PHOTO DATE：2024/05/05
On May 5, Center of Interdisciplinary Research on Ecology and Sustainability (CIRES) of National Dong Hwa University held a discussion at the Fongzhi and Fongli Public Activity Center in Fonglin Town to share the phased research results of the effects of ground-based solar power field on environmental temperature, animals, soil, plant pollination and carbon & water balance, as well as residents' attitude survey and opinion collection in the past year. Nearly 40 people from all walks of life in Fonglin participated.
Among Hualien County, Fonglin Township is the most popular site for solar power field constructing. Currently, there is a large solar power field of 66 hectares in operation, and other planned areas are about 1,200 hectares. In order to understand the possible ecological and social impacts of large-scale solar power fields, the CIRES of National Dong Hwa University has gathered experts from different fields to conduct joint research and share phased research results over the past year to Fonglin residents. Professor Hsing-Sheng Tai said that the results of interviews with people in Fonglin showed that people are generally worried about the impact of solar power fields on temperature, landscape, ecology, population, industry, health and safety, etc., believing that the overall scale is too large, and the location is inappropriate. They also worried that the management mechanism is insufficient. Problems such as opaque information, lack of local people's participation, lack of supervision, etc. needs to be solved. Professor Chun-Hong Lee also said that a large-scale questionnaire survey reflected the same situation, and Fonglin people hope that the aforementioned system deficiencies can be improved.
⚫ Temperature
Regarding the temperature issue that residents are generally concerned about, Professor Yi-Fang Sun said that given the size of the town, the average and maximum temperatures in summer (June) and winter (December) in the year are still within the range of historical records. The temperature difference between the solar power field and different land use types is obvious in summer, and opposite in winter. The temperature difference between the solar power field and the watermelon and paddy fields is within 1 degree, yet significantly higher than that of the artificial forest (about 2 degrees). On the other hand, the temperature difference will decrease with the distance from the solar power field. After about 300 meters, it will drop to the temperature of the forest.
⚫ Pollination services
Regarding the impact of pollination services, Professor Yu-Yun Chen said that the pollination efficiency at the edge of artificial forests is significantly higher than that of the solar power field and inside artificial forests.
⚫ Animals
In terms of animals, Professor Yu-Cheng Hsu and researcher Chun-Kai Yang said that basically the total number of animals in the solar power field is significantly less than that in artificial forests. Although some species exist in both solar power field and artificial forests, there are obvious differences in animal species. In terms of birds, species preferring grass will appear in the solar power field, which is very different to species preferring forests. In terms of amphibians and reptiles, preferences between different environments based on different seasons. They prefer paddy fields in spring, orchards in summer, and solar power field in autumn.
⚫ Carbon emissions
In terms of carbon emissions, Professor Shih-Chieh Chang said that the solar power field itself is a carbon emission source, and the plain forest is a carbon sink. Meanwhile, if the carbon reduction effect of photovoltaics replacing traditional thermal power generation is taken into account, the overall carbon reduction of solar power fields per hectare per year is 552 metric tons of carbon dioxide, and the carbon sequestration effect of the plain forest is 25.4 metric tons. In addition, research shows that the light reflection of photovoltaic panels is less than that of the forest canopy. In the hydrological budget part, the solar power field retains 80% of the rainfall, and the plain forest retains 62%.
⚫ Soil
Finally, regarding the soil part, researcher Chiao-Ping Wang said that the impact intensity of photovoltaic land preparation and civil foundation projects on the physical structure, chemical properties and invertebrates of the soil will vary depending on the soil properties. In silt loam areas that has both silt soil and loam, the particle content, electrical conductivity, carbon concentration, nitrogen concentration, soil invertebrate density and number of taxa in the solar power field area are significantly reduced, while the sandy loam area has no significant difference. In areas with high stone and sand content, site construction projects will significantly increase the stone content, bulk density and sand content of the surface soil. Therefore, the engineering design of the site and vegetation management during the operation period can help reduce the negative impact of solar power fields on the service functions of the soil ecosystem.
Residents in the discussion also actively raised questions and suggestions about the relevant research results and discussed with the research team. Issues included:
Fonglin should not bear too much a carbon reduction responsibility.
The government’s energy policy needs to be improved.
After the project site is decommissioned, will the land use be retrieved to agricultural land legally?
The supervision and participation mechanism should be improved.
The mechanism and practice of the Indigenous Consultation and Consent Rights should be improved.
Whether it is possible for the soil to restore agricultural functions after decommissioning?
Whether there are appropriate feedback measures, etc.
Participants also suggested that the research team increase research projects on air quality, the history, society and culture of indigenous peoples, etc. The research team promised to evaluate whether to include them into their future work.
The team also reminded that this is just a phased research result based on the current scale of the case. If the scale of solar power field in Fonglin continues to expand, the relevant impacts may be different. Moreover, the topics shared on that day are research results that have been monitored for just one year, and some are even shorter than one year. Therefore, long-term impact trends still need to be tracked over a longer period of time to know. At present, this survey and monitoring study will last for at least three years. The team will continue to disclose the research results to all walks of life, hoping that the relevant results can serve as the basis for public policy discussions between the government, all sectors of society, and academia.
Photo Date：2024/05/05
🌿News from Chinatimes
The Dong Hwa University team shared the research results on the impact of solar power fields on ecology and society with the people of Fonglin Township.
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