Large-scale solar facilities have the potential to contribute significantly to national electricity production. Many solar installations are large-scale or utility-scale, with a capacity over 1 MW and connected directly to the electric grid. Large-scale solar facilities offer an opportunity to achieve economies of scale in solar deployment, yet there have been concerns about the amount of land required for solar projects and the impact of solar projects on local habitat. During the site preparation phase for utility-scale solar facilities, developers often grade land and remove all vegetation to minimize installation and operational costs, prevent plants from shading panels, and minimize potential fire or wildlife risks. However, the common site preparation practice of removing vegetation can be avoided in certain circumstances, and there have been successful examples where solar facilities have been co-located with agricultural operations or have native vegetation growing beneath the panels. In this study we outline some of the impacts large-scale solar facilities can have on the local environment, provide examples of installations where impacts have been minimized through co-location with vegetation, characterize the types of colocation, and give an overview of the potential benefits from co-location of solar energy projects and vegetation. The varieties of co-location can be replicated or modified for site-specific use at other solar energy installations around the world. We conclude with opportunities to improve upon our understanding of ways to reduce the environmental impacts of large-scale solar installations. v This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

No abstract

to conduct avian monitoring and bird and bat mortality surveys at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) in 2010-2011 to quantify local avian use in the NWTC and vicinity and to assess potential impacts to avian and bat species associated with the wind turbines and associated meteorological (met) towers at NWTC. Several different types of wind turbines are present on the NWTC with different capacities for energy production (1 kilowatt-3 megawatts [MW]; varying hub heights and turbine blade lengths) and met towers (guyed and unguyed) that vary in height (9.1-135 meters [m]). Installation of three newer generation, multi-MW wind turbines (large turbines) has raised awareness regarding the potential for wildlife impacts. In a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) review of the large turbine installations, DOE requested monitoring of avian and bat mortality be conducted, so that mitigation measures could be developed if impacts to avian and bat species are observed.

ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE REPORT 2013 6Colorado Environmental Leadership Program. Progress through the course of the year on each of these goals is tracked using an online software tracking system and results are reported annually.Sustainability is integral to both our research and operations, and we are committed to demonstrating federal leadership in sustainability and continuously improving performance. Sustainable NREL, an interdisciplinary initiative involving staff from across the organization, fosters environmental and social responsibility, working to establish NREL as a global model for sustainability.Each year, Sustainable NREL develops a Site Sustainability Plan to report on steps taken to meet the national and DOE sustainability objectives and to outline plans for the upcoming year. The laboratory has currently identified 20 objectives to enhance sustainability and continues to make significant progress toward these objectives.During 2013, NREL continued its excellent record of environmental leadership and sustainability performance. The following are some of the laboratory's key accomplishments:Achieved key short-term internal environmental and sustainability goals, and made progress toward longterm goals (see sections 3 and 4 for details).

This report requires a tremendous amount of data, collaboration, and review to be made possible. Thank you to all who contributed their time and effort to this publication.