There are 80 solar projects planned in the California deserts. These projects will cover 700,000 acres (over 1,000 square miles). Most of these projects are located on pristine BLM publicly-owned lands and all the projects have already been given the right-of-way grants.
The impact on rare plants, vegetation, animals and majestic landscapes is hard to comprehend. The solar construction, if implemented, would severely impact dozen of rare species and thousands of acres of pristine land. Indirect impact from access roads, power lines, and invasive plants broaden the amount of land destroyed beyond the project’s size.
The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) recommends that government agencies need to discuss alternative locations for solar thermal plants. At minimum project impacts need to be appropriately mitigated and regulators fully evaluate their impact on the ecosystem.
The above information is from an editorial by Nick Jensen, CNPS Rare Plant Botanist, in the CNPS January-March 2009 newsletter.
To add to this we feel that any CSP solar thermal plants built in the California deserts be required to have molten salt storage capability. Otherwise why build these plants in the desert and not target rooftop installations for photovoltaic energy?
