2019: Can Wind and Solar Save the Amazon? An Analysis of Energy System Feasibility and Economic Costs (TNC)
While hydropower provides the majority of current renewable energy electricity production, and it is a reliable and mature renewable energy technology, it also has negative impacts on freshwater systems and livelihoods. This project will assess the feasibility to “repower” energy systems by integrating greater proportions of low-impact wind and solar renewable energy, create a country dashboard tool for low impact energy provisioning portfolios, and develop general principles for understanding thresholds of intermittent low-impact wind and solar to meet existing and future energy demands.
Cornell Investigator: Eilyan Bitar, Electrical and Computer Engineering
TNC Investigators: Joe Kiesecker, Lead Scientist – Global Lands; Sharon Baruch-Mordo, Spatial Scientist – Global Lands