BARCELONA, Spain, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- A study by Chinese and American scientists on the impact of solar parks on bird biodiversity has prompted a Spanish expert to call for better planning of photovoltaic development to minimize its environmental impact.
Published this month in the journal Science, the study concluded that renewable energy and biodiversity can coexist if greater effort is made to select suitable areas for solar farms.
"This study by my Chinese and American colleagues is useful because it shows that what's been done has had a great environmental impact, and it justifies the need to study the situation beforehand," Francisco Valera, a scientist at the Arid Zones Experimental Station (EEZA) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), told Xinhua in an interview on Wednesday.
"I always say, stopping to light a torch is better than running in the dark," he said.
Researchers compiled data on photovoltaic plants in 2,344 counties across China over the past 10 years and overlaid it with bird diversity maps, revealing widespread impacts with differences among regions and bird groups.
"These studies show which birds are more susceptible, which habitats need protecting more," Valera said. "More of this work could have been done before to avoid some major environmental impacts. But it's never too late."
According to Valera, an adequate environmental impact study should be carried out before a solar park is built, something he said has not always been done in Spain but is becoming more common.
"Zoning studies need to be carried out to see where to place photovoltaic plants, because we need them, but with minimum environmental impact," he said.
Building solar parks requires clearing vegetation that provides nesting areas for steppe birds and the invertebrates and seeds they feed on. The study's authors also found impacts on migratory and predatory birds and on both protected and unprotected species.
Valera said research groups are increasingly producing zoning maps, including in cooperation with authorities, to identify where photovoltaic plants can be placed without major impacts on biodiversity.
"The only pity is that this should have been done before," he said.
