Will new clean energy projects cause land use change that increases greenhouse gas emissions? Michigan might need 400 square miles of land (256,000 acres) for solar and wind to meet its new clean energy goals. Unfortunately, Michigan does not have good policies at the state or local level to protect forests, wetlands and other important ecosystems. Policy makers, land managers and solar developers need to create and use best practices to site solar responsibly. “Green energy” should be located in places that restore sites already degraded from prior land use change such as brownfields, parking lots, rooftops, road rights of way, reclaimed mines and growing less corn for ethanol (~800,000 acres or one-third of corn in Michigan is grown for ethanol).
Michigan currently has relatively small “net zero” deforestation (land use change). We lose 46,119 acres of forest to other land use and gain 48,188 acres from other land use for a net annual gain of 2,069 acres (Forests of Michigan, 2020). High prices (~$40,000 per acre over 20 to 40 years) and political demand for solar (PA 235 of 2023, et al), with few restraints on land use change on private or public land, may significantly increase deforestation rates and the loss of forests causing harm to people, wildlife and the planet. Local and state governments should create land use and forest protection policies to prevent deforestation for solar.
Clean energy is NOT green energy if it starts with deforestation. Michigan’s 20 million acres of private and public forests store around 100 tCO2e per acre in tree biomass (Michigan Forests, 2019: Interactive Report, USDA Forest Service). Deforestation sends much of that carbon back into the atmosphere, although some carbon is retained in harvested wood products and soil. Deforesting 200 square miles (128,000 acres) for solar might increase Michigan’s GHG emissions by 7% and decrease the sequestration capacity of forests by 68%.
Table 1. Potential GHG emissions from deforestation for solar in Michigan.
The Michigan Healthy Climate Plan calls for avoiding deforestation and protecting forests (MHCP, page 47).
· “…protect 30 percent of Michigan’s land and water by 2030 to naturally capture GHG emissions…”
· “Maintain and develop healthy forests across public and private lands.”
· “Avoid land-use conversion that causes a net increase in GHG emissions…”
· “...prioritize land uses that reduce GHG emissions.”
Solar developers are already leasing thousands of acres of private land throughout Michigan to destroy forests and replace them with industrial solar projects. This is legal in most townships and prices for solar are much higher than other economic uses of forest. Michigan’s public forests are also being destroyed for industrial solar projects. Scott Bowen, the Director of the Department of Natural Resources, is planning to lease 4,000 acres of state forest – your public land – to private developers to replace public forests near electric transmission lines with private industrial solar projects. The DNR is accepting public input about solar so please email your comments to DNR-SolarProposal@Michigan.gov or BowenS7@Michigan.gov before April 30.
See this Fact Sheet about Michigan's Forests and Climate Change for additional charts and data.
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