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Area potentials

This module performs geospatial analyses to determine the available land area for specific technologies, on a by-pixel basis and aggregated to given geographic boundaries (e.g. generated by module_geo_boundaries.

Overview

The analysis in this module is structured as follows:

  • Geospatial input data (vector and raster) are acquired. This is automatic for most data, but the following data need to be manually supplied:
    • Geographic boundaries in the parquet format
    • WDPA protected areas database from https://www.protectedplanet.net/ in GeoDB format (choose 'File Geodatabase' when downloading).
  • For the extent of the provided boundaries, the input data are reprojected and rasterised to the resolution of the land cover data (GlobCover), and merged into a single dataset for further processing.
  • Based on the supplied configuration, the land-use analysis is done for each defined technology.
  • Results can be reported on a per-geography and per-technology basis, as pixel surface area values (TIFF files), images for reporting purposes (PNG files), and also as a summary report with per-region capacities (CSV and HTML files)

See below for the data sources.

Configuration

Configure the analysis in the config.yaml file. Examples are visible in config/config.yaml and tests/integration/test_config.yaml.

In the configuration, you can define any number of techs, and for each of them, specify the initial_area, continuous_layers, and binary_layers.

By example, here is a pv_rooftop tech. We use the settlement_area, which is the settlement area in m² in each pixel, as the initial area from which the further analysis proceeds. In continuous_layers, we use the settlement_share, which is the share (0-1) of area covered by settlement, and exclude pixels with less than 0.01 settlement share while assuming that of those pixels not excluded by that, 0.8 (80%) of the settled area can be used for rooftop PV. Finally, in the binary_layers, we include all land use types except NOT_SUITABLE (since the main selection is done via the settlement_share). This means that, for example, FOREST pixels with a settlement_area > 0 can be included.

pv_rooftop:
  initial_area: settlement_area
  continuous_layers:
    settlement_share:
      min: 0.01
      max: 1
      share: 0.8
  binary_layers:
    regions_maritime: 0
    regions_land: 1
    protected: 0
    landcover_FARM: 1
    landcover_FOREST: 1
    landcover_URBAN: 1
    landcover_OTHER: 1
    landcover_NOT_SUITABLE: 0
    landcover_WATER: 0

Here is a wind_offshore example. We start with the pixel_area, the total surface area in m² for each pixel. We include pixels with a slope up to and including 20 degrees, and exclude pixels with a settlement share above 0.01. Furthermore, we include only land areas (regions_land: 1 and regions_maritime: 0) and completely exclude some areas like protected areas or urban areas (protected: 0, landcover_URBAN: 0), while including only a fraction of other areas (e.g. if a pixel is considered farmland, only 20% of its surface is available: landcover_FARM: 0.2).

wind_onshore:
  initial_area: pixel_area
  continuous_layers:
    slope:
    min: 0
    max: 20
    settlement_share:
    min: 0
    max: 0.01
  binary_layers:
    regions_maritime: 0
    regions_land: 1
    protected: 0
    landcover_FARM: 0.2
    landcover_FOREST: 0.05
    landcover_URBAN: 0
    landcover_OTHER: 0.3
    landcover_NOT_SUITABLE: 0
    landcover_WATER: 0

Data sources

  • GEDTM30 for slope
    • License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
  • GlobCover land cover data
    • License: "You may use the GlobCover land cover map for educational and/or scientific purposes, without any fee on the condition that you credit ESA and the Université Catholique de Louvain as the source of the GlobCover products."
  • GEBCO (General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans) 15 arc-second data
    • License: "The GEBCO Grid is placed in the public domain and may be used free of charge. [...] Users must: Acknowledge the source of The GEBCO Grid. A suitable form of attribution is given in the documentation that accompanies The GEBCO Grid."
  • GHSL (Global Human Settlement Layer) built-up surface data (R2023, GHS-BUILT-S, 100m resolution)
    • License: "The GHSL has been produced by the EC JRC as open and free data. Reuse is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged."
  • WDPA (World Database on Protected Areas)
    • License: Non-commercial allowed. Citation: "UNEP-WCMC and IUCN (2025), Protected Planet: The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM) [Online], June 2025, Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN. Available at: www.protectedplanet.net."