The Road to India’s Renewable Energy Transition Must Pass through Crowded Lands

: The signiﬁcance of renewable energy in achieving necessary reductions in emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is widely acknowledged. However, there is growing concern over the allocation of land for constructing the required new infrastructure. Nowhere is this conﬂict more apparent than in India, where renewable energy targets are ambitious and land use conﬂicts are already signiﬁcant. India intends to increase renewable energy to 500 GW by 2030. This would require an additional 42 GW of renewable energy to be installed every year. Although renewable energy can provide the solution to both India’s growing need for cheap energy and climate change mitigation, the sustainable future of renewable energy deployment is far from simple due to its associated land use impacts and socio-ecological risk. While others have highlighted challenges to India’s renewable energy targets, here we focus on the land use change issues that will need to be addressed for India to meet its targets. We introduce a series of recommendations and highlight how these could contribute to mainstreaming land values and facilitate the implementation of India’s 2030 renewable energy targets. These recommendations include suggested planning approaches that would guide the development of standard siting guidelines, identiﬁcation of preferential “go-to” areas for renewable energy, and the development of tools that allow access to data and information to site renewable right. Policy recommendations highlight utilizing converted lands and existing built infrastructure for renewable energy development, and adapting existing policies so they address land use impacts.


Introduction
India is a country undergoing a rapid and seismic transformation.With a population of 1.3 billion, India experiences an increase in its urban population equivalent to adding the size of New York City annually [1].By 2024, it will overtake China as the world's most populous country [2].This growth has been accompanied by an infrastructure expansion that is remaking the country and fueling a trajectory of industrial advancement and modernization that has positioned South Asia as one of the fastest growing regions in the world, while also lifting millions out of poverty [3,4].In recent years, India has achieved a monumental feat by providing electricity to hundreds of millions of people, greatly enhancing the well-being of a significant portion of its population [5,6].
Fossil fuels have figured prominently in enabling this story of remarkable change [7].Due to increasing incomes and improving living standards, India has emerged as the third Table 1.Current and projected (2030) installed capacity mix for India [9,11,12].

Energy Source
Installed Capacity (GW) (%) The Challenge To avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, it is generally understood that the world must ensure that warming does not exceed 1.5 • C above pre-industrial levels [13].In order to meet this objective, countries will have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.With 73% of global emissions tied to energy use, a rapid transition to renewable energy is urgently needed.Indeed, globally, renewable energy production will need to increase nine-fold to meet the Paris Climate Agreement (PCA) 2030 target [14].Much more will be necessary to reach the 2050 net-zero target.Although there is widespread consensus regarding the crucial role of renewable energy in achieving the required emission reductions to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius [15,16], there are significant challenges posed by conflicts over land access to accommodate the necessary expansion of renewable energy capacity [17][18][19].And nowhere is the conflict over land availability for renewable energy more pressing than in India, where renewable energy targets are ambitious and land use conflicts are already significant [5].New solar and onshore wind energy projects will account for ~80% (420 GW) of the 500 GW renewable energy target in India.The general public shows a strong preference for renewable power, and the costs of wind and solar energy have significantly decreased in recent years [20].However, generating electricity from wind and solar sources requires a larger land area per unit of power produced compared to coal or natural gas-fired power plants [21,22].
An examination of renewable siting using models based on artificial intelligence in India suggests that existing solar and wind energy projects have been built primarily on productive agricultural lands (~68% for solar and ~22% for wind), followed by biodiversityrich ecosystems (~7% for solar and ~5% for wind), highlighting the potential adverse land use impacts and associated socio-ecological risks posed by renewable energy expansion in the country (Figure 1) [23,24].The growth of renewable energy infrastructure in India, particularly wind and solar projects, has a notable impact on natural land cover types, including sensitive ecosystems such as evergreen and deciduous forests, littoral swamp forests, grasslands, and other natural ecosystems that possess significant biodiversity and carbon values (Figure 1) [23,24].The preservation and expansion of these ecosystems are crucial for India to achieve its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) goal, which involves creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tons of CO 2 equivalent through the establishment of additional forest cover [25].Despite these concerns, India's regulatory oversight of environmental impacts from renewable energy projects remains limited.Wind and solar projects are generally regarded as environmentally friendly or "green" by regulatory agencies.As a result, these projects may not be required to undergo an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), regardless of their size or location [26,27].
Further renewable buildout on agricultural lands poses its own set of challenges, making it unlikely that continued loss of these lands for large-scale renewable expansion is sustainable [28,29].Especially for solar energy development, once land is leased or sold for development, it ceases to be available for agricultural uses [30].In India, the harvest from crops such as rice and wheat, which constitutes 80% of the country's food grain production, is of strategic importance to the country's food security [31,32].Recent intense heat waves damaging the wheat crop have led to export bans aimed at safeguarding the nation's food security.In India, being the world's second largest producer of wheat, the ban imposed by the country is likely to worsen global wheat shortages that are already influenced by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine [33][34][35].For solar, the projected area was calculated using a range of 30 [36] to 69 [37] MW/km 2 and an average of 50 MW/km 2 .Similarly, for wind, we calculated projected area using a range of 3 to 9 MW/km 2 and an average of 5 MW/km 2 [38].The projection of future land use conversion was calculated based on current pattern of land use for renewables as determined through [23] and Global Renewables Watch: (https://www.globalrenewableswatch.org/, accessed on 30 August 2022) and assumed a similar percentage of land conversion in the future based on these patterns.India's increasing population and the growing demand for land for diverse uses increases the pressure on land, particularly common lands, which are often mistakenly assumed to be wastelands [39].Common lands constitute nearly 25 percent of India's area and have ecological, social, cultural, and economic significance [40].Over 350 million rural poor individuals in India rely on common lands to fulfill their basic requirements such as food, water, medicine, and timber.This includes Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, who are officially recognized as disadvantaged socio-economic groups and face significant challenges in India [41].These lands often provide critical ecosystem services that are woven into the social and cultural fabric of local communities [42].While these lands have been traditionally managed by the local communities, they do not have the rights over these resources.Uncoordinated external development could put local livelihoods at risk and jeopardize investments in renewable energy.Recent analysis suggest that renewable energy represents the biggest threat for future land conversion to the lands of Indigenous people globally, whose rights are ostensibly protected by the United Nations [43].An estimated 42% of Indigenous land (3.6 million km 2 ) is under high development pressure from renewable energy, driven in large part by solar (81%) and to a lesser degree, by wind (13%) [43].A history of exclusion from decision-making processes about their customary lands and the natural resources found on them leaves Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities vulnerable to continued exploitation that can negatively impact their sovereign rights, livelihoods, and long-term well-being (Table 2) [39].Proactive planning that incorporates the necessary time for free, prior, and informed consent can rewrite these well-worn trajectories.With the right policies and appropriate investment, revenue and income brought in by renewable energy development can be transformed into opportunities for these communities and the environment.For solar, the projected area was calculated using a range of 30 [36] to 69 [37] MW/km 2 and an average of 50 MW/km 2 .Similarly, for wind, we calculated projected area using a range of 3 to 9 MW/km 2 and an average of 5 MW/km 2 [38].The projection of future land use conversion was calculated based on current pattern of land use for renewables as determined through [23] and Global Renewables Watch: (https://www.globalrenewableswatch.org/, accessed on 30 August 2022) and assumed a similar percentage of land conversion in the future based on these patterns.India's increasing population and the growing demand for land for diverse uses increases the pressure on land, particularly common lands, which are often mistakenly assumed to be wastelands [39].Common lands constitute nearly 25 percent of India's area and have ecological, social, cultural, and economic significance [40].Over 350 million rural poor individuals in India rely on common lands to fulfill their basic requirements such as food, water, medicine, and timber.This includes Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, who are officially recognized as disadvantaged socio-economic groups and face significant challenges in India [41].These lands often provide critical ecosystem services that are woven into the social and cultural fabric of local communities [42].While these lands have been traditionally managed by the local communities, they do not have the rights over these resources.Uncoordinated external development could put local livelihoods at risk and jeopardize investments in renewable energy.Recent analysis suggest that renewable energy represents the biggest threat for future land conversion to the lands of Indigenous people globally, whose rights are ostensibly protected by the United Nations [43].An estimated 42% of Indigenous land (3.6 million km 2 ) is under high development pressure from renewable energy, driven in large part by solar (81%) and to a lesser degree, by wind (13%) [43].A history of exclusion from decision-making processes about their customary lands and the natural resources found on them leaves Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities vulnerable to continued exploitation that can negatively impact their sovereign rights, livelihoods, and long-term well-being (Table 2) [39].Proactive planning that incorporates the necessary time for free, prior, and informed consent can rewrite these well-worn trajectories.With the right policies and appropriate investment, revenue and income brought in by renewable energy development can be transformed into opportunities for these communities and the environment.We know too that the current rate of renewable energy deployment has been too slow to match the pace needed to achieve the necessary emission reductions by 2030 and 2050.Annual investment in clean energy worldwide will need to more than triple to nearly USD 4 trillion by 2030 if the world is to stay on track towards its net zero goal [44].One key challenge to keeping renewable energy deployment aligned with emissions targets is managing the necessary land acquisition and licensing regulations given the large land requirements needed for renewable projects.But the good news is that there are already enough converted lands to deliver multiple times the renewable energy countries pledged in the PCA [14,45].This land is often near high voltage power lines, further reducing the need to convert natural areas for renewable energy development.However, emerging patterns suggest that development is occurring in ways that are not sustainable, despite this abundance of available low-conflict land [23,46].To meet ambitious renewable energy transition timelines, it will be critical to guide development away from high-conflict areas that will slow that deployment and towards areas of low conflict.This strategy will require changes in existing energy policies and an overhaul of the environmental licensing process.Of particular importance will be a shift away from the project-by-project development to the designation of "go-to areas" with low environmental impacts and high suitability for renewables that can be identified for expedited deployment [47].

Mitigating Conflicts and Accelerating Renewable Energy Expansion
Although renewable energy is an obvious pathway to meeting India's growing need for energy in a way that also addresses emissions, the future of a truly sustainable renewable energy deployment is far from assured due to the likelihood of land use impacts and the socio-ecological risks that accompany that footprint [45,[48][49][50].There are, however, steps that decision makers can take to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of the coming renewable energy expansion.While others have highlighted challenges to India's renewable energy targets [51], here we focus specifically on the land use change issues that will need to be addressed for India to meet its targets.We introduce a series of planning and policy pathways that seek to facilitate the implementation of India's 2030 renewable energy targets in a manner that could safeguard biodiversity and values of the local communities without slowing the transition to a clean energy future (Figure 2).We focus on a dominant narrative in the PCA and the single most important tool for meeting emission reduction targets-the transition to renewable energy.We highlight one of the key pitfalls of the implementation of the PCA and contribute new insights to support the strongest possible implementation of the PCA.
The stakes are considerable.Climate change is no longer a specter of the future, but very much in our present, with increasing occurrences of high temperature extremes and heavy precipitation events.Energy investments made today, especially in developing countries, will cement emission patterns for decades to come.We focus here on India for two critical reasons: (a) it is an influentially important actor in the global emission reduction targets mix, and (b) because the policy environment, and in turn the recommendations, that guide development need to reflect local contexts.We argue though that many of the recommendations we make here could be applied in other countries.heavy precipitation events.Energy investments made today, especially in developing countries, will cement emission patterns for decades to come.We focus here on India for two critical reasons: (a) it is an influentially important actor in the global emission reduction targets mix, and (b) because the policy environment, and in turn the recommendations, that guide development need to reflect local contexts.We argue though that many of the recommendations we make here could be applied in other countries.

Develop Standard Siting Guidelines
Siting guidelines should be developed that provide a framework for land selection that is not only optimal from the perspective of renewable energy generation but also limits ecological and social impacts.The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in India has the capacity to establish guidelines that incorporate criteria to identify areas with lower environmental impact for the selection of renewable energy project sites.This would help ensure that the development of such projects takes place in a manner that minimizes negative effects on the environment [52][53][54].These guidelines should also consider dependence on common lands by local communities [55], especially vulnerable community groups such as Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Landless, Nomadic and Pastoral Groups, given the frequency of informal tenancy or customary leasing [56,57].These guidelines should take into account various factors such as protected areas, wildlife corridors and flyways, natural areas like forests and grasslands, biodiversity hotspots, Important Bird Areas (IBAs), Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), and habitats of threatened and endangered species.By considering these factors, the guidelines can help ensure that renewable energy projects are developed in a manner that safeguards these important ecological features.Areas providing important ecosystem services, such as water recharge, or areas with forest restoration potential should also be included, not least because the latter is critical to meeting India's NDC commitment to produce an additional 25-30 million hectares of forest cover by 2030 [25,[58][59][60].The guidelines should be developed in collaboration with state governments and relevant central ministries such as the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Ministry of Rural Development, and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, as well as with renewable energy industry partners.Such nationally developed guidelines can direct states on how to identify "go-to zones" that will have the potential to facilitate a faster and improved due diligence process, to ease regulatory burdens involved in project clearances, and reduce the risk to financial institutions and their investments.

Identify Preferential Go to Areas for Renewable Energy
Using nationally established guidelines, state governments can identify preferential areas for renewable energy that are given priority based on resource potential, environmental and social factors (Figure 3).National agencies in India, such as the National Institute of Wind Energy and the National Institute of Solar Energy, have already made substantial progress mapping and technical resources related to the potential for renewable energy.These resources can be utilized to expedite the identification of areas that align with the criteria mentioned above, facilitating the process of selecting suitable sites for renewable energy projects [61][62][63][64][65].These can be combined with socioenvironmental criteria mentioned above to help delineate such areas.These preferential areas should be approved in advance for renewable energy development for faster project deployment.The process of acquiring permits and planning approval for building renewables often accounts for a large portion of the costs and risks involved in their deployment.Once preferential areas for renewable energy projects are identified, it is important for state governments to adopt policies that actively incentivize the development of projects in these areas.These incentives could include expedited project clearance processes and financial benefits that enhance the cost-effectiveness of projects and reduce financial risks for developers.Such supportive policies can encourage investment in renewable energy and accelerate the transition towards sustainable and clean energy sources.may expedite development in a way that minimizes impacts and greatly de-risks investments [47].The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) serves as an exemplar of how governmental agencies have expedited the development of utility-scale renewable energy projects on public lands, while simultaneously mitigating adverse environmental, social, and economic effects.The PEIS provides a framework that guides decision making, ensuring that renewable energy development on public lands is carried out in a responsible and sustainable manner [67].The PEIS, which is applicable to the southwestern U.S. states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, focuses on regions where the federal government manages a substantial amount of land.It was designed to facilitate the advancement of solar development by pre-approving zones that are suitable in terms of solar potential and environmental considerations, eliminating the need for individual project-specific impact analyses.Following the implementation of the PEIS, numerous large-scale solar projects have been approved within these zones, and the average approval time for projects has been reduced to 10 months, significantly shorter than the usual 18-24 month timeframe [68].As a result, not only were the developers' costs and risks reduced, but the projects were developed on lands deemed to be of low conservation value [68].

Prioritize Degraded and Converted Land for Development
A previous study suggests that degraded and converted lands (i.e., current fallow, gullied, other wasteland, scrubland, and shifting cultivation) with low biodiversity and livelihood value across India represent a total potential capacity of 1789 GW of renewable energy, an amount which is ~4 times the 2030 goal [33,69].Despite the availability of significant built infrastructure and extensive degraded and converted lands across India with While the best practices on the identification of "go-to areas" are still in the early stages of development, there are examples that can be adapted in India.The EU Commission, for example, has recently released a policy directive to its 27 member states to speed up environmental licensing of renewable energy development in 'RE acceleration areas' as part of efforts to wean the EU off its dependence on Russian gas as quickly as possible [66].This is critically important as challenges over land use will be an important issue in Europe, as they are in India [14,17].
The lengthy permitting process has been one of the biggest challenges, slowing projects that could otherwise rapidly advance to construction.Pre-identified "go-to areas" may expedite development in a way that minimizes impacts and greatly de-risks investments [47].The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) serves as an exemplar of how governmental agencies have expedited the development of utility-scale renewable energy projects on public lands, while simultaneously mitigating adverse environmental, social, and economic effects.The PEIS provides a framework that guides decision making, ensuring that renewable energy development on public lands is carried out in a responsible and sustainable manner [67].The PEIS, which is applicable to the southwestern U.S. states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, focuses on regions where the federal government manages a substantial amount of land.It was designed to facilitate the advancement of solar development by pre-approving zones that are suitable in terms of solar potential and environmental considerations, eliminating the need for individual project-specific impact analyses.Following the implementation of the PEIS, numerous large-scale solar projects have been approved within these zones, and the average approval time for projects has been reduced to 10 months, significantly shorter than the usual 18-24 month timeframe [68].As a result, not only were the developers' costs and risks reduced, but the projects were developed on lands deemed to be of low conservation value [68].

Prioritize Degraded and Converted Land for Development
A previous study suggests that degraded and converted lands (i.e., current fallow, gullied, other wasteland, scrubland, and shifting cultivation) with low biodiversity and livelihood value across India represent a total potential capacity of 1789 GW of renewable energy, an amount which is ~4 times the 2030 goal [33,69].Despite the availability of significant built infrastructure and extensive degraded and converted lands across India with high renewable energy potential, developers do not consistently and preferentially utilize these areas [23,70].Prioritizing these lands is a significant opportunity for solar and wind energy expansion that proactively minimizes potential conflicts with critical environmental or socio-economic values, such as with productive agricultural lands.The absence of clear land use policy and the lack of subsidies and incentives that promote renewable energy development on these low impact areas fails to prioritize these areas [71].
Presently there is no mechanism to monitor the use of different land types for renewable energy expansion on a regular basis.Therefore, we recommend that appropriate government entities (1) develop strong land use regulations that directs development towards areas that will reduce the loss of natural and important agricultural areas, (2) create a standard monitoring approach for tracking land use patterns associated with renewable energy development [72], and (3) develop a legislative framework that subsidizes and incentivizes renewable energy projects on low-impact areas.To maximize the public value of renewable energy subsidies, it is crucial to target these subsidies in a way that prioritizes low-impact developments.This can be achieved with implementing criteria that encourage the selection of projects with minimal negative effects on natural, agricultural, or critical common lands.Additionally, creating avoidance and mitigation requirements for projects impacting these areas can help raise the costs associated with such developments.By incorporating these measures, subsidies can be utilized more effectively, ensuring that renewable energy projects deliver the maximum public value while minimizing adverse impacts on important lands and ecosystems.
A key opportunity lies in directing attention to the redevelopment and repurposing of former mining lands [73].Repurposing renewable energy on former mining lands reduces pressure on productive agriculture and natural lands, while at the same time contributing to energy security and providing economic benefits and jobs to post-mining communities.In India, approximately 3000 km 2 has already been mined for coal and lignite, with nearly 50% of these sites located in states with high renewable energy resource potential such as Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh [74].Repurposing even a modest 30% of these mined lands has the potential to generate approximately 40 to 60 GW of renewable energy.If effective, former coal mines can once again deliver domestic energy and economic benefits to India's local and national communities.

Promote the Use of Existing Built Infrastructure
India also has an estimated 11,731 km 2 of rooftop area with the potential to generate up to 1815 TWh/year.This is more than the country's current electricity demand of 1300 TWh/year [75].Rooftop solar development may be facilitated by the fact that India is among the most cost-effective countries for deploying rooftop solar, at USD 66 per megawatt-hour, making it an attractive option for expanding rooftop solar installations in the country [75].
Analogously, according to The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India's reservoirs have approximately 18,000 km 2 of surface area that can be utilized for generating solar power using floating solar panels.The potential of this approach is estimated to around 280 gigawatts (GW) of solar power.By leveraging the surface area of reservoirs, India can tap into this significant potential and further enhance its solar energy generation capabilities.Similarly, artificial waterbodies such as canals and reservoirs in India also represent significant potential to generate solar energy [76].India has 300,000 km of canals [77] and 31,553 km 2 of reservoirs.A high proportion of these canals (50%) and reservoir areas (77%) are located in eight states with high renewable energy potential: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh [78].According to Gujarat State Electricity Corporation, Gujarat alone is home to more than 80,000 km of canals; if 30% of the canals were fitted with solar panels, 18 GW of power could be produced, avoiding the potential conversion of 36,000 hectares of land.In fact, Gujarat has initiated a number of small solar projects on canals [79].Similarly India's reservoirs have 18,000 km 2 of surface area with the potential to generate 280 GW of solar power using floating solar panels [78,80].
Solar power generation on artificial water bodies can also reduce water evaporation and algae blooms.In addition, water helps mediates temperature changes which increases panel efficiency by at least 2.5-5% [81].The Madhya Pradesh government has put forth plans to construct a 1 gigawatt (GW) floating solar power plant on the Indira Sagar Reservoir.Once completed, it would become the world's largest floating solar power plant [82].
The land requirement for renewable energy projects can be further minimized with the use of offshore wind.India has 7600 km of coastline and an offshore wind energy potential of 140 GW, with over half the potential (i.e., 71 GW) being found in the two states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu [83].Unfortunately, to date, India has no operational offshore wind farms.While the initial installation costs for wind and solar systems on built infrastructure or offshore are likely higher, the long-term benefits in terms of environmental sustainability and reduced conflicts over land use make them attractive options, especially in India, where land use conflicts are already high.

Adapt Existing Renewable Energy Planning, Protocols and Policies
India already has a number of policies and protocols that if adapted, can help facilitate the sustainable deployment of renewable energy in line with the 2030 target [84,85].Long-term electricity resource planning in India involves several mechanisms, including integrated resource plans (IRPs) and long-term procurement plans [10].IRPs are utilized to meet the long-term energy requirements by considering a mix of cost-effective supply options and energy efficiency measures, while also taking into account principles of equity, reliability, flexibility, and specific goals such as renewable energy targets.Traditionally, IRPs focus on load forecasts, supply-side options (such as new generation capacity), demand-side options (such as energy efficiency measures), and transmission and distribution considerations.However, there is a significant opportunity for IRPs to incorporate the environmental and social costs associated with different resource options.By considering these factors, IRPs can ensure that the planning process considers the broader impacts of various energy sources and promotes more sustainable and socially responsible decision making.
States have the opportunity to prescribe factors that must be considered in the development of integrated resource plans (IRPs) in accordance with the national siting guidelines.By doing so, they can promote the protection of environmental, social, and land use impacts associated with meeting future energy demand.These factors can be incorporated into the IRPs, enabling a comprehensive evaluation of the implications of different resource options.Additionally, states can implement Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs), which mandate state distribution utilities and large electricity consumers to procure a specified percentage of their electricity from renewable energy sources.This requirement incentivizes the adoption of renewable energy and encourages the diversification of the energy mix.By combining IRPs that consider environmental and social impacts with RPOs, states can foster a more sustainable and inclusive approach to energy planning and promote the expansion of renewable energy sources in meeting future energy demand [86].RPOs have complemented renewable energy goals by generating certainty of demand for renewable energy and spurring expansion.Procurement mechanisms such as RPOs can direct renewable energy development to lower impact areas by favoring procurement from eligible low-conflict sites during the tendering process.Alternatively, relevant central (i.e., Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited and National Thermal Power Corporation Limited) and state-level organizations can also evaluate bids for proposed projects based on low-conflict criteria.
In India, many renewable energy projects receive financing through international financial institutions [87,88].From 2019 to 2021, these international finance institutions, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), collectively provided 50% of the total funding for renewable projects [89].These lenders have a considerable influence over siting through their environmental and social performance standards.Many of these lenders have adopted the Equator Principles [90] that require "as a matter of priority, [that] the client should seek to avoid impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem services and local communities".
These performance standards should be a key motivation for state governments to develop "go-to areas" that are pre-designed with these criteria in mind.Government policies related to land use and renewable energy development should also direct renewable developers to measure their performance relative to these safeguards.Indeed, financial institutions have a crucial role to play in supporting energy sector planning and facilitating the transition to a sustainable energy future.They can provide valuable assistance by offering financial support for pre-investment project portfolios and cumulative impact assessments.Such efforts can help financial institutions to develop standardized protocols to fully incorporate safeguard data and metrics into their decision-making processes when selecting projects [91,92].
Access to transmission infrastructure is a significant challenge for renewable energy projects, and addressing this issue is critical for the successful deployment of renewable energy in India.The Green Energy Corridor Project, initiated by the Indian government, aims to synchronize the grid via integrating electricity generated from renewable sources like solar and wind with conventional power plants [93].This project seeks to enhance the transmission infrastructure and facilitate the evacuation of renewable energy from highpotential states.And to address transmission constraints, the government launched the Intra State Transmission System project in 2015-2016, targeting eight states with the highest renewable energy potential.However, as of October 2022, only three states (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu) have completed all the projects under the Green Energy Corridor.
India could also consider adopting a co-design approach, similar to the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZs) implemented in other countries.For instance, Texas established CREZs in 2005, which involved the identification of suitable zones for renewable energy development and the construction of new transmission lines to deliver wind energy to consumers [94].This approach not only ensures guaranteed access to transmission lines, but also optimizes the utilization of variable renewable energy resources, making them accessible to more users for longer durations.By investing in transmission infrastructure and adopting models like the CREZs, India can tackle the curtailment issues associated with renewable energy sources and facilitate the seamless integration of renewable energy into the grid, enabling a more reliable and efficient renewable energy development pathway.The CREZ lines have slashed wind curtailment in Texas by more than 90% and have effectively eliminated wind-related congestion between areas with the best wind resources and load centers in other parts of the state.India's grid already faces numerous challenges, including electricity transmission losses and high levels of renewable energy curtailment [95].Combining nationally established guidelines for low-impact siting, the design of preferential areas for renewable energy that have high resource potential but lower impacts on environmental and social factors with coordinated siting of transmission lines represents a clear way to boost renewable energy deployment in India.Despite India's focus on centralized renewable energy production, microgrids may be an effective mechanism that could allow for reduced environmental conflicts, given the flexibility in siting these smaller footprints, as well as providing a solution for improved energy access because of the flexibility to site where energy is needed most [91,95].

Deploy Tools to Site Renewables Right
Turning energy plans into reality requires effective policies, appropriate incentives, and science-based tools that make it easier and cheaper to deploy renewable energy on lands with low environmental and social conflict.These tools also ensure all stakeholders have data access and transparency in decision making.While there are globally available decision support tools for biodiversity, i.e., the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT), that allows users to screen sites selected for wind and solar projects and assess conflicts using spatial data for biodiversity and wildlife habitats, it is important to note that these global tools may not always have country-specific data for biodiversity and habitats.Additionally, these tools provide little to no ability to assess the adequacy of social safeguards of renewable projects.To comprehensively guide environmentally and socially responsible wind and solar development in India, energy and conservation organizations in India have created a land use decision support tool named SiteRight (https://www.tncindia.in/what-we-do/siteright/,accessed on 30 August 2022).The tool assesses solar and wind projects for socio-ecological conflicts, while also guiding potential development to low-impact areas, thereby helping to reduce potential project delays and cost overruns.Originally developed for the states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, it has recently been expanded to all states.

Conclusions
Achieving a future that balances the goals of energy, climate, nature, and communities is a significant challenge that India, like many other countries, will face in the coming decade.We believe that policies that prioritize the deployment of renewable energy in low-impact areas will be central to achieving that balance.We strongly recommend that the Indian government, corporations, and financial institutions adopt these recommendations to accelerate the deployment of low-impact renewable energy.These recommendations are designed to facilitate the transition to a clean energy future while ensuring it is achieved in a socially and ecologically responsible manner.Incorporation of these values is not only likely to have benefits for conservation, but also for the renewable energy sector by dramatically reducing project delays and costs.A study of solar projects in the USA found that permitting can be three times faster and costs 7-14% lower when projects are sited in areas of low biodiversity value [96].Likewise, projections for wind deployment in the United States show that costs could increase and installed wind capacity could decrease (by 14% by 2030 and 28% by 2050) if concerns about wildlife, communities, and other factors are not addressed [97].
While our study has focused on the challenges associated with land use changes and associated socio-ecological impacts from wind and solar energy development, previous studies have suggested that wind and solar development may also have beneficial environmental outcomes [98][99][100].For example, in desert systems, the development of wind and solar energy may influence local microclimates in ways that promote vegetation growth [98,99].Research in grasslands has also observed an increase in overall species diversity of communities associated with the deployment of wind energy [100].Wind and solar renewable sectors can also create opportunities for landowners to reduce their energy expenses and generate new revenue sources.Often, farmlands are also highly desirable for solar siting.Given the focus of the current study on large-scale or industrial-scale wind and solar development, we viewed large-scale solar development as a consumptive land use, replacing former land use where it is located [101].But solar development opportunities for co-located land uses or solar project designs that create valuable co-benefits are possible, but would require a shift away from the current model of large-scale solar arrays preferred by the solar industry [102,103].Given the large extent of agricultural lands in India, any mechanisms that improve the coexistence of agriculture and renewable energy could dramatically improve options for more renewable energy.Furthermore, research on the integration of renewable energy within agriculture systems has suggested that co-production of energy and agriculture could enhance crop yields, provide shade for livestock in pasture lands, and increase livestock production [104,105].Overall, while the land use challenges associated with the renewable energy transition are likely to remain large, taking a more holistic view of costs and benefits will be critical to guide sustainable development patterns.
But accelerating the buildout on low-conflict lands requires proactive measures now.The renewable energy market continues to expand at an exponential rate in response to falling solar and wind development costs and amid increasingly urgent country-level pressures to achieve climate goals.This growth will be bolstered with the passage of the Build Back Better legislation in the USA, the EU's Green New Deal, and India's commitment to 50% renewable energy by 2030.To enable an accelerating renewable energy transition that moves climate goals forward with it, we need to promote a buildout that considers climate, conservation, and community repercussions.While there is limited evidence in the Indian context, we know that siting renewable energy projects in areas that have low biodiversity value and strong community support can reduce project costs and shorten approval times in places like the United States [97].A global abundance of solar and wind energy resources in India makes it imperative to take those steps that facilitate guiding development more rapidly and sustainably to those areas that avoid conflicts to plausibly deliver climate commitments.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Current and estimated future (2030) (a) installed capacity and overlap with different land types by (b) solar and (c) wind energy projects in India.For solar, the projected area was calculated using a range of 30[36] to 69[37] MW/km 2 and an average of 50 MW/km 2 .Similarly, for wind, we calculated projected area using a range of 3 to 9 MW/km 2 and an average of 5 MW/km 2[38].The projection of future land use conversion was calculated based on current pattern of land use for renewables as determined through[23] and Global Renewables Watch: (https://www.globalrenewableswatch.org/, accessed on 30 August 2022) and assumed a similar percentage of land conversion in the future based on these patterns.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Current and estimated future (2030) (a) installed capacity and overlap with different land types by (b) solar and (c) wind energy projects in India.For solar, the projected area was calculated using a range of 30[36] to 69[37] MW/km 2 and an average of 50 MW/km 2 .Similarly, for wind, we calculated projected area using a range of 3 to 9 MW/km 2 and an average of 5 MW/km 2[38].The projection of future land use conversion was calculated based on current pattern of land use for renewables as determined through[23] and Global Renewables Watch: (https://www.globalrenewableswatch.org/, accessed on 30 August 2022) and assumed a similar percentage of land conversion in the future based on these patterns.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Planning and policy pathways that will facilitate the implementation of India's 2030 renewable energy targets.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Planning and policy pathways that will facilitate the implementation of India's 2030 renewable energy targets.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Defining low-conflict areas-decision makers can map resource potential and critical environmental and social factors to identify areas that are suitable for renewable energy development and less likely to adversely impact those environmental and social values.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Defining low-conflict areas-decision makers can map resource potential and critical environmental and social factors to identify areas that are suitable for renewable energy development and less likely to adversely impact those environmental and social values.

Table 2 .
Reported evidence of land conflicts due to environmental and socio-ecological risks of solar and wind energy projects.Mikir Bamuni Grant and Lalung Gaon solar project, AssamFarmers in Nagaon district in central Assam have been protesting since 29 January 2021 against forced eviction from their lands to construct a solar plant.In 2018, Assam Power Development Corporation Limited selected 38.4 hectares of farmland at Mikir Bamuni Grant and Lalung Gaon for setting up the solar power plant.Due to the protest, high court has stayed solar plant land acquisition.

Table 2 .
Cont.Farmers lost the government land on which they had been cultivating for years.They were also not compensated, and as a result, farmers protested, asking for compensation or the return of their land.