Fig 1.
Ecological sensitivity mapping decision tree.
Fig 2.
Opportunity and constraint mapping for onshore wind energy.
A) Opportunity map for commercial-scale onshore wind development in the UK (green areas) showing physical constraints (red areas) and policy constraints (yellow areas); B) ecological sensitivity map for onshore wind energy showing high sensitivity (purple areas), medium sensitivity (blue areas) and low/unknown sensitivity (green areas); and C) composite map showing remaining areas of opportunity with low/unknown ecological sensitivity after all constraints have been applied (green areas).
Fig 3.
Estimated proportions of the UK with different ecological sensitivities to ‘medium risk’ renewable technologies.
A) Proportion of UK land area of low/unknown, medium and high sensitivity to onshore wind energy; B) proportion of UK land area of low/unknown, medium and high sensitivity to bioenergy or solar farms; C) proportion of UK sea area of low/unknown, medium and high sensitivity to offshore wind energy; D) proportion of UK sea area of low/unknown, medium and high sensitivity to tidal energy; and E) proportion of UK sea area of low/unknown, medium and high sensitivity to wave energy technologies.
Table 1.
Estimated energy available through the deployment of onshore renewable energy technologies in the UK at low, medium and high risk of ecological impacts.
Land areas available for the deployment of commercial-scale onshore wind, solar and biomass energy; potential installed capacity and annual energy outputs considering the available resource after physical and policy constraints are applied.
Fig 4.
Opportunity and constraint mapping for bioenergy crops.
A) Opportunity map for bioenergy crops in the UK (green areas) showing physical constraints (red areas) and policy constraints (yellow areas); B) ecological sensitivity map for bioenergy showing high sensitivity (purple areas), medium sensitivity (blue areas) and low/unknown sensitivity (green areas); and C) composite map showing remaining areas of opportunity for bioenergy crops with low/unknown ecological sensitivity after all constraints have been applied (green areas).
Fig 5.
Opportunity and constraint mapping for field-scale solar energy.
A) Opportunity map for solar farms in the UK (green areas) showing physical constraints (red areas) and policy constraints (yellow areas); B) ecological sensitivity map for solar farms showing high sensitivity (purple areas), medium sensitivity (blue areas) and low/unknown sensitivity (green areas); and C) composite map showing remaining areas of opportunity for solar farms with low/unknown ecological sensitivity after all constraints have been applied (green areas).
Table 2.
Estimated energy available through the deployment of offshore renewable energy technologies in the UK.
Estimated sea areas available for the deployment of commercial-scale offshore wind, wave and tidal energy; potential installed capacity and annual energy outputs considering the available resource, physical constraints, policy constraints and ecological sensitivity.
Fig 6.
Opportunity and constraint mapping for fixed-base offshore wind energy.
A) Opportunity map for fixed-base offshore wind developments (light green is prime opportunity, mid-green is good opportunity and dark green is technical opportunity showing physical constraints (red areas) and policy constraints (from level 1, least constrained, in light yellow, to level 3, most constrained, in brown); B) ecological sensitivity map for offshore wind energy showing high sensitivity (purple areas), medium sensitivity (blue areas) and low/unknown sensitivity (green areas); and C) composite map showing remaining areas of opportunity for fixed-base offshore wind turbines with low/unknown ecological sensitivity after all constraints have been applied (green areas).
Fig 7.
Opportunity and constraint mapping for floating offshore wind energy.
A) Opportunity map for floating offshore wind developments (light green is prime opportunity, mid-green is good opportunity and dark green is technical opportunity showing physical constraints (red areas) and policy constraints (from level 1, least constrained, in light yellow, to level 3, most constrained, in brown); B) ecological sensitivity map for offshore wind energy showing high sensitivity (purple areas), medium sensitivity (blue areas) and low/unknown sensitivity (green areas); and C) composite map showing remaining areas of opportunity for floating offshore wind turbines with low/unknown ecological sensitivity after all constraints have been applied (green areas).
Fig 8.
Opportunity and constraint mapping for offshore tidal stream energy.
A) Opportunity map for tidal stream energy developments (light green is prime opportunity, mid-green is good opportunity and dark green is technical opportunity showing physical constraints (red areas) and policy constraints (from level 1, least constrained, in light yellow, to level 3, most constrained, in brown); B) ecological sensitivity map for tidal stream energy showing high sensitivity (purple areas), medium sensitivity (blue areas) and low/unknown sensitivity (green areas); and C) composite map showing remaining areas of opportunity for tidal stream developments with low/unknown ecological sensitivity after all constraints have been applied (green areas).
Fig 9.
Opportunity and constraint mapping for wave energy.
A) Opportunity map for wave energy developments (light green is prime opportunity, mid-green is good opportunity and dark green is technical opportunity showing physical constraints (red areas) and policy constraints (from level 1, least constrained, in light yellow, to level 3, most constrained, in brown); B) ecological sensitivity map for wave energy showing high sensitivity (purple areas), medium sensitivity (blue areas) and low/unknown sensitivity (green areas); and C) composite map showing remaining areas of opportunity for wave energy developments with low/unknown ecological sensitivity after all constraints have been applied (green areas).
Fig 10.
Combined map of areas of residual opportunity for renewable energy technologies in the UK.
Remaining land and areas available for exploitation after all constraints (physical, policy and ecological) have been removed. Areas available for onshore wind energy are shown in blue, bioenergy or solar in green and solar only in red.
Table 3.
Summary of estimated potential energy available from ‘medium risk’ renewable energy technologies under different ecological scenarios.