RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Evaluating the External Effect of Wind Power Development on Grassland Quality
JF Land Economics
JO Land Econ
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 123121-0152R
DO 10.3368/le.99.3.123121-0152R
A1 Feng Song
A1 Lingling Hou
A1 Fang Xia
YR 2022
UL http://le.uwpress.org/content/early/2022/11/17/le.99.3.123121-0152R.abstract
AB This study employs a difference-in-differences approach to investigate the effect of county wind power development on grassland quality in China. We find robust evidence that increasing wind power capacity density by 0.02 MW/km2 leads to a 0.5% reduction in the normalized difference vegetation index from its mean value. Excluding economic activities as a transmission channel, heterogeneous effects suggest that higher latitude areas with shorter nighttime hours in the growing season are less affected by the negative externality, supporting microclimate effects as the main mechanism. In addition, scarce wind resources and abundant precipitation may help weaken the negative effect.