Whether river valleys for hydropower, hedgerows for firewood or the famous windmills of Holland: renewable energy sources have shaped the character of the landscape for centuries. The current energy transition is bringing new technologies with it and changing landscapes in the process. However, wind turbines visible from afar, large biogas plants with extensive fields of maize, solar panels over swathes of open land or the intensification of wood use in forests are widely controversial, including in the Euregio, where there is a clash of differing policies for the expansion of renewables. 3LP therefore engaged in the EU COST project RELY "Renewable Energy and Landscape Quality". The European research network addressed the question of how renewables can be better reconciled with landscape conservation and landscape management, fostering greater acceptance among the population.
In an e-lecture, 3LP project manager Anja Brüll showed what a “complementary biomass
strategy” could look like in the Three Countries Park (see LP3LP project) and how it could
correspond with landscape quality objectives. Different landscape elements here
not only contribute to bioenergy production, but also offer ecosystem services and
reinforce the landscape character, such as ecological hedgerow management,
terraced agroforestry systems, constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment or
the use of grass cuttings from private gardens and nature conservation areas. Following
the lecture, 3LP also organized the workshop “Bocage and bioenergy” on Forum
2017 with model projects and initiatives from the partner regions.
Duration:
2016-2018
Funding: COST Programm (EU)
Lead: Universität
Nürtingen-Geislingen (D)
Three-Countries Park: contributions to landscape and bioenergy with Online-Lecture on “Landscape quality objectives and complementary biomass (re)production”
Website Project: cost-rely.eu
Book: RELY book
Download: RELY Flyer