Energie solaire, Energie propre? Une étude des conséquences néfastes des technologies solaires sur la biodiversité
Flora Demaegdt is a Master candidate in Development Studies at the Graduate Institute of Geneva. For the past 2 years, through an interdisciplinary approach to sustainable development, she focused on global environmental governance, the evaluation of development projects, and gender equality issues.
During her course on “Biodiversity: between science and politics” taught by Professor Marc Hufty, she wrote a paper questioning the effects of PV installations on biodiversity, wondering if solar energy was truly clean. She found that the construction, dismantling, use and maintenance of solar power installations have several detrimental effects on biodiversity. However, by broadening up the energy perspectives, she also concluded that solar systems are not that bad compared to other types of energy production installations. She finally suggests that a better selection of the location site and good practices could help reduce negative environmental impacts.