Myth busting: Critics of solar power claim it takes up valuable farmland.
Here are a few facts to consider from Land Use and Solar Development – SEIA
- No state uses more than 0.5% of prime farmland for solar.
- “Nearly every state has more abandoned prime farmland than solar-developed prime farmland.”
- “Golf courses use nearly 3x more prime farmland than solar.”
- “Suburban development uses roughly 6x more prime farmland than solar.”
This is a much more complicated subject than simplified criticism considers. In most people’s minds the land used for farmland is synonymous with food production. In reality, they are not. Much of the land planted with corn and soybeans is dedicated to producing biofuels instead of food production.
Often, when people see acres and acres of corn or soybeans, they assume these will be consumed by people or farm animals. However, approximately 36% of farmland in Michigan is planted in corn, Farmland Use in Michigan - Product Center and about a third of that crop is used to make ethanol. That means around 10% of farmland in Michigan is used to make ethanol for automobile fuel. An acre of solar arrays can drive an Electric Vehicle (EV) 70 times farther than an acre of corn used for ethanol can drive an internal combustion car. Soybeans are also being used to produce biodiesel to supplement petroleum-based diesel fuel. According to the EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) 1.7 billion gallons of biodiesel fuel were used in 2022 and that amount is expanding rapidly. It takes approximately a million acres of soybeans to produce a billion gallons of diesel fuel. Even though biodiesel burns cleaner than petroleum-based diesel, it still produces carbon emissions that contribute to climate change, which in turn contributes to the loss of productive farmlands.
There are areas in the country where farmland is being lost because of climate-change induced drought or excessive withdrawal of groundwater. In the contiguous United States, 40% of the land is classified as arid or semiarid, making it susceptible to desertification. A significant portion of these lands are used for agriculture, and much of this land needs to be irrigated for crop production, usually from groundwater. After the groundwater is depleted in these areas, the land is useless for farming. According to research from Michigan State University, solar panels over farmland actually help maintain soil moisture.
Michigan and six other states require pollinator-friendly crops to be planted under utility-scale solar developments, resulting in an explosion in pollinator insects and birds and small mammals that feed on those insects. Bee hives are increasingly placed around the perimeter of these solar sites where honey can be harvested. Allowing land to rest also helps make it more fertile when it is turned back to planting food crops after solar arrays are removed.
After years of farming with modern practices, including petroleum-based fertilizers to prop up crop production, farmland is often depleted. Solar arrays can be paired with the strategic use of grazing animals and cover crops on farmlands through regenerative farming to rebuild the soil’s health, and reduce or eliminate the need for fertilizer. Regenerative farming practices are being done with increasing frequency under solar developments, primarily with sheep. Farmers are discovering that using regenerative agriculture with solar can produce increased productivity with some crops.
If you have doubts about solar on farmlands, it’s important to understand that the use of solar to produce electricity is not environmentally innocent but it is far better than its fossil fuel equivalent and can increase productivity with some crops.
Questions or comments about this article can be directed to Mike Buza at theoriginalzuba@yahoo.com.