5.0. Environmental and Social Impacts of the project

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1 5.0. Environmental and Social Impacts of the project Even though a solar power farm looks like a development that is environment friendly and sustainable, there are many factors that should be considered to minimize the negative impact it can have on the environment and the society. The implementation and operation of the solar farm must be assessed with respect to its socio-economic and environmental issues and any negative impact mitigated Environment Impact of Solar Power The sun provides a tremendous resource for generating clean and sustainable electricity without toxic pollution or global warming. The potential environmental impacts associated with the setting up of a solar power farm are land use, habitat loss, water use and the use of hazardous material during the manufacturing process of the photovoltaic cell. The proposed solar farm will use the PV arrays method for generating electricity and all the above mentioned environmental impacts have been assessed accordingly Land Use Depending on their location, large utility-scale solar facilities can raise concerns about land degradation and habitat loss. Total land area requirements vary depending on the technology, the topography of the site, and the intensity of the solar resource. Estimates for utility-scale PV systems range from 3.5 to 10 acres per megawatt. Unlike wind facilities, there is less opportunity for solar projects to share land with agricultural uses. However, land impacts from utility-scale solar systems can be minimized by siting them at lower-quality locations such as that chosen for this project. The land chosen is one found in a zone reserved for Bad Neighbourhood Development. Several high polluting activities are already operating in that area such as stone crushing plant, crematoriums, and poultry farms (refer to figure 1). Furthermore, the land is of poor quality for agricultural purposes and the investigation carried out shows that the top soil thickness is very low to negligible at places, i.e. rocks layers are present on the surface. Since the area is reserved for bad neighborhood development, there is no residential development near the site. Residential development is not normally allowed near high polluting activities such as stone crushing plants, crematorium and poultry farming and the closest human settlement is found at 1km from the site. Figure 22 shows the location of the site with respect to other development in the surrounding.the environment risk regarding land use is negligible without any loss of habitat or land degradation. 30

2 Figure 22: Location of the proposed site with respect to other development in the area Water Use Unlike other solar power generation system such as the concentrating solar thermal plants (CSP), the Solar PV cells do not use water for generating electricity as it does not require any cooling system. The electricity is generated by the direct effect of sunlight on the PV cells that convert it into electricity without any secondary process as described in section However, water will be needed for daily usage by the employees as well as for cleaning/maintenance purposes of the arrays when required. However, the solar modules are frameless which give them a self-cleaning mechanism during rainfall, thereby, minimising the use of water for cleaning procedures. Since the solar power cells will not require water as a source for its operation, the risk associated with water use is minimal, i.e. it will not pollute water resources or strain supply by competing with agriculture, drinking water systems, or other important water needs. 31

3 Hazardous Materials The PV cell manufacturing process includes a number of hazardous materials, most of which are used to clean and purify the semiconductor surface. These chemicals, similar to those used in the general semiconductor industry, include hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrogen fluoride, 1,1,1- trichloroethane, and acetone. The amount and type of chemicals used depends on the type of cell, the amount of cleaning that is needed, and the size of silicon wafer. Workers also face risks associated with inhaling silicon dust. Thus, PV manufactures must follow the country of manufacturing laws to ensure that workers are not harmed by exposure to these chemicals and that manufacturing waste products are disposed of properly. Thin-film PV cells contain a number of more toxic materials than those used in traditional silicon photovoltaic cells, including gallium arsenide, copperindium-gallium-diselenide, and cadmium-telluride. If not handled and disposed of properly, these materials could pose serious environmental or public health threats. However, manufacturers have a strong financial incentive to ensure that these highly valuable and often rare materials are recycled rather than thrown away. [Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)] The risk associated with the above would be of concern if the PV cells were manufactured in Mauritius. But, since it will be imported, the manufacturing risk is not borne locally and the manufacturer is expected to follow the stringent law of the country of origin. The PV cell products have been tested by independent laboratory for its compliance certificate. Copies of the compliance certificate is annexed in Appendix F in this report Life-Cycle Global Warming Emissions While there are no global warming emission associated with generating electricity from solar energy, there are emission associated with other stages of the solar life-cycle, including manufacturing, materials transportation, installation, maintenance, decommissioning and dismantlement. Most estimates of life-cycle emissions for photovoltaic systems are between 0.07 and 0.18 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour. Most estimates for concentrating solar power range from 0.08 to 0.2 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour. In both cases, this is far less than the lifecycle emission rates for natural gas (0.6-2 lbs of CO2E/kWh) and coal ( lbs of CO2E/kWh). 32

4 Source: IPCC, 2011: IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation. Prepared by Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [O. Edenhofer, R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, K. Seyboth, P. Matschoss, S. Kadner, T. Zwickel, P. Eickemeier, G. Hansen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow (eds)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 1075 pp. (Chapter 9). Figure 23: Carbon dioxide emission of each source of energy during the life-cycle of the power plant. Fossil fuel has the highest green house gas emission rate per kwh 5.2. Social Impact of Solar Power Renewable energy provides substantial benefits for our climate, our health and our economy. The environmental benefits have already been explained above. This section will discuss the social and economic advantages of the solar power farm Air quality Improvement Generating electricity from renewable energy rather than fossil fuels offers significant public health benefits. The air and water pollution emitted by coal and natural gas plants are linked to breathing problems, neurological damage, heart attacks, and cancer. Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy has been found to reduce premature mortality and lost workdays, and it reduces overall healthcare costs. Solar power systems generate electricity with no associated air pollution emissions. While other renewable source of energy such as geothermal and biomass energy systems emit some air pollutants, total air emissions are generally much lower than those of coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. The absence of air pollution contributes in the improvement of air quality and decrease in diseases associated with pollutants Sustainable source of Energy By tapping from the free source of energy which is the sun, the electricity production from other sources such as fossil fuel can be reduced. It is important 33

5 to note that the use of fossil fuel can be eliminated in the near future. Fossil fuel is exhaustive and one day will be completed depleted. This will jeopardize future generation needs. By encouraging the use of renewable source of energy such as the sun, the dependency on fossil fuel can be reduced and the available stock can be used for a longer time. With increasing interest in the use of solar power, the technology is being refined and the price per kwh of electricity produced is decreasing. People will benefit from this price fall without compromising the future generation requirement of energy Job and other economic benefits Compared with fossil fuel technologies, which are typically mechanized and capital intensive, the renewable energy industry is more labor-intensive. This means that, on average, more jobs are created for each unit of electricity generated from renewable sources than from fossil fuels. The solar industry employs people on a part-time or full-time basis, including jobs in solar installation, manufacturing, and sales. Increasing renewable energy has the potential to create still more jobs. In 2009, the Union of Concerned Scientists conducted an analysis of the economic benefits of a 25 percent renewable energy standard by 2025; it found that such a policy would create more than three times as many jobs as producing an equivalent amount of electricity from fossil fuels. In addition to the jobs directly created in the renewable energy industry, growth in renewable energy industry creates positive economic ripple effects. For example, industries in the renewable energy supply chain will benefit, and unrelated local businesses will benefit from increased household and business incomes. Renewable energy projects therefore keep money circulating within the local economy, and in most countries, renewable electricity production would reduce the need to spend money on importing coal, crude oil and natural gas from other places. This will decrease the dependency of the country on others regarding fossil fuel and can play as a leverage in negotiating fuel price for import Stable Energy prices Renewable energy will provide affordable electricity across the country, and can help stabilize energy prices in the future. The costs of renewable energy technologies have declined steadily, and are projected to drop even more. For example, the average price of a solar panel has dropped almost 60 percent since The cost of generating electricity from wind dropped more than 20 percent between 2010 and 2012 and more than 80 34

6 percent since The cost of renewable energy will decline even further as markets mature and companies increasingly take advantage of economies of scale. [source: Solar Energy Industries Association] While renewable facilities require upfront investments to build, once built they operate at very low cost and, for most technologies, the fuel is free. As a result, renewable energy prices are relatively stable over time. UCS s analysis of the economic benefits of a 25 percent renewable electricity standard found that such a policy would lead to 4.1 percent lower natural gas prices and 7.6 percent lower electricity prices by [source: Union of concerned scientist] In contrast, fossil fuel prices can vary dramatically and are prone to substantial price swings. For example, there was a rapid increase in coal prices due to rising global demand before 2008, then a rapid fall after 2008 when global demands declined. Likewise, crude oil and natural gas prices have fluctuated greatly since The increasing use of renewable energy such as solar power will help to protect consumers when the fossil fuels prices spike. Many countries including Mauritius spends millions on financial instruments to hedge themselves from the fossil fuel price fluctuations. The millions can be spent on long term renewable energy investment that can help save moneys to protect consumers from the uncertainties surrounding fossil fuel price Reliable energy system Energy from solar power is less prone to large scale failure because they are modular and not centralized. They are spread over a large geographical area. A problem in one location will not cut off power over an entire region or country. Modular system has the advantage of staying operational even if some of the equipment in the system is damaged. Renewable source of energy is more resilient than coal, crude oil or natural gas power plants because they can resist disruptive events. This will benefit the consumer who will not go through long periods of blackouts when one of the power generation system is knocked-out. 35