This project is about harnessing a regional stakeholder planning process to advance low-impact energy development that mitigates potential impacts to locally significant ecological and social-cultural assets. We forecast the growing energy demand and identify the places where that demand is likely to be met – in the form of traditional and renewable energy: oil and gas, solar, and wind. This information is mapped against areas representing the ecological and social-cultural values that define the character of the Respect Big Bend region. When considered together, we can improve the likelihood of finding a new energy roadmap that accommodates development while ensuring the persistence of those regional values considered most evocative of the landscape that generations have called home.

Why is this necessary?

By 2050, there will be between two and three billion more people on our planet than there are today. They will all need food, housing, and access to energy [ 1, 2]. These growing demands pose significant challenges for the natural resources needed to accommodate the expected growth in energy production. In a world seeking to decarbonize energy production, this demand would be met by increasing renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydropower [3–6]. Avoiding climate projections most accepted by many scientific experts will require achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century, which in turn necessarily involves a transition to renewable energy.