Solar energy development on farmland: Three prevalent perspectives of conflict, synergy and compromise in the United States

As farmland has become a key place for grid-scale, ground-mounted solar energy development, there needs to be more analysis to explore what energy transitions mean for the future of agriculture. This article uses the food–energy–water (FEW) nexus framework to delineate three different perspectives of solar energy development on farmland. The first two perspectives fit into the FEW nexus language of “trade-offs” and “synergies” respectively, arguing that solar energy development either conflicts with agricultural land use and food security or, alternatively, that the two land uses can be co-located appropriately to create agrivoltaic systems. The third perspective is a compromise, arguing that solar energy - neither a complete trade-off to nor completely synergetic with continued agriculture - preserves farmland for future agricultural use. By analyzing these perspectives together, we further understand implications of solar energy development. While each of these perspectives is important, agrivoltaics has the greatest potential to play a positive role across both energy and agricultural transitions. Nonetheless, there are several key barriers to agrivoltaic development, including the need for sufficient access to water, local knowledge and appropriate agricultural resources, and sustained interest from solar energy developers. The development of agrivoltaics, and solar energy in general, should raise important political questions of land access and resource use.

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Work Title Solar energy development on farmland: Three prevalent perspectives of conflict, synergy and compromise in the United States
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Zachary Goldberg
Keyword
  1. Agrivoltaics
  2. Food-energy-water nexus
  3. Land use change
  4. Photovoltaic
  5. Renewable energy
  6. Rural development
License CC BY 4.0 (Attribution)
Work Type Article
Acknowledgments
  1. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NRT-INFEWS: Landscape-U). Thank you to my mentors and colleagues at Penn State and the Nature-Society Working Group, including Karl Zimmerer, Jenn Baka, Trevor Birkenholtz, Kathryn Brasier, Hannah Wiseman, Erica Smithwick, Kaitlyn Spangler, Ruchi Patel, Lilly Zeitler, Saumya Vaishnava, Karan Misquitta, Mei-Huan Chen, and Margaret Pickoff. I am also grateful to the two peer reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the American Solar Grazing Association for their support.
Publication Date May 26, 2023
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103145
Deposited June 06, 2023

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Version 1
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  • Created

    June 06, 2023 22:07 by zag5022

  • Updated

    June 06, 2023 22:07 by [unknown user]

  • Updated Acknowledgments Show Changes

    June 06, 2023 22:08 by zag5022

    Acknowledgments
    • This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NRT-INFEWS: Landscape-U). Thank you to my mentors and colleagues at Penn State and the Nature-Society Working Group, including Karl Zimmerer, Jenn Baka, Trevor Birkenholtz, Kathryn Brasier, Hannah Wiseman, Erica Smithwick, Kaitlyn Spangler, Ruchi Patel, Lilly Zeitler, Saumya Vaishnava, Karan Misquitta, Mei-Huan Chen, and Margaret Pickoff. I am also grateful to the two peer reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the American Solar Grazing Association for their support.
  • Added Creator Zachary Goldberg

    June 06, 2023 22:08 by zag5022

  • Added Goldberg_preprint_solar_farmland_perspectives_ERSS.pdf

    June 06, 2023 22:08 by zag5022

  • Updated Keyword, License Show Changes

    June 06, 2023 22:11 by zag5022

    Keyword
    • Agrivoltaics, Food-energy-water nexus, Land use change, Photovoltaic, Renewable energy, Rural development
    License
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
  • Published

    June 06, 2023 22:11 by zag5022

  • Updated

    April 04, 2024 10:22 by [unknown user]