Climate Change Weekly # 560—Study: Net Zero Wind and Solar Buildout Needs Huge Amount of Land
Published October 24, 2025
IN THIS ISSUE:
Study: Net Zero Wind and Solar Buildout Needs Huge Amount of Land
Uncovered Ski Lifts Show Rapid Climate Change in Recent Past
Climate Lawfare Sidelined in Montana
Study: Net Zero Wind and Solar Buildout Needs Huge Amount of Land
New research published in the journal Nature confirms what The Heartland Institute and our allies in the free-market environmental community have long argued: wind and solar power have low power density and thus impose huge environmental footprints. The new study acknowledges the environmental footprint of wind and solar is even larger than industry promoters have admitted. As a result, to reach net zero with wind and solar as the primary sources of electric power will require the transformation of a large swath of agricultural land and wildlands into industrial power sites.
The report from researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state found a high-renewable scenario will require a lot more land, much of it on or near undeveloped or wild areas, than a plan for less wind and solar incorporation into the grid. They write,
Expanding United States electricity infrastructure to meet growing demand could require extensive power plant development footprints and land use conversion, depending on the mix of generation types chosen. Understanding where future power plant sitings are likely to take place and identifying potential conflicts and land-use tradeoffs will be key to identifying feasible and affordable investments and evaluating regional planning coordination needs. Here we use an integrated modeling framework that combines capacity expansion planning, hourly grid operations, and geospatial techno-economic analysis to develop projections (2025-2050) of power plant sitings in the Western United States (US) . . . for a business-as-usual scenario and a high renewables penetration scenario. We find that 30% more land will be needed in the high renewables scenario as compared to business-as-usual, and that 75% of that development is projected to be located within 10 km of natural areas.
https://heartland.org/opinion/climate-change-weekly-560-study-net-zero-wind-and-solar-buildout-needs-huge-amount-of-land/
