Using GIS to Track Sustainability Efforts

"GIS is like a smartphone: if you use it, you are a believer."
- M.Felton, Real Estate GIS Director/Researcher

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have changed the sustainability game over the last few decades. For those unfamiliar with GIS, it is a software for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced data. GIS allows users to review and visualize data in ways that show relationships, patterns, and/ or trends in a series of maps, charts, and reports. Seeing trends in data and tracking data sets over large areas has become very important in the search for sustainability. Urban planners use GIS on an almost daily basis, as well as, a variety of other professionals such as engineers and environmentalist. There are many different GIS projects that have been done recently and encourage everyone to be on the lookout for them!

Existing and Future PV Panels

"Infrastructure Planning for Solar Technology Recycling", is an article in the most recent Winter 2013 ArcUser magazine. The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), is currently working on a way to better track the collection and recovery of solar (PV) panels within New York. The State has the "fifth largest renewable energy capacity in the United States, despite its less than ideal climate." What this means is that, there are a large number of new photovoltaic PV installations occurring all across the state. RIT wants to keep track of all of these panels, especially those nearing the end of their life cycles, since they contain precious, economically viable materials such as silver, indium, and gallium. In addition, keeping track of these panels is important because they have the potential to contaminate groundwater and landfills with arsenic and cadmium. In addition to tracking the panels, RIT is locating recycling centers throughout the State to see if it will make sense in the future to build new infrastructure for recycling. When examining a variety of different inputs, it seems that trends indicate that future PV installations will likely be occurring in areas where there are younger, urban populations who have higher incomes. I found this very interesting. One, because this may indicate that young professionals are choosing to install more PV panels because they have been more educated on their positive impacts and are willing to make the initial investment because they knew they will make it all back at a later date. Or two, young professionals may be moving into areas of New York where there are more sustainable housing choices that include PV panels. Either way, the overall future of PV panels in New York looks to be very hopeful!

Potential New PV Recovery Sites

Let's just hope the recycling of all of the PV panels continues to be monitored and that potential recovery facilities are built where they are most needed so that when the life cycle of PV panels ends, they can be disposed of in a responsible manner more easily. To read more about this study, be sure to check out the link to the article.

Other GIS studies to read about, if this sort of thing interests you, are:
"Making SureWastewater Isn't Wasted: GIS aids in managing the application of biosoils" and "More Crop per Drop: GIS-based water requirement maps optimize water use."