all solar park stakeholders: Christine Coonick, National Solar Centre; Ed Jessamine, Novus Solar; Nick White, Natural England; Jonathan Scurlock, National Farmers Union; Jon Abbatt, ADAS; Richard Winspear, RSPB; Melanie Dodd, Wiltshire Council; Adam Twine, Colleymore Farm; James Ryle, Good Energy; and Phillip Duncan, Corylus. The key output from the project is the SPIES (Solar Park Impacts on Ecosystem Services) decision-support tool, which will provide a standardised means of identifying the best way to install and manage solar parks. Thus the tool will be useful for developers, consultees and regulatory agencies and may reduce prolonged and expensive planning applications, which will be beneficial to all parties. The National Solar Centre will help us drive the tool into policy which would lead to a noteworthy sustained contribution to sustainable energy generation and the supply of goods and services from the landscape. Further, given the global proliferation of solar parks and the growing global awareness of the importance of our natural environment, the proposed tool could help to stimulate innovation in business and investment opportunities, and build the UK's reputation as a global leader in solar park deployment.Keywords: solar parks, low carbon energy, ecosystem services, green infrastructure