Where The Clean Energy Comes From: A Mapping Tool Of Solar And Wind Power Sites

Taking an important step in this direction, researchers from the University of Southampton recently published a study in the journal Scientific Data that maps out solar and wind farms all over the globe. As the world’s first open-access dataset of turbine and solar power sites, the map can help scientists and energy-sector professionals both optimize the use of clean energy and understand our progress in transitioning to zero carbon. 

One of the team’s main motivations was the lack of available data on the geographic spread of wind and solar farms. As lead researcher Sebastian Dunnett pointed out: “While global land planners are promising more of the planet's limited space to wind and solar energy, governments are struggling to maintain geospatial information on the rapid expansion of renewables.” Here’s more on the how and why this project was developed: 

• To create the interface, the team used an already existing, open-access, collaborative mapping project called OpenStreetMap to find data that was labelled as “solar” or “wind”. To estimate the power capacity of each site, the researchers then cross-referenced their findings with national datasets. 
  
  
• The result is a new map that shows not only the location of these renewables, but the amount of energy they generate, which can be easily updated to reflect the fast-developing sector.       
  
  
• Beyond serving the clean energy sector, the map’s creators also hope it will help save the world’s wildlife. Both scorching solar panels and heavy wind turbines can disturb local flora and fauna, and the team believes the map can aid planners and ecologists to measure and eventually reduce the impact these sites have on our natural preservation.