Enhancing EverGreen.
Renewable Energy
It is estimated that the capacity of renewable energy systems, especially wind and solar, will grow more than tenfold over the next a couple of decades requiring investments of hundreds of billion euros. Substantial part of this onshore capacity is being and will be established on forestland. Forestland forms a land infrastructure for the renewable energy systems with a scope for remarkable additional forest-based revenue. Also forest residues play a significant role in future energy solutions.
Dasos forestlands provide a unique infrastructure for “bio-wind” and “bio-solar” with compensation for forest and biodiversity loss due to renewable energy related power lines and construction.
The European Union targets wind energy to be 50% of its electricity production by 2050. This requires expanding onshore wind from 173 GW today to 1,000 GW. This increase requires several million hectares of land areas.
In 2021, Europe installed 17 GW of new wind capacity of which 81% was onshore wind. Substantial part of the onshore investment is taking place on forestland.
Solar power is another rapidly growing renewable energy source, requiring land as a platform. The EU’s installed solar power generation capacity is around 165 GW, and it is expected to grow strongly in the coming years.
The transition to net-zero emissions by 2050 is expected significantly to increase the demand for forest residues in energy use. In addition, the use of woody biomass in high-value materials and chemicals is also forecast to increase in near future.
In summary, the expansion of wind and solar energy capacity requires large land areas and offers significant additional value creation opportunities to large-scale (forest) land owners in Europe.
Forestland does not only provide an essential land infrastructure for renewable energy investment but Dasos will also enhance investment in afforestation and biodiversity as required to maintain an intact natural capital in the context of bio-wind and bio-solar.
Further information
Photos:
Wind mills: www.neoen.com
Solar power: www.neoen.com
Residues: www.shutterstock.com
