Land Conservation and the Clean Energy Transition
An Energy Policy Seminar with Charles Taylor.
An Energy Policy Seminar with Charles Taylor.
Decarbonization will require a massive expansion of renewable energy infrastructure, potentially putting clean energy advocates and land conservationists at odds. Join us for an Energy Policy Seminar featuring Charles Taylor, Assistant Professor at Harvard Kennedy School, who will present findings from a forthcoming paper co-authored with Meredith Fowlie (UC Berkeley).
Q&A to follow. Buffet-style lunch will be served.
Registration: RSVP required. A Harvard University ID is required for in-person attendance; all are welcome to attend via Zoom.
Recording: The seminar will be recorded and available to watch on the Belfer Center's YouTube channel. Those who register for this event will automatically receive a link to the recording as soon as it becomes available.
Accessibility: To request accommodations or who have questions about access, please contact Liz Hanlon (ehanlon@hks.harvard.edu) in advance of the session.
Land Conservation and the Clean Energy Transition - Charles A. Taylor and Meredith Fowlie
This paper examines the relationship between land conservation values, land use protections, and the development of wind and solar electricity generation resources. We link a nationwide dataset of renewable project proposals since 2000 to geospatial information on wetlands, critical habitats, and conservation easements. We estimate an empirical model of developers’ site selection and subsequent project progression, accounting for key economic factors such as revenue potential, land values, and infrastructure costs. Our findings indicate that land use protections significantly reduce the likelihood of both entering the electricity interconnection queue and securing interconnection agreements. In particular, proximity to conservation easements--a legal and tax structure that permanently restricts development on 40 million acres--substantially lowers the probability of project success. A preliminary simulation-based exercise suggests that while land protections have constrained development on sites with high conservation value, they have not significantly affected overall investment costs.
Charles Taylor is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Kennedy School. He is an environmental economist who focuses on climate, agriculture, ecosystem services, and migration. His work often uses satellite data to answer policy questions. Before academia, he worked at McKinsey & Company, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and The Earth Partners LP, a land and environmental investment company. He has a BA from the University of Virginia and a PhD in sustainable development from Columbia University, and was previously a Ciriacy-Wantrup fellow at UC Berkeley.