Wildfires and Wind Turbine Plants: A Story Never Told

Abstract

The paper analyses the influence of wildfire-deforestation on the expansion of wind turbine plants in 10 countries most affected by wildfires. The empirical part is based on panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) estimations, from 2010 to 2022. The main finding interestingly evidences a long-run relationship between wildfire-deforestation and the expansion of wind plants, with a positive sign. More precisely, wind turbine plants have begun to be significantly developed on wildfire-deforested lands. In this case, noteworthy is that a deviation of 1% from the long-run equilibrium due to wildfire-deforestation would necessitate several years for the system to return to its equilibrium state. Additionally, the link is supported by the continuous development of renewable energy sources, urbanisation and human development. A switching effect is also observed between conventional pollutant energy sources and renewable ones. The results suggest several key policy measures: performing environmental impact assessments before wind turbine construction, implementing zoning regulations to limit turbine numbers in sensitive areas, encouraging reforestation efforts around turbine sites, providing subsidies for developers using sustainable practices, and supporting innovative wind turbine technologies to enhance efficiency and reduce environmental impact.