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The Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative states that 40% of federal investment in clean energy needs to benefit historically disadvantaged communities. This unprecedented policy has contributed to greater interest in how to measure environmental justice (EJ) and account for the disparate impacts that renewable energy development may have on different communities. This research uses spatial data to map and mea- sure EJ in the context of bioenergy development. A geographic information system (GIS) database was developed to compare data from Michigan’s MiEJScreen tool to the location of different types of wood energy technologies, including residential wood heating, commercial boilers, pellet manufacturing facili- ties, and biomass power stations. The results of statistical analyses using ArcGIS Pro found that as MiEJScreen values increased, the use of residential wood heat decreased. A hotspot analysis found that, in general, commercial boilers, pellet plants, and power stations were not clustered in areas with high MiEJScreen scores, although there were important exceptions. For all scales of wood energy technologies, rurality seemed to drive associations. Tools such as MiEJScreen can help to illuminate broader environ- mental and socioeconomic landscapes in which bioenergy technologies have been developed, but they may miss important nuances, particularly in rural communities. Implementing federal policies that aim at EJ requires accurate ways of mapping and measuring community dynamics and regional differences. This study uses the context of bioenergy development in Michigan to show how different analyses can be used, and some of the strengths and limitations of the existing tools and approaches.
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This content will become publicly available on October 1, 2025
Wood Energy and Rural Planning: An Analysis of Land Use Policies in the Siting and Regulation of Forest-Based Bioenergy Technologies
Land use regulations have played a critical role in the siting and operation of renewable energy technologies. While there is a growing literature on the siting of wind and solar technologies, less is known about the relationship between local codes and planning decisions and the development of wood-based bioenergy technologies, particularly in rural places. This research examines the relationship between local land use policies and the siting and operation of different types of wood-based bioenergy technologies in northern Michigan, USA. Land use codes including zoning laws and ordinances related to wood-burning devices from 506 cities, townships, and villages within 36 counties in northern Michigan were combined with US Census data in a GIS database. ArcGIS was used to examine geographical differences between communities and socioeconomic factors related to different regulatory approaches. We found that areas with greater population densities and higher income and education levels tended to have more nuanced land use codes related to all scales of wood-burning, including residential wood heating, commercial-scale heating, and power generation. This paper emphasizes the importance of local decision-making and land use policies in shaping the development of wood-based energy technologies, and suggests the need for greater attention to rural community dynamics in planning the shift to a lower-carbon economy.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1922030
- PAR ID:
- 10549046
- Publisher / Repository:
- MDPI
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Land
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 2073-445X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1569
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- wood bioenergy rural development siting land use planning zoning
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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