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Updated: Aug 22, 2026

CO2 Photoreduction to CH4 Performance Under Concentrating Solar Light
Published on: June 12, 2019
China's solar expansion policy reduces bird diversity
Huiming Zhang1, Aixin Zhang2, Kai Wu3
1School of Business & Institute of Climate Economy and Low-Carbon Industry, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, China.
None:
Could the global transition to renewable energy create a green dilemma that pits carbon reduction against biodiversity conservation? This study examined the effect of policies promoting solar photovoltaics on local avian biodiversity using a panel dataset covering 2344 counties in China from 2014 to 2023. Policies that favored photovoltaic expansion led to reductions in bird diversity, disproportionately affecting wealthier and nondesert regions, as well as widespread species. The mechanism operated primarily through land conversion: Cropland and grassland were transformed into developed areas, reducing the diversity of vegetation. Paradoxically, the leaf area index increased, a pattern we term "inferior greening," whereby diverse natural landscapes were replaced by dense but ecologically homogeneous vegetation. We argue that future photovoltaic development should be accompanied by strict biodiversity safeguards, especially in economically developed regions with high habitat complexity.
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