Expansion of solar

01 February 2024, 18:15

nute

The tend here has been to put solar panels on farm fields ... but those who are so pro this don't seem to be able to remember that the UK is a net importer of food.

We can't feed ourselves with the agricultural production we already have, yet our stupid government seems happy to take yet more good land out of production to grow solar panels

01 February 2024, 18:35

Bill Leeper

Actual impact on fish and wildlife has, historically, been of little concern when the production of energy and/or the generation of wealth is undertaken. The flooding of winter range and destruction of fisheries has always been considered a fair price to pay for power generation
Regarding solar; there is a large solar array and a solar intensifier, near Seachlight, Nevada. I drove in one time to see if I could get some info on the project but they weren't too welcoming. Regards, Bill. Regards, Bill

01 February 2024, 20:22

Aspen Hill Adventures

People bitch about oil derricks but not this? My thoughts on solar is arrays should be covering city rooftops rather than blocking sunlight on any land. Other options I can think of are covering landfill 'mountains' with solar arrays.

Nute, I agree, the loss of farmland or even good wildlands is concerning and not appropriate for this.

I'm still more of a proponent of nuclear than wind and solar.

01 February 2024, 23:56

nute

Exactly, they belong on the millions of acres of commercial roofs we have, but that is less commercially attractive- cheaper to chuck them on a good wheat field sadly, and our stupid government encourages it.

02 February 2024, 02:39

ledvm

quote:
Exactly, they belong on the millions of acres of commercial roofs we have,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J. Lane Easter, DVM

A born Texan has instilled in his system a mind-set of no retreat or no surrender. I wish everyone the world over had the dominating spirit that motivates Texans.– Billy Clayton, Speaker of the Texas House

No state commands such fierce pride and loyalty. Lesser mortals are pitied for their misfortune in not being born in Texas.— Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Texas in May, 1991.

02 February 2024, 02:53

theback40

I have been trying to get our legislatures to put a law in place to protect waterways from solar panels. They have cadmium, which is water soluble and far more dangerous then mercury. No cure for cadmium poisoning. My state has nothing in place for broken and old panels, they go right in the landfills. Everyone turns a blind eye to what's in them. They are afraid it will deter people from putting them up if there is a regulation on getting rid of them.
No matter the energy source, we kick the can down the road with the dark side of energy, aftereffects.

02 February 2024, 03:07

LongDistanceOperator

Wow. I agree with Ann.

02 February 2024, 03:46

shankspony

quote:
Originally posted by theback40:
I have been trying to get our legislatures to put a law in place to protect waterways from solar panels. They have cadmium, which is water soluble and far more dangerous then mercury. No cure for cadmium poisoning. My state has nothing in place for broken and old panels, they go right in the landfills. Everyone turns a blind eye to what's in them. They are afraid it will deter people from putting them up if there is a regulation on getting rid of them.
No matter the energy source, we kick the can down the road with the dark side of energy, aftereffects.

Its also a forever chemical, bloody hard to remove since its in the ground.

02 February 2024, 03:49

shankspony

quote:
Originally posted by nute:
The tend here has been to put solar panels on farm fields ... but those who are so pro this don't seem to be able to remember that the UK is a net importer of food.

We can't feed ourselves with the agricultural production we already have, yet our stupid government seems happy to take yet more good land out of production to grow solar panels

ahem... Can we be of assistance?

02 February 2024, 03:50

crbutler

Cadmium isn’t a forever chemical.

It’s an element, and naturally occurring… just not in the concentrations we see as waste.

It certainly is concerning in a water supply.

As to the solar panel placement, jeez another area of widespread agreement…

02 February 2024, 04:36

jdollar

South GA has several very large solar fields covering thousands of acres of previously productive farm land. Now signs promoting no more solar fields are popping up everywhere along highways……

02 February 2024, 05:12

shankspony

quote:
Originally posted by crbutler:
Cadmium isn’t a forever chemical.

It’s an element, and naturally occurring… just not in the concentrations we see as waste.

It certainly is concerning in a water supply.

As to the solar panel placement, jeez another area of widespread agreement…

Maybe a wrong name use from me for sure, however its a substance that seems very hard to remove and dangerous if its at too high a level. Its seen some areas in NZ banned from cropping.

02 February 2024, 06:23

wymple

quote:
Originally posted by shankspony:
quote:
Originally posted by nute:
The tend here has been to put solar panels on farm fields ... but those who are so pro this don't seem to be able to remember that the UK is a net importer of food.

We can't feed ourselves with the agricultural production we already have, yet our stupid government seems happy to take yet more good land out of production to grow solar panels

ahem... Can we be of assistance?

I fully agree with the placement of solar panels issue, but it is not true we can't feed ourselves with the farmland we have. Ever heard of set aside? We PAY farmers to NOT grow on millions of acres, including a bunch of it around where I live.

02 February 2024, 08:09

Aspen Hill Adventures

At least that fallow farmland could be used again as long as it wasn't covered in panels.

02 February 2024, 09:23

crbutler

He's from England.

They are a net importer of food.

Yes, they feed their people. By buying it from us, or NZ or Argentina or whereever.

Nute's point is that the UK should not be allowing farmland to be turned in to solar arrays when they are not able to feed themselves... I would also question the value of solar arrays in the UK where (at least when I have been there...) its always cloudy and drizzling.

The US keeps subsidizing crops and also paying farmers to leave land fallow. Our agricultural policy is extremely schizophrenic.

quote:
Originally posted by wymple:
quote:
Originally posted by shankspony:
quote:
Originally posted by nute:
The tend here has been to put solar panels on farm fields ... but those who are so pro this don't seem to be able to remember that the UK is a net importer of food.

We can't feed ourselves with the agricultural production we already have, yet our stupid government seems happy to take yet more good land out of production to grow solar panels

ahem... Can we be of assistance?

I fully agree with the placement of solar panels issue, but it is not true we can't feed ourselves with the farmland we have. Ever heard of set aside? We PAY farmers to NOT grow on millions of acres, including a bunch of it around where I live.

02 February 2024, 18:57

Bivoj

What is the latest scoop on New generation of Thorium based power plants?
Everything I read so far is very positive
Also hydrogen car engines development and near future production seem to gather steam lately

02 February 2024, 23:15

nute

quote:
Originally posted by wymple:
quote:
Originally posted by shankspony:
quote:
Originally posted by nute:
The tend here has been to put solar panels on farm fields ... but those who are so pro this don't seem to be able to remember that the UK is a net importer of food.

We can't feed ourselves with the agricultural production we already have, yet our stupid government seems happy to take yet more good land out of production to grow solar panels

ahem... Can we be of assistance?

I fully agree with the placement of solar panels issue, but it is not true we can't feed ourselves with the farmland we have. Ever heard of set aside? We PAY farmers to NOT grow on millions of acres, including a bunch of it around where I live.

Sorry, I was referring to the UK. We cannot produce sufficient food to feed ourselves and have to import as a consequence. Except we have just divorced ourselves from our main import food source.

03 February 2024, 03:28

Lamar

if those panels were used in conjunction with a water supply in someplace like new mexico or Nevada.
they could be used in place of trees to shade row crops and vegetables to increase their output.
they could actually be used to grow food in places that formerly couldn't because of the intense sun light, or heat.

or we could be idiots and let the government be in charge and screw everything up.

03 February 2024, 03:55

jdollar

How are you going to harvest any crop grown underneath a solar field? The panels are only about 3 feet off the ground.Really short tractors and combines or midget vegetable or fruit pickers? Hell you couldn’t even harvest alfalfa for hay…

03 February 2024, 04:52

Aspen Hill Adventures

quote:
Originally posted by jdollar:
How are you going to harvest any crop grown underneath a solar field? The panels are only about 3 feet off the ground.Really short tractors and combines or midget vegetable or fruit pickers? Hell you couldn’t even harvest alfalfa for hay…

I had to laugh at a post on a so-called conservation group on FB where one of these 'professionals/scientists' posted a photo of some hair sheep ewes and lambs under panels in a super arid, desert environment and were slapping themselves on the back at how 'brilliant' the idea was. There was nothing but rocks and dirt and some sparse scrub.

The sheep looked pretty hungry to me but they did have some shade.

All I could do was shake my head, oh, and laugh.

03 February 2024, 05:50

shankspony

start up solar panel electricity company in NZ was advertising for sheep land to install on, as apparently the two can be beneficial too each other. Shade and shelter for sheep, and free ground keeping for the panels. without risk of damage.