Designing renewable and socially accepted energy systems for astronomical telescopes: A move towards energy justice

Abstract

Remote astronomical telescopes without access to the national electricity grid rely mostly on fossil fuels. Climate change concerns and fuel price vulnerability drive the transition to renewable energy sources. Astronomical facilities are usually designed without considering the surrounding communities’ social and energy needs or using renewable energy sources to power them. This study proposes a socially accepted renewable energy system for a future telescope in the Atacama Desert, combining an energy system model with a participatory multi-criteria analysis. Our findings highlight that various stakeholders prioritize emission reduction, security of supply, and electricity costs. The results reveal that a renewable energy system supplying the telescope could also cover 66% of the nearby San Pedro de Atacama community’s energy needs without additional capacity. Replicating similar energy systems at nearby telescopes could reduce fossil fuel-based energy generation by over 30GWh annually, cutting emissions of the area by 17-23ktCO2eq, while contributing to energy justice.