Renewable Energy and Landscape Quality ed. by Michael Roth et al. (review)

This book is a product of the European Cooperation in Science Technology (COST) Renewable Energy and Landscape Quality (RELY) TU 1401 (http://cost-rely.eu/), which is focused on "develop[ing] a better understanding of how European landscape protection/management and renewable energy deployment can be reconciled to contribute socio-environmentally to the sustainable transformation of energy systems." Some ninety-seven contributing authors analyze how landscape protection and renewable energy (RE) deployment can be addressed as part of the process of sustainable transformation of carbon-based to renewable energy production. This book has been in development for four years and contains five sections focused on (1) existing RE development in European countries plus Israel, (2) existing European landscape policy and RE landscape impacts, (3) landscape potential and vulnerability to RE development, (4) social-cultural RE acceptance, and (5) landscape change, adaption change, adaption, assessment, and outreach/education.

The five major sections have subsections by multiple authors to address RE development and landscape quality protection primarily in Europe. The first section contains RE development overviews for thirty European countries plus Israel. The two-to four-page country-by-country overviews with infographics and text use a consistent format that includes a synopsis of RE, landscape quality data, and the interaction between RE development and landscape quality. The United Kingdom and Germany overviews are more extensive because there has been more RE development there in comparison with other nations.

Section 2 introduces the energy landscape and landscape quality concepts. This includes European policy because it affects RE development and landscape protection. Specific RE development technologies' descriptions for biomass, hydro, wind, solar, and geothermal energy are included. The last subsection focuses on RE landscape impacts on landscape character, which is defined by the EC Landscape Convention as "an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors" (Council of Europe, 2000, p. 3).

Section 3 addresses landscape potential and vulnerability to RE development. The first part focuses on existing landscape aspects, such as landscape as a system and landscape dynamics and character, as well as landscape as a resource. The second part considers what the authors call "smart practice" when using best assessment methods, research, integrative processes, and case studies to better address RE impacts on landscape character. The third subsection addresses synergistic sustainability issues, such as solar energy development in rural areas, RE in brownfields, use with existing infrastructure, as part of the green economy, food production, and energy tourism. The final subsection concentrates on landscape vulnerability to RE and ways to assess landscape impacts and vulnerability.

Section 4 addresses sociocultural aspects of RE development as the main focus and includes subsections on public acceptance of RE, best practices for participatory processes, and a "tool box" for effective RE planning. It is well stated in the introduction to the section that social acceptance of RE "is not as simple as not in my back yard" (p. 176). Other social-cultural factors need to be carefully uncovered for any specific landscape region. Examples include the differences in acceptance of on-land versus off-shore wind farms in the United Kingdom and solar farm development in the Greek islands. The emphasis throughout section 4 is the European acceptance of RE which is different, based on my experience in this field, from the North American or Australian social acceptance of RE (see Smardon and Pasqualetti, 2017).

Section 5 examines specific strategies gleaned from the European COST RELY project to address European landscape change, adaptive management, methods for implantation, and best practices focused on education and outreach activities. Some of these strategies...