Land availability could be one of the limiting factors in expanding Europe's renewable energy resources, which the continent needs if it is to reach its ambition to become climate neutral by 2050.
According to research by McKinsey & Company, more than 90 per cent of the targeted additional capacity will need to be supplied by wind and solar - two sources of energy which require large tracts of usable land.
In addition, land will also need to serve as a source of biogenic CO2 (easily replenished sources of carbon, such as wood and other biofuels) for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and the production of e-fuels.
This poses a significant challenge, since a large percentage of land in European nations is protected by strict environmental regulations, particularly those that regulate the minimum distance between settlements and turbines, as well as environmental laws.
In Germany alone, these restrictions affect 82 per cent of the potentially...