The role of innovation - Solar, Wind and Land: Conflicts in Renewable Energy Development - page 201

government and one with the private landowner—to install and operate an
airborne turbine above any given parcel.
Of course, some would-be developers of airborne wind farms might wish
to challenge the notion that federal leasing of navigable airspace for such
projects is even necessary at all. An old U.S. Supreme Court case involving
airspace declared that the owner of a parcel of land has private property
rights in “at least as much of the space above the ground as he can occupy
or use in connection with the land.” 30 Prior to the advent of airborne wind
energy technologies, no commercially viable, land-connected uses existed
for high-altitude airspace so few challenged the federal government's
control of it. Airborne wind turbines would change all of that, introducing
a new, commercially valuable use for that airspace. There would seemingly
still be good reason for the federal government to restrict and regulate
uses of navigable airspace in spite of the advent of airborne wind energy
technologies, but should the government be allowed to claim title to such
airspace, lease it to private parties, and charge rent for its use? Arguably,
restrictions on navigable airspace in a world of airborne wind turbines
would most closely resemble zoning height restrictions that are commonly
employed to limit uses of non-navigable space. Obviously, local govern-
ments do not typically assert property interests in such height-restricted
airspace and attempt to lease it to underlying landowners. Indeed, an inter-
esting debate involving developers, landowners, and governments could
ultimately emerge over the balance between private and public property
rights in navigable airspace in an era of airborne wind energy.
Eventually, airborne wind energy might also create a need for “spatial
airspace planning” schemes similar to the marine spatial planning programs
that increasingly govern ocean areas. Such zoning of navigable airspace
would allow governments to designate and set aside certain airspace areas
for airborne wind energy development while preserving other areas as air
travel routes. This sort of airspace zoning could anger owners of lands
situated directly below designated air travel routes because, at a minimum,
it would effectively prohibit them from leasing their surface land and
non-navigable airspace interests to airborne wind energy developers. Of
course, the complex airspace ownership questions described in the previous
paragraph would seem relevant in resolving the controversies resulting from
these conflicts as well. In summary, airborne wind technologies could do
much to facilitate continued growth in wind energy development, but could
also give rise to some challenging new property and regulatory issues that
would need to be resolved for such an industry to thrive.
Energy storage technologies
Innovations in energy storage also have the potential to serve critical
functions in the global transition to sustainable energy. As mentioned in
Chapter 7 , wind and solar energy are, by their nature, intermittent energy