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Ecological environmental impact assessment of photovoltaic and "photovoltaic +" development in China

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  • Zhang, Hao
  • Song, Yan
  • Zhang, Ming
  • Duan, Ye
  • Zhao, Danning

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) projects are considered to be an effective way to achieve carbon emission reductions, however, the ecological and environmental benefits of PV projects may be overestimated. This paper employs PV development projects in China as a policy shock to assess the impacts of PV development projects on the quality of the ecosystem. It was found that the implementation of PV development projects will significantly reduce the local ecological quality by about 2.3 %. The instrumental variables result show that each standard deviation increase in the installed size of PV plants (about 11,976 kW) will lead to a decrease in ecological quality of about 1.51 %, and after a series of endogeneity and robustness tests, the above findings still hold true. PV development projects negatively affect the quality of the ecosystem by increasing the number of polluting enterprises, increasing investment in fixed assets and destroying farmland and grassland. The study also found that the development of "PV+" in the agricultural and pastoral intertwined grassland areas and other dense forest and grassland areas on the ecological and environmental impacts should not be ignored. The new models of "PV + Mine Restoration" and "PV + Sand Control" are effective paths for local ecological environment restoration.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Hao & Song, Yan & Zhang, Ming & Duan, Ye & Zhao, Danning, 2025. "Ecological environmental impact assessment of photovoltaic and "photovoltaic +" development in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:252:y:2025:i:c:s0960148125011711
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.123509
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