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Research & Information

Challenges

Both agriculture and energy production are facing global challenges. These include challenges such as climate change, food security and the need for a sustainable energy supply, whereas we see agrivoltaics as a guide to innovative solutions.

Agrivoltaics can meet the following challenges:

Food Security

The second goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is »Zero Hunger«. Food security is a key factor in achieving this goal. However, although agricultural techniques and yields have improved worldwide over the last century, food security still cannot be achieved.

Considering the growing world population and the limited availability of scarce resources, the pressure on food supplies has increased immensely. Since 2014, the number of people affected by hunger worldwide has also been slowly rising again. Similtaneously, the availability of arable land is decreasing as a result of the intensification of agriculture - one of the main causes of greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation - and the increase in the global average temperature due to climate change.

Increasing extreme weather events and persistent water scarcity are already threatening reliable crop yields worldwide. The urgent need to combat climate change and move away from fossil fuels has driven the development of renewable energy to such an extent that renewable energy accounted for 26.2 percent of global electricity generation in 2018. This share is expected to rise to 45 percent by 2040. Such a development is of key importance for reducing emissions. However, energy from biomass or solar power will further intensify competition for land use and thus increase the risk of deforestation and food poverty.

Ernährungssicherheit
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Conflict over Land Use

The conflict over land use has intensified in recent decades due to the growing demand for energy, food and goods. To meet this demand, humans are increasingly encroaching on pristine ecosystems and extracting natural resources worldwide in a way that not only causes serious changes to valuable ecosystems and global biodiversity, but also to local populations.

Large-scale interventions in nature often lead to irreversible ecological damage as well as air, soil and water pollution. The escalating degradation of ecosystems and the persistently high emissions of greenhouse gases are increasing the global average temperature and leading to extreme weather events, which in turn pose a threat to agricultural yields and ecosystems.

Ultimately, climate change and increasing pressure on land and resource use have already led to armed conflict, economic disruption, migration and poverty. Therefore, smart land use solutions must be found to meet food needs and continue to use renewable energy while protecting important ecosystems.

Landnutzungskonflikt
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Energy Supply

A reliable energy supply is one of the most important pillars for the functioning of global society and yet it is still not accessible to millions of people today. Energy poverty refers to a situation in which it is difficult for people to obtain affordable, reliable, safe and environmentally friendly energy services in order to lead a decent life. Energy poverty is widespread in all regions of the world.

In Europe, around 50 to 125 million people live in energy poverty. In the underdeveloped regions of Asia and Africa, more than half of the total population lives in energy poverty. If no effective measures are taken to curb energy poverty, by 2030 there will be around 2.5 billion people in the world who will not have access to clean and reliable energy and will only be able to rely on traditional biomass energy as their daily source of energy. Energy production is closely linked to environmental degradation, climate change and social conflict.

Renewable energy could have the potential to address these challenges. On the one hand, addressing air and climate problems by switching to renewable energy could increase electricity bills for low-income families and increase energy poverty. On the other hand, renewable energy technologies could also provide a local and decentralized solution to energy poverty in rural areas, allowing farmers, for example, to become less dependent on rising fossil fuel prices while contributing to climate change mitigation.

Energieversorgung
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Society

Human caused climate change and environmental degradation pose the greatest global threat to the survival of humanity. To counter them, society must act quickly, both globally and locally, which is an immense challenge.

The ability of people - especially in poorer countries - to adapt to changing climate and environmental conditions will most likely be drastically reduced due to a shortage of resources, leading to severe economic and social suffering. To mitigate this, immediate international and local cooperation is essential to transform the way we generate energy, move, consume and shape the local and global economy.

Sustainable change requires that progress towards a more developed, technological and prosperous society, in which the average global standard of living rises, does not lead to progressive ecological destruction, resource scarcity and increasing climate change.

Furthermore, transformation processes such as the transition to renewable energy should not perpetuate or create new social, environmental or economic injustices worldwide, but rather be used to dismantle all forms of discrimination. This requires that the technologically advanced and wealthy countries, who are responsible for the majority of historical emissions and environmental degradation and who have the power to shape the future economy, must make great efforts to invest in a climate-neutral and just society and economy.

Gesellschaft
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