Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
commutes and greater energy consumption. As a result, some have
advocated land use policies that loosen height restrictions and make
more intense use of urban airspace. Taller buildings provide more
work and living space per acre, leaving more land available for green
spaces and easing the pressure for suburban expansion. High-rise
development can be particularly valuable when situated near public
transit systems because of the comparatively low burden it places on
traffic congestion and transportation infrastructure. For these and other
reasons, vertical building designs are commonly viewed as relatively
eco-friendly approaches to real estate development.
Cities are also seeking to enhance their environmental sustainability
by filling more of their skylines with trees. In recent years, tree preser-
vation and planting programs have begun sprouting up in major cities
throughout the world. In some regions, trees that shade buildings can
reduce air conditioning usage during hot summer months. Trees can
also help to improve stormwater drainage, sequester carbon dioxide
emissions from the air, and improve the aesthetic ambiance of city
streets. In certain circumstances, trees can even reduce heating energy
costs on cold days by serving as windbreaks for homes and other
buildings. Of course, trees must physically occupy scarce airspace to
perform these valuable functions.
Unlike buildings and trees, small wind turbines are a relatively
new type of structure competing to occupy urban airspace. Small
wind turbines not only require open airspace for adequate wind flow,
but also fill substantial airspace with their towers and rotor blades.
Although wind energy devices have historically been installed primarily
in rural areas, permit applications to install small wind-turbines in
suburban areas with heights upwards of 120 feet are increasingly
common.
(Troy A. Rule,
Airspace in a Green Economy.
90 UCLA L. Rev. 270,
In addition to the trees, buildings, and small wind turbines described in
the preceding excerpt, commercial-scale wind turbines are also increasingly
occupying large amounts of valuable airspace and inevitably impacting
neighboring land uses. This growth in the importance of airspace highlighted
above is likely to only increase in the coming years. In the midst of these
changes, policymakers around the world face the daunting task of crafting
legal rules to govern renewable energy development in ways that promote
optimal use of the planet's finite supply of airspace and land.
From general to specific
Having introduced several economic and legal concepts that are generally
applicable in the context of renewable energy development, this topic now
Search WWH ::
Custom Search