THE SURFACE IMPACT OF ELECTRIC ENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN THE UNITED STATES OF RENEWABLES AND NATURAL GAS

While in 2020, total electric generation in the United States is expected to decrease by 2.4% to 11.165 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) per day, generation from renewables other than hydropower, principally wind and solar, and secondarily biofuels, is expected to grow by 0.207 billion kWh (18%) and generation from natural gas primarily from onshore shale is expected to grow 0.375 billion kWh (9%). These are the only two growing components of US electric energy generation. All energy sources have negative impacts on our environment at multiple stages in their development and use, which can include air and water pollution, damage to public health, wildlife and habitat loss, water use, land use, and global warming emissions. This paper will concentrate on the impact of natural gas compared to non-hydro renewables on land use and habitat loss.

A natural gas well on land requires clearing and leveling an area around the well site and laying pipelines that transport natural gas from wells. Solar and wind also require surface modifications that have a significant impact on land use and habitat loss. Using power density, the rate of energy generation per unit of land surface area occupied by an energy system, all else equal, lower power densities mean larger land and environmental footprints.

Using data from published sources for generation efficiency, analysis of satellite imagery, and regional and local data for the Appalachian basin derived the Marcellus Shale Energy and Environmental Laboratory (MSEEL) show that the power density of solar and wind power measured as energy generation rate per time per unit ground area (W_e m^-2) has a large range of uncertainty, but appears to be increasing only slowly, while the power density from multi-well shale gas pads with laterals in excess of 3,000 meters, and used in combined cycle gas turbines to generate electricity are increasing exponentially.

Electric generation from renewable sources such as solar and wind and biofuels may reduce global warming emissions, they have a much lower power density resulting in significantly larger environmental consequences in terms of land use and habitat loss than electricity generated from natural gas.