The ultra-protectionist environmental criteria applied by the Generalitat de Catalunya stop, as we have denounced on many occasions, the construction of windmills in the territory for the production of wind energy, as well as solar parks. The necessary balance has not yet been found between the urgent need of the country to produce renewable energy and the defense of the landscape and biodiversity. This explains why there is only 1,271 MW installed onshore wind power in the community compared to the goal of 23,136 MW set by the Generalitat itself for 2050. At the current rate, it will be impossible to reach this level of wind power production. The delay in the implementation of renewable energies, due to excessively rigid environmental criteria, paradoxically goes against the environment and the fight against climate change, since it favors dependence on fossil fuels, which are to blame for the generation of gases that cause the greenhouse effect and warm the atmosphere.
Bonelli’s eagle defense, for example, has prevented the construction of nearly twenty wind farms to date. This is a paradigmatic example of the rigidity of the Generalitat in the defense of biodiversity. But what is striking is that the prohibition of these facilities has been carried out without reliable scientific studies that demonstrate that the windmills that generate electricity cause accidents or death to these birds, reduce their reproductive capacity or cause the march of these animals. of their habitats. This is indicated by an alternative study commissioned by wind energy promoters, which indicates that the Bonelli’s eagle is not a species that is especially sensitive to wind turbines, since it is capable of adapting its territories and maintaining its reproduction.
The ecological criteria of the Generalitat stop the installation of wind energy parks
While the impact that windmills have on the lives of Bonelli’s eagles is elucidated, there is a certain fact: failure to meet the renewable energy production targets set by the Generalitat will harm the fight against climate change. But, in addition, Catalonia’s energy dependence will increase, whether from other regions of Spain, such as Aragon, or from abroad. It should also be taken into account that it will hinder the development of green hydrogen, for which the Generalitat itself is committed as energy for the future, since it requires large amounts of renewable –or green– energy for its production. Consequently, it is urgent and necessary for the Generalitat to review its rules for the authorization of renewable energy facilities under criteria of greater legal and scientific flexibility for the balanced achievement of the country’s needs. The commitment to renewable energy, in any case, plays in favor of the environment and biodiversity in the medium and long term.
