Did you know that putting floating solar on only 10% of the surface of all the reservoirs that humans have built could provide 110% of the electricity that we now are producing? Well, now you do.
I believe that humanity needs to think much bigger and use #Agrivoltaics wherever possible. (In fact, we could call the swimming panels and the roofed canals #Aquavoltaics.
As I've researched for my thread, agrivoltaics creates #microclimates, likewise irrigated gardens like the ones built by the #Moors in southern Spain, e.g. #Granada.
Picture this 4 almost any fields, rivers, and reservoirs, as well as some coastal regions...still micro?
@HistoPol
Agrivoltaics is the real game changer. Not only does it help mitigate global warming by producing electricity without polluting greenhouse gases, it can also help protect crops from extreme weather caused by climate change.
P.S. I'm hoping that aid agencies and local leaders in #Ukraine are actively looking towards #Agrivoltaics and batteries to make their grid more resilient and to replace the stations that Putin has destroyed.
"#OakRun will be #Ohio’s largest solar installation and the nation’s biggest #agrivoltaics project, spanning 6,000 acres and totaling 800 MW. It combines farming and solar generation on the same plot of land, and includes a massive array of #batteries.
It is estimated that the project will generate $7.2 million every year in new #revenue for the county and surrounding townships and school districts over its estimated 35-year life."
"Farmers are giving up excess or marginal land, not prime grazing areas.
Many farmers [can] make a million dollars a year leasing out 800 to a 1000 hectares while even just 20 hectares, and still earn six figures.
A survey of farmers in December found only one per cent saw transmission requirements as the top threat to their farm, while 55 per cent nominated #ClimateChange as the greatest threat to their farm."
The #AngloSaxon capitalist model ruined earth for humanity and many other species. #BigOil has been its undertaker, b/c #BigOilKnew.
If capitalism hadn't made the #GreenRevolution possible, human society would already have reached the #overshoot (1) point at the end of the last century:
In 1968, the #biologists Paul and Anne #Ehrlich wrote the book The #PopulationBomb"...
If you go through my thread, you will see that #WaruWaru has been used in the #Andean Highlands for thousands of years, #Oxfam is promoting projects in #SouthAmerica, and #Agrivoltaics has been around for decades.
It is all there. It is simply not being used enough.
Absolutely correct.
Apart from solar and wind, I'm not seeing this happening on the required global scale, though.
My whole point is that humanity had all the necessary technologies available after the Fraunhofer Institute had invented #Agrivoltaics...in the 1980's:
There's 107 square km of desertified land in #Binhe region, Ningxia province, China. Baofeng, a "new energy" company, became its manager.
First they planted alfalfa. Then they planted #solar, soon to be 1GW of it, and it's tall solar, 3m off the ground. Underneath that they planted goji berries.
Now, small wild animals like sparrows, hares and pheasants have come back. Land moisture evaporation is down by between 30 and 40%. #Agrivoltaics is a win-win proposition.
I just published my Renewable Energy Pickups: contextualized highlights from 12 to 18 February:
-Low-carbon shipping moves fast from #naturalgas to #hydrogen through dual-fuel engines and design
-#Agrivoltaics grows: gets a specialized solar panel
I agree. A second #GreenRevolution is direly needed. Probably even the only way out to preserve the current societies and reign in the #ClimateCatastrophy.
Systemic thinking and integrated approaches are of the essence.
I had hoped to read about #Agrivoltaics, #WaruWaru and #Camellones. Alas, still none of these terms even appear in the "GLOBAL POLICY REPORT:
The Economics of the Food System Transformation".
Combine the agrivoltaics in your field with these cute solar powered weeding robots and we'll be on a better track towards a sustainable future hopefully.
OK one more post for the morning: a teeny bit of good news. Cornell CALS (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences) has secured funding and is launching an agrivoltaics research program!
"The path to solving the climate crisis requires expanding renewable energy projects to achieve our clean energy goals; however, this effort has historically harmed our local food supply, often taking prime farmland out of production and putting farms out of business. The new Agrivoltaics Research Program at Cornell CALS will help change this dynamic by pioneering strategies and technology to facilitate vital collaboration between the renewable energy and agriculture industries."
--Sen. Michelle Hinchey
(note this is basically a press release from her office)
A couple of days ago, @breadandcircuses wrote an article about #degrowth, in which he correctly describes how 👉the global economic system must be radically altered ("transitioned away from #capitalism👈," he calls it.)
On top of this, however, this transition must include an agricultural revolution that embraces extensive use of #agrivoltaics + #WaruWaru for a 2nd #GreenRevolution...
A new “agrivoltaics” initiative looking to prove the commercial viability of integrating solar power plants with agriculture has won the favour of Brussels. The EU is backing German renewable energy company BayWa, in a first-of-its-kind scheme that could be a win-win for farmers and the climate.
Agrivoltaics has been touted for its myriad benefits, including saving water, increasing soil health, and boosting pollinator numbers
IMO,
humanity should have been implementing #agrivoltaics and raised-field agriculture, #WaruWaru style, including huge #WaterManagement and #irrigation systems in all regions bound to have or experiencing "monsoon type" rainfall for decades.
The necessary construction would dwarf anything in human history.
We are about 3-4 decades late.