Sustainability trade-offs at the nexus of solar energy, agriculture, and biodiversity

A rapid transition to renewable energy is necessary for achieving global decarbonization targets, but siting conflicts, particularly beyond the built environment, remain a key barrier to sustainable development. At the same time, climate-induced pressures on biodiversity intensify the socio-ecological trade-offs within the energy-agriculture-biodiversity nexus. Using New York State as a case study, we assess the geographic implications of utility-scale solar energy development under competing land-use priorities. We apply a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) optimization model to evaluate solar buildout across three distinct scenarios: minimizing cost, prioritizing agricultural preservation, and conserving biodiversity, employing a lexicographic hierarchy to enforce a strict ordering of stakeholder priorities. Results indicate that New York can meet its mid-century decarbonization goals by deploying 46,216 MWdc of solar energy, however, achieving this goal involves considerable land-use trade-offs. A cost-minimizing scenario disproportionately targets pasture and hay lands (>40,000 ha), nearly half of which overlap with grassland bird habitat and broader biodiversity areas. Prioritizing agriculture spares ∼80 % of farmland but creates potential for deforestation of over 41,000 ha. Biodiversity-conscious siting avoids ecologically sensitive areas and increases the annualized total costs by 0.17 %, indicating economic feasibility. Our findings highlight the need for spatially informed, integrative land-use strategies that reconcile climate goals with ecological and agricultural values. By linking geospatial optimization with socio-ecological criteria, this work contributes a transferable framework to inform just and ecologically responsible energy transitions in multifunctional landscapes, offering new insights into how geography can advance sustainable development.

Duke Scholars

Author Elizabeth Leigh Kalies Environmental Social Systems