The consequences of climate change and reduced energy security are becoming increasingly apparent, especially on islands. At the same time, the energy transition is quickly spreading and its value to society becoming clearer. Two main obstacles to this transition, rigid policy and lack of local understanding, are particularly troubling on islands, where national policies often aren't flexible enough to consider local particularities and residents are exposed to different energy realities from those on the mainland.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper develops an integrated framework to evaluate land suitability for wind farm siting that combines multi-criteria analysis (MCA) with geographical information systems (GIS); an application of the proposed framework for the island of Lesvos, Greece, is further illustrated. A set of environmental, economic, social, and technical constraints, based on recent Greek legislation, identifies the potential sites for wind power installation. Furthermore, the area under consideration is evaluated by a variety of criteria, such as wind power potential, land cover type, electricity demand, visual impact, land value, and distance from the electricity grid.
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