By: Caroline Butler
In recent years, ground-based solar infrastructures (“solar infrastructures”) have increased in popularity as a renewable energy source.[i] Solar infrastructures present a cost-effective option in the effort to decarbonize and shift away from fossil fuel use.[ii] Nevertheless, there is a cost for every benefit. To that end, solar infrastructures require a significant amount of land, and much of this land is at the expense of farmland and forests.[iii]
Currently, 3% of the United States’ electricity comes from solar energy.[iv] This percentage could rise to 45% by 2050 in order to meet the Biden Administration’s goals to combat carbon emissions.[v] Ground-based solar infrastructures capable of providing such a significant portion of electricity would require flat, dry, and sunny land that is twice the size of Massachusetts[vi], which is about 0.5% of the U.S.’s surface area.[vii]
While these solar infrastructures ideally would be placed in “disruptive areas,” which include developed areas, invasive species-impacted lands, and non-vegetated lands,[viii] disturbed areas only occupy 8% of the U.S.’s surface area.[ix] Agriculture, on the other hand, (e.g., farmland and forests) occupies about 43% of the United States’ surface area.[x] Thus, it is not feasible to allocate solar infrastructures to exclusively disturbed areas.[xi]
This impracticality is further illustrated by the reality on the ground: that solar infrastructures placed on farmlands and forests diminish other potential uses for that land. For example, a 2021 study revealed that the majority of solar infrastructures in Virginia were placed on farmlands and in forests.[xii] The Randolph Solar Project is a 4,500-acre project in Virginia that will take out around 3,500 acres of forest during construction.[xiii] When these solar infrastructures are installed on farm or forest land, the integrity of the land is destroyed because the land must be clear of trees and other vegetation that could obstruct sunlight.[xiv] Ultimately, the result is displaced farmlands and forests, which inevitably leads to public opposition.[xv]
Although solar infrastructures are a valuable energy source, farms and forests are also valuable.[xvi] Forests absorb carbon dioxide, support wildlife, and prevent erosion and pollutants from running into waterways.[xvii] On the other hand, while farmlands are not always environmentally friendly, they are responsible for providing food.[xviii] Therefore, finding an alternative to displacing farms and forests for solar farms is imperative to alleviating public opposition to such a valuable energy source.
There is a possible solution to displaced farmlands and forests known as “agrivoltaics.” Agrivoltaics is the use of land for both agriculture and solar photovoltaic energy generation.[xix] Simply put, agrivoltaics presents an opportunity for solar energy and agriculture to work in harmony, as opposed to using land for one or the other. This collaboration works through a symbiotic relationship where vegetable crops and solar panels share the land.[xx] The solar panels shade the crops, thus decreasing the amount of water needed.[xxi] Moreover, the crops cool the back of the solar panels, which allows them to capture more energy from the sun.[xxii] However, while agrivoltaics is a creative option, there are several initial obstacles before it becomes a simple solution: (1) it is expensive, (2) it requires crop rotation and crops that thrive in shade, (3) many farmers are unaware of its benefits, and (4) it is still in development.[xxiii] Nevertheless, with investments and government incentives for farmers, agrivoltaics will hopefully become the obvious alternative to farm and forest displacement.[xxiv]
Another approach to protecting forests and farmland is the implementation of conservation easements. Conservation easements can be used to protect forests and farmlands from the installation of solar infrastructures by prohibiting the land from being used for something other than its intended use.[xxv] While conservation easements have been criticized as preventing the progression of solar energy due to their mandate for limited uses, it is important for our farmlands and forests to be protected.[xxvi] Unfortunately, while conservation easements provide great protection for privately owned lands, they do little to protect large-scale natural resources from destruction.[xxvii] Nonetheless, conservation easements offer another alternative to protecting valuable farmlands and forests from solar infrastructures.
Solar infrastructures are an impactful renewable energy source that will undoubtedly become of greater use in the coming years.[xxviii] That being said, its increasing popularity creates a need for more land and a need for alternatives.[xxix] As it is impossible to have the best of both worlds in this scenario, there are solutions that can be put in place to protect our forests and farmlands from displacement due to solar infrastructures.
[i] See Gabriel Popkin, Are There Better Places to Put Large Solar Farms Than These Forests?, n.y. Times (Sept. 21, 2022), https://www-nytimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.nytimes.com/2022/09/21/opinion/environment/solar-panels-virginia-climate-change.amp.html [https://perma.cc/2BB2-QP27].
[ii] Id.
[iii] Off. of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Solar Futures Study 19 (2021) https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2021-09/Solar%20Futures%20Study.pdf [https://perma.cc/54RM-QR95].
[iv] What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source?, U.S. Energy Info. Admin. (Feb. 2022), https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3 [https://perma.cc/U5B3-RV82].
[v] Nichola Groom, Special Report: U.S. solar expansion stalled by rural land-use protests, Reuters (Apr. 7, 2022, 7:45 AM), https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-solar-expansion-stalled-by-rural-land-use-protests-2022-04-07/ [https://perma.cc/H3JJ-YJQA].
[vi] Id.
[vii] Off. of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, supra note iii, at 177.
[viii] Id. at 178.
[ix] Id.
[x] Id. at 180.
[xi] See Agrivoltaics: Coming Soon to a Farm Near You?, U.S. Dep’t of Agric.: Climate Hubs, https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/northeast/topic/agrivoltaics-coming-soon-farm-near-you (last visited Oct. 6, 2022) [https://perma.cc/35GL-TNJB].
[xii] Aaron R. Berryhill, Utility-Scale Solar in Virginia: An Analysis of Land Use and Development Trends, Virginia Commonwealth Univ.: VCU Scholars Compass 26 (2021), https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1043&context=murp_capstone [https://perma.cc/6HX2-8B2K].
[xiii] Popkin, supra note i.
[xiv] Groom, supra note v.
[xv]E.g., Conservation Easements: When Privatizing Environmental Protection Can Be a Great Thing, SustainAtlanta (June 5, 2015), https://sustainatlanta.com/2015/06/05/conservation-easements-when-privatizing-environmental-protection-can-be-a-great-thing/ [https://perma.cc/74JP-PDZH]..
[xvi] See Popkin, supra note i.
[xvii] Id.
[xviii] Id.
[xix]Agrivoltaics, supra note xi.
[xx] Id.
[xxi] Id.
[xxii] Id.
[xxiii] Kyle Browning, Agrivoltaics Advantages & Disadvantages, Climatebiz (June 5, 2022), https://climatebiz.com/agrivoltaics-advantages-and-disadvantages/ [https://perma.cc/QH8S-937U].
[xxiv] Id.
[xxv] Conservation Easements, supra note xiii.
[xxvi] Lindsey W. Hromadka, Conservation Easements & Renewable Energy: Why Conservation Values Should Embrace Wind and Solar, 77 Mont. L. Rev. 367, 372-73 (2016).
[xxvii] Conservation Easements, supra note xiii.
[xxviii] Groom, supra note v.
[xxix] Id.