Energy and Landscape: Consensus, Uncertainties and Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

The relationship between energy production and landscape transformation is inherently complex. As the global push for decarbonization accelerates, renewable energy infrastructures such as wind, solar, and bioenergy are reshaping the physical, ecological, and cultural dimensions of our landscapes. These technologies generate new challenges that call for careful planning, inclusive dialogue, and design innovation in landscapes. On the positive side, renewable energy implementations can contribute to landscape, mountain, and rural revitalization; reduce dependence on fossil fuels; and foster local sustainability. However, they also raise concerns related to visual and acoustic intrusion, land-use conflicts, the fragmentation of habitats, and cultural landscape transformations can generate resistance among communities and stakeholders.

Wind Energy and Landscape

Wind power has emerged as a key pillar of clean energy strategies, but its visual dominance, especially in scenic or culturally sensitive areas, can provoke public opposition. Offshore wind installations alleviate some land-use pressures but introduce other issues, including marine ecosystem impacts and horizon clutter. Furthermore, access roads, grid infrastructure, and maintenance operations often reshape rural and coastal geographies in subtle but lasting ways, though these can be designed to enhance connectivity and support carbon sequestration through strategic revegetation.

Solar Energy and Landscape

Solar technologies, especially large-scale photovoltaic farms, can trigger land competition with agriculture or conservation priorities. Their spatial footprint is significant and raises concerns about “solar sprawl.” On the other hand, hybrid solutions such as agrivoltaics offer potential for multifunctional landscapes, where energy production coexists with food cultivation or biodiversity enhancement. The architectural integration of solar technologies in urban or historical contexts also opens new debates around esthetics, preservation, and innovation, while potentially contributing to urban resilience and microclimate regulation.

Bioenergy and Landscape

Bioenergy derived from terrestrial ecosystems—through crops, forestry residues, or dedicated energy crops—is a cornerstone of global strategies to transition toward renewable energy and achieve carbon neutrality. As nations strive to meet climate targets under the Paris Agreement, bioenergy is increasingly promoted for its potential to replace fossil fuels, sequester carbon, and support rural economies. However, its large-scale deployment raises complex trade-offs. Scientific consensus exists on certain benefits, such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions when sustainably managed, yet critical uncertainties persist. These include competition with food production, biodiversity impacts, long-term soil health risks, and the carbon debt associated with land-use change. Additionally, the efficiency of bioenergy systems varies widely depending on feedstock type, conversion technologies, and regional agro-climatic conditions. Addressing these challenges is urgent to avoid unintended environmental and socioeconomic consequences while maximizing bioenergy’s role in a low-carbon future.

Resilience and Sustainable Integration

The transition to renewable energy landscapes demands a comprehensive understanding of system resilience and sustainable coupling mechanisms. Resilience assessment becomes crucial in evaluating how energy landscapes can adapt to climate change, economic fluctuations, and social transformations while maintaining their essential functions. The concept of sustainable coupling emphasizes the synergistic integration of energy infrastructure with existing ecological, agricultural, and social systems, moving beyond simple coexistence to create mutually beneficial relationships. Furthermore, the carbon sequestration potential of energy landscapes—through strategic vegetation management, soil conservation, and ecosystem restoration—presents opportunities to enhance climate mitigation beyond energy generation alone.

This Special Issue aims to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) and critically explore the intersections between renewable energy and landscape transformation, addressing knowledge gaps in ecological trade-offs, technological innovation, resilience assessment frameworks, sustainable coupling strategies, carbon sequestration potential, and policy frameworks. We seek contributions that balance renewable energy potential with its risks, emphasizing scalable and equitable solutions that enhance landscape resilience and maximize co-benefits. The theme aligns with this journal’s commitment to advancing sustainable energy, bridging gaps between bioenergy research, land management, ecosystem services, and climate policy. We welcome research that spans disciplines—from geography, environmental planning, and architecture to social sciences and ecological studies—to illuminate the evolving character of energy landscapes in different regional and cultural contexts.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:

• Spatial, ecological, and cultural implications of renewable energy deployment.
• Public perception and social acceptance to renewable landscape transformation.
• Renewable energy planning.
• Visual and acoustic impacts of wind turbines in rural, mountain, and coastal landscapes.
• Tools for landscape character assessments in wind and solar energy design.
• Land-use conflicts in wind and solar development: balancing energy production, agriculture, and biodiversity.
• Sustainable feedstock production (e.g., marginal land-use, perennial crops).
• Lifecycle assessment and carbon accounting methodologies.
• Biodiversity and soil health impacts of bioenergy expansion.
• Policy and economic incentives for equitable renewable energy deployment.
• Advanced conversion technologies (e.g., algae-based biofuels, pyrolysis).
• Resilience assessment frameworks for renewable energy landscapes.
• Carbon sequestration potential in renewable energy landscapes.
• Carbon accounting in integrated energy–landscape systems.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Elena Lucchi
Dr. Tianyi Chen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• renewable energy technologies
• bioenergy
• wind energy
• solar energy
• agrivoltaics
• land-use trade-offs
• carbon neutrality
• carbon sequestration
• resilience assessment
• sustainable coupling
• sustainable feedstocks
• lifecycle assessment
• bioenergy policy