Trade-offs between renewable energies and biodiversity: systematic, automated synthesis of scientific evidence

Climate change threatens biodiversity, and a rapid energy transition is essential for human and ecological well-being. Yet, biodiversity outcomes vary markedly with where, how, and which renewable technologies are deployed. While some technologies, such as hydropower, have received substantial scientific attention, others (e.g., solar parks) remain comparatively understudied. Consolidating the available evidence is therefore critical to support an effective science–policy dialogue.

We conducted a systematic literature review to map trade-offs and synergies between renewable energy deployment and biodiversity globally. To scale beyond conventional manual reviews, we developed a computational pipeline that automates key steps of the review process, enables the processing of thousands of articles, and supports a living evidence base that can be refreshed as new studies are published. This approach is designed to improve consistency, traceability, and updateability of the synthesis.

We included studies investigating the biodiversity implications of the following energy sources: solar, wind, hydropower, wave energy, tidal energy, geothermal energy, biogas, biomass, and biofuel. We considered a broad set of biodiversity facets, covering organisms (identified either by scientific or by common names), habitats and ecosystems. We also included ecosystem services, ecosystem functions, and ecosystem processes. This scope allows us to capture impacts and potential co-benefits across taxa, habitats, and levels of ecological organization.

In the presentation we will (i) detail the methodological approach for automating systematic reviews in this domain and (ii) summarize the main patterns emerging from the evidence base. We will highlight main challenges and achievements of this “living” review, summarize the main findings and illuminate where research gaps may constrain decision-making. Overall, our work provides a transparent, scalable synthesis of the current state of scientific knowledge and a practical method to keep the synthesis up to date. With this, we hope to support alignment in renewable energy planning and biodiversity conservation.