Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1016/j.energy.2019.05.054
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Wind energy expansion scenarios – A spatial sustainability assessment
Author Eichhorn, M.; Masurowski, F. ORCID logo ; Becker, R.; Thrän, D.
Source Titel Energy
Year 2019
Department NSF; BIOENERGIE
Volume 180
Page From 367
Page To 375
Language englisch
Keywords Wind power; Sustainable allocation; Expansion scenarios
Abstract Wind power plays an integral role in the transition of Germany's energy system. In addition to its positive effects (e.g. reduction in greenhouse gas emissions), wind power can also negatively affect inhabitants and the environment. With this in mind, it is important to identify the best locations for wind turbines (WTs) which take into consideration these different sustainability aspects. This paper proposes a new simplified performance index that compares and combines three key aspects in order to assess the viability of wind expansion. These include environmental impacts (bird collisions), human attitudes (settlement distances) and energy performance (annual electricity production for supply security). The index enables a comparison to be made between the sustainability of different WT spatial distribution scenarios. This index is applied to four wind power expansion scenarios whose aim is to fulfill a certain share of the gross electricity consumption in Germany through standard wind power technologies. Finally, the respective spatial expansion scenarios are compared in terms of their lowest combined impact and their sustainability performance.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=21906
Eichhorn, M., Masurowski, F., Becker, R., Thrän, D. (2019):
Wind energy expansion scenarios – A spatial sustainability assessment
Energy 180 , 367 - 375 10.1016/j.energy.2019.05.054