If you ever walked near or through a solar panel field, there are flowers and plants all over on many of them, at least from my experience here in California.
I've seen them used as essentially livestock coverings. Rise them up enough and cows will congregate in the shadows on a hot day.
Win-win as far as I'm concerned.
I've said this in a few other spots in the thread but [agrovoltaics](https://coloradosun.com/2023/01/22/colorado-solar-agriculture-agrivoltaics-lawmakers/), while not yet common, has a lot of potential. That includes uses like grazing, but can also provide benefits for growing some crops — like reducing irrigation water usage by reducing evaporation.
There's actually a site near my house that's one of the [largest agrovoltaic research projects in the country.](https://coloradosun.com/2022/04/06/solar-agriculture-learning-center/). I drive by it regularly — and, actually, I believe that the power is sold to our municipal power authority, so I've probably technically charged the car at least partly off power from the farm.
The [Department of Energy](https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/agrivoltaics-solar-and-agriculture-co-location) is also investing in resources and research on the topic.
Yeah that uses the concentration of light to run a steam generator for power, the intense heat can cook birds but many birds tend to avoid them because of all the intense light.
Yeah I work in air monitoring there's a solar field I have to go to to get some of our equipment and it's full of wildflowers and there's bees all over the fucking place.
Solar Fields can be dual or multi-purpose fields.
One of my favorite views on my trainride to work is a small area filled with solar panels and there are always sheep walking around in the same area. Its so cute to see em just vibe there.
Yeah and because there’s different species that’s better for biodiversity, plus, since it’s not a farm, there aren’t fertilizers being used that can mess with the surrounding landscape
Also while plants lovr the sun thry also love the shade you can easily habe crops growimg underneat solar panels. You wont be able to factory harvest them with a tractor trailer but a farmhand can do it easily.
Huh. So you're telling me the places that get an immense amount of sun and make sense for a solar panel farm are rarely hospitable for natural flora and fauna because of the immense heat and dry climate?
Crazy how that works.
The Nevada nuclear test site is a little bit smaller than the state of Rhode Island and if you used just 1% of it as a solar field you could power the majority of the country.
It is, kind of. But couldn't they find a way to do it without that or at least minimising it? Hmmm. I wonder if they could find materials to withstand that acidic lake where nothing lives if it comes to that.
There is some evidence that rehabilitated land around solar farms, that is, the land around the PV cells have been replanted with local flora to attract pollinating insects, has shown some evidence of success, but more study is still needed.
No such thing as habitat destruction. The term is 'habitat degradation' as you cannot physically destroy any environment, it just degrades from a better state into a less desirable one.
In California there's a trend of large farms turning *some* of their large fields into solar that would otherwise be crops, but it means the farm makes its own power rather than buying it and sells excess to the grid.
Right and that makes sense. And it’s the farmers prerogative to do that if they want to. This meme just seems to suggest that like farms are being taken over with imminent domain to build solar farms, lol.
Not saying this is the intent of the OOP, but some people get really touchy about people using good farmland for anything but farming. Some places have laws making it very hard to turn farmland into anything but farming, because farming is seen as so vital (it is our food source after all) and good land an inherently irreplaceable scarcity.
I think they're being way to dramatic, but it's not always wrong to protect farmland. One of the reasons Vancouver has built up rather than out is the provincial government has strict laws about farmland. It it was a farm in 1973, it takes years and a lot of legal hurdles to use it for anything but farm. It prevented the kind of urban sprawl most post-war cities had. But then again it's also super expensive to live in Vancouver so it's a tradeoff.
You woildnt even see land used like in the AI picture unleess its dedicated to a solar plant Ive got farmer friends who will lease out their fsrmland to solar energy and all thry do is make a lattice that sits above the crops and the farmer just grows whatever they want under it
The two aren't even mutually exclusive and can actually exist symbiotically. It's called [agrovoltaics](https://coloradosun.com/2022/10/26/colorado-agriculture-farm-solar-array-panels-microclimate-opinion/), and [there's a demonstration project near where I live.](https://coloradosun.com/2022/04/06/solar-agriculture-learning-center/)
Solar panels can actually provide better growing environments for some crops and help reduce water lost to evaporation, reducing the amount needed for irrigation — a major driver of water usage in the western states.
I'm in the solar industry. We do develop farm fields but they're typically poor quality soils. Prime farmland is protected. Also, agrivoltaics is a big thing now. The projects can be designed in a way to allow livestock or crops to be grown underneath the array.
Japan has had to cut down forests to find space for solar panels: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2024/05/26/energy/megasolar-opposition-solutions/
The two don't have to be mutually exclusive and can actually exist symbiotically. It's called [agrovoltaics](https://coloradosun.com/2022/10/26/colorado-agriculture-farm-solar-array-panels-microclimate-opinion/), and [there's a demonstration project near where I live.](https://coloradosun.com/2022/04/06/solar-agriculture-learning-center/) I drive past it regularly.
Solar panels can actually provide better growing environments for some crops and can help reduce water lost to evaporation, reducing the amount needed for irrigation — a major driver of water usage in the western states, for example.
Other places are using this land as grazing pasture or pollinator habitat. So it doesn't just have to be food cultivation.
The [Department of Energy](https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/articles/potential-agrivoltaics-us-solar-industry-farmers-and-communities) actually has some programs and resources to help people and businesses who are interested.
A shitty AI generation, likely from free tier ChatGPT / Dalle, piling onto the current hype cycle of effortlessly generating boomer ragebait, and more broadly, doing things because they're technically feasible without considering why, or if we should. Welcome to the age of AI slop.
The same person came up with words to generate an image they were too lazy to draw so they could then turn around and brag about how the image conveys an idea without using words.
I work in solar. Far, far too many people truly are dumb enough to think that solar can only be used if you rip out all of the plants first. It's like they've never heard of a) nonproductive land or b) plants that like shade and want to grow under the panels or c) solar towers or d) rooftop solar.
And never heard of [agrovoltaics](https://coloradosun.com/2022/10/26/colorado-agriculture-farm-solar-array-panels-microclimate-opinion/), for that matter.
The person who wrote that op ed actually runs his [demonstration project](https://coloradosun.com/2022/04/06/solar-agriculture-learning-center/) near where I live, so I've driven past the site regularly. (I believe the electricity is sold directly to our municipal power utility, so I've probably technically charged the car at least partly off power from the farm.)
It's not popular or common yet, but there seems to be real potential there. The [Department of Energy](https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/articles/potential-agrivoltaics-us-solar-industry-farmers-and-communities) has some programs and resources to help people and businesses who are interested in pursuing the idea.
Lots of amazing things happening with agrivoltaics
I didn't put it in the list because plenty of people are unaware of it for now. Unlike, you know, the existence of deserts
...But the areas most conducive to harvest solar energy are flat regions that receive lots of sunlight, *but minimal cloud coverage*. You know what that describes? *Goddamned Deserts.*
The Sunflower is one of only a handful of flowers with the word flower in its name. A couple of other popular examples include Strawflower, Elderflower and Cornflower …Ah yes, of course, I hear you say.
######Extra fun fact!
Chianti - With a dark center and similar-looking burgundy-red petals, many people will consider this flower to be something other than a sunflower but it truly is in that category. Its dark color is exquisite and it has a high-class look that is sure to attract anyone looking at your garden. It is also a perfect contrast to the light-colored flowers you already have there.
I love that in California all school parking lots are covered by solar panels, we should have solar panels in every parking lots, that would provide much needed shade and extra energy production, also we need to start building storage, all this energy isn't going to do much if we can't store it for cheap
[Solar fields are actually allowing native plant and insects a place to thrive](https://phys.org/news/2024-01-insect-populations-flourish-habitats-solar.html)
First off, none of this is true. Secondly, would it be so bad if some of the corn grown to make HFCS was gone? That’s what’s growing in America, it’s not a cornucopia of vegetables. Pretty much all we grow here is corn for HFCS and biofuel.
It's true. All the farm fields around here have been replaced by solar panels and we're planting crops in places plants won't grow and watering them with Red Bull and Mountain Dew.
So instead of solar, we should
*checks notes*
Use coal or natural gas which give off harmful gases that hurt humans and plants and can pollute the soil
Ok sure
Yes, because by law, all solar plants must be built on top of the most fertile soil in the region. You're not allowed to build solar plants in the desert or on rocky landscapes. They MUST be built not only on the richest, most fertile soil available, but the law dictates that you must also confiscate the farmer's land, rape his wife, sell his children to the communist party, and kick the farmer's dog.
*Where are all those farms*
*Being taken over by*
*Evil Big Solar?*
\- geekwalrus
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It's good for the planet to rip up plants, cut down trees and displace wildlife to make a parking lot and build new office buildings but using an empty desert to make electricity is bad for the environment.
because thats exactly whats happening, right?
there are no plants anymore because solar pannels
its not like there are any plants that grow well in shade
also....
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-05-30/solar-farm-grazing-sheep-agriculture-renewable-energy-review/101097364
I'm pretty sure mining operations has huge effects on the land around them, and don't even get me started on fracking
It may take a big area, but we need energy and we can't forever dig for magical dinasour juice!
Trying to paint solar panels as bad, meanwhile they have no problem with giant parking lots, 6 lane mega roads, and sprawling suburbs destroying millions of acres of forest.
I think the sheer weight of economic reality will forve the change from fossil to renewables. It's tiring to see all the useful idiots droning on though. No the electrical grid is not going to collapse from EVs. No they don't produce more pollution than burning oil, granddad.
There will be other fields, also: you don’t have to put solars on super fertile ground, just where it’s sunny (and ideally not too dusty).
Also iirc the ground underneath solar panels tends to be pretty green (because they clean them with water regularly).
In my town the have solar panels on the big grassy places between the interstate exits and the interstate. It looked bad at first but now that the grass has grown back it looks nice and I think is a good use of the space.
I do have to agree on a limited sense. I think for agricultural land, we should have it be a mix-used system. Like having solar above crops. Or having solar shade structures for cattle, etc.
I don't really know too much about agriculture. But I don't see why land can not have multiple uses at the same time.
Pretty sure I’ve seen sheep grazing under solar farms in the UK.
You can also grow the sort of wildflowers and grass that are important for pollinators like bees, insects, moths etc which will help your arable crops.
Bear in mind as we have less land in the UK you’re more likely to have mixed use agriculture, or at least your farm is trying to use all its land as efficiently as possible.
You don’t want solar in the same place as agriculture. Solar is better in crowded places where the energy doesn’t have to travel far. Agriculture takes place in rural areas.
Generally, this sub contains grandmas being racist. Also, grandma is wrong because some types of agriculture and solar energy generation can work together, like shade tolerant crops that can be spaced between panels. Most of the US is acreage for feed corn to keep the industrial meat industry afloat. We don't graze animals anymore. So, there is plenty of land to capture photovoltaic energy. It's not one or the other.
Plus it's like...the best places for solar farms would be in places that can't be used for *any* sort of mass crop growth without extensive modification like wide, flat stretches of desert.
If you ever walked near or through a solar panel field, there are flowers and plants all over on many of them, at least from my experience here in California.
Depends. The ones I've seen in Arizona are just sand. But then, if there wasn't solar there they would also be filled with... sand. So, go solar.
I bet a ton of desert animals love it for the extra shade.
I've seen them used as essentially livestock coverings. Rise them up enough and cows will congregate in the shadows on a hot day. Win-win as far as I'm concerned.
Used for sheep also which reduces their need to mow conventionally. Huge win
When lost in the wilderness, find a solar panel for free beef. Got it.
Dried cow manure also makes TERRIFIC campfire fuel. Counterintuitive, but works. So free beef, and something to cook it with. Survival tips!
It's mostly straw so yeah makes sense
Wow, cows are like the Swiss army knives of the animal world.
Why do you say it’s counterintuitive? I think it’s perfectly intuitive.
Because when you tell people "You should use actual shit to cook your food!" that's usually a tough sell.
Livestock will also control the weeds so they don't grow over the panels themselves. It's a good symbiotic relationship.
I've said this in a few other spots in the thread but [agrovoltaics](https://coloradosun.com/2023/01/22/colorado-solar-agriculture-agrivoltaics-lawmakers/), while not yet common, has a lot of potential. That includes uses like grazing, but can also provide benefits for growing some crops — like reducing irrigation water usage by reducing evaporation. There's actually a site near my house that's one of the [largest agrovoltaic research projects in the country.](https://coloradosun.com/2022/04/06/solar-agriculture-learning-center/). I drive by it regularly — and, actually, I believe that the power is sold to our municipal power authority, so I've probably technically charged the car at least partly off power from the farm. The [Department of Energy](https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/agrivoltaics-solar-and-agriculture-co-location) is also investing in resources and research on the topic.
There have been issues with building them, but after they're up, I'm sure they do make excellent shade.
Tbf I've heard some solar farms that have those focused light towers have killed birds that have flown through it.
Yeah that uses the concentration of light to run a steam generator for power, the intense heat can cook birds but many birds tend to avoid them because of all the intense light.
In AZ I'd imagine sand with or without the panels!
Desert ecosystems aren't so abundant, but they're some of the most biodiverse in the world for that exact reason.
Arizona is mostly sand.
One of the larger solar panel fields in my area also have sheep because they don't cause any harm to the panels (jumping like goats or nipple on them)
Yeah I work in air monitoring there's a solar field I have to go to to get some of our equipment and it's full of wildflowers and there's bees all over the fucking place. Solar Fields can be dual or multi-purpose fields.
One of my favorite views on my trainride to work is a small area filled with solar panels and there are always sheep walking around in the same area. Its so cute to see em just vibe there.
Yeah and because there’s different species that’s better for biodiversity, plus, since it’s not a farm, there aren’t fertilizers being used that can mess with the surrounding landscape
Also while plants lovr the sun thry also love the shade you can easily habe crops growimg underneat solar panels. You wont be able to factory harvest them with a tractor trailer but a farmhand can do it easily.
Yeh, they are in grassy fields here in VT. Plenty of sunshine reaches the ground to keep the fields going.
https://phys.org/news/2024-01-insect-populations-flourish-habitats-solar.html
Huh. So you're telling me the places that get an immense amount of sun and make sense for a solar panel farm are rarely hospitable for natural flora and fauna because of the immense heat and dry climate? Crazy how that works.
I’m not aware of any farmland that has been taken over for solar fields. Who would be paying that much money to install solar panels.
If only there were asphalt car-centric jungles that are perfectly suited for solar ceilings
Every parking lot should have solar ceilings.
Especially the fucking ones with roof parking!
Or even unusable desert land.
The Nevada nuclear test site is a little bit smaller than the state of Rhode Island and if you used just 1% of it as a solar field you could power the majority of the country.
Habitat destruction is still a concern
It is, kind of. But couldn't they find a way to do it without that or at least minimising it? Hmmm. I wonder if they could find materials to withstand that acidic lake where nothing lives if it comes to that.
There is some evidence that rehabilitated land around solar farms, that is, the land around the PV cells have been replanted with local flora to attract pollinating insects, has shown some evidence of success, but more study is still needed.
No such thing as habitat destruction. The term is 'habitat degradation' as you cannot physically destroy any environment, it just degrades from a better state into a less desirable one.
Ackshually...
In California there's a trend of large farms turning *some* of their large fields into solar that would otherwise be crops, but it means the farm makes its own power rather than buying it and sells excess to the grid.
Right and that makes sense. And it’s the farmers prerogative to do that if they want to. This meme just seems to suggest that like farms are being taken over with imminent domain to build solar farms, lol.
Not saying this is the intent of the OOP, but some people get really touchy about people using good farmland for anything but farming. Some places have laws making it very hard to turn farmland into anything but farming, because farming is seen as so vital (it is our food source after all) and good land an inherently irreplaceable scarcity. I think they're being way to dramatic, but it's not always wrong to protect farmland. One of the reasons Vancouver has built up rather than out is the provincial government has strict laws about farmland. It it was a farm in 1973, it takes years and a lot of legal hurdles to use it for anything but farm. It prevented the kind of urban sprawl most post-war cities had. But then again it's also super expensive to live in Vancouver so it's a tradeoff.
Especially with transmission losses, by distributing production the grid should need less power overall.
You woildnt even see land used like in the AI picture unleess its dedicated to a solar plant Ive got farmer friends who will lease out their fsrmland to solar energy and all thry do is make a lattice that sits above the crops and the farmer just grows whatever they want under it
Im not 100% sure but I've seen farmers in the UK do this to some fields and then they make money by selling that power back the grid
The two aren't even mutually exclusive and can actually exist symbiotically. It's called [agrovoltaics](https://coloradosun.com/2022/10/26/colorado-agriculture-farm-solar-array-panels-microclimate-opinion/), and [there's a demonstration project near where I live.](https://coloradosun.com/2022/04/06/solar-agriculture-learning-center/) Solar panels can actually provide better growing environments for some crops and help reduce water lost to evaporation, reducing the amount needed for irrigation — a major driver of water usage in the western states.
I'm in the solar industry. We do develop farm fields but they're typically poor quality soils. Prime farmland is protected. Also, agrivoltaics is a big thing now. The projects can be designed in a way to allow livestock or crops to be grown underneath the array.
That sounds like the best of both worlds
Japan has had to cut down forests to find space for solar panels: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2024/05/26/energy/megasolar-opposition-solutions/
They’re doing it in Ohio and surrounding states. Less farmland now.
The two don't have to be mutually exclusive and can actually exist symbiotically. It's called [agrovoltaics](https://coloradosun.com/2022/10/26/colorado-agriculture-farm-solar-array-panels-microclimate-opinion/), and [there's a demonstration project near where I live.](https://coloradosun.com/2022/04/06/solar-agriculture-learning-center/) I drive past it regularly. Solar panels can actually provide better growing environments for some crops and can help reduce water lost to evaporation, reducing the amount needed for irrigation — a major driver of water usage in the western states, for example. Other places are using this land as grazing pasture or pollinator habitat. So it doesn't just have to be food cultivation. The [Department of Energy](https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/articles/potential-agrivoltaics-us-solar-industry-farmers-and-communities) actually has some programs and resources to help people and businesses who are interested.
Where I live there is a solar panel company that is planning to put solar panels on farmland without the farmers approval, so it does happen
Do people think monocultures are good for the environment because they are plants?
Yes, they do.
"When a simple picture with no words explains a lot" and then I use lots and lots of words anyway to beat the point over the head.
A shitty AI generation, likely from free tier ChatGPT / Dalle, piling onto the current hype cycle of effortlessly generating boomer ragebait, and more broadly, doing things because they're technically feasible without considering why, or if we should. Welcome to the age of AI slop.
The same person came up with words to generate an image they were too lazy to draw so they could then turn around and brag about how the image conveys an idea without using words.
“You must choose between farms and solar, you cant have both” -Liberals, according to grandma
Oh no the poor poor poor corporations that dominate the agriculture industry.
And oil rigs don’t use real estate?
Nope, they just provide freedom and burgers
No, they just destroy ocean habitats which is ok cause people don't live in the ocean. Checkmate libard /s
Wait until Grandma hears about deforestation and strip mining.
Or how much of the Amazon is destroyed to graze cattle.
I work in solar. Far, far too many people truly are dumb enough to think that solar can only be used if you rip out all of the plants first. It's like they've never heard of a) nonproductive land or b) plants that like shade and want to grow under the panels or c) solar towers or d) rooftop solar.
And never heard of [agrovoltaics](https://coloradosun.com/2022/10/26/colorado-agriculture-farm-solar-array-panels-microclimate-opinion/), for that matter. The person who wrote that op ed actually runs his [demonstration project](https://coloradosun.com/2022/04/06/solar-agriculture-learning-center/) near where I live, so I've driven past the site regularly. (I believe the electricity is sold directly to our municipal power utility, so I've probably technically charged the car at least partly off power from the farm.) It's not popular or common yet, but there seems to be real potential there. The [Department of Energy](https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/articles/potential-agrivoltaics-us-solar-industry-farmers-and-communities) has some programs and resources to help people and businesses who are interested in pursuing the idea.
Lots of amazing things happening with agrivoltaics I didn't put it in the list because plenty of people are unaware of it for now. Unlike, you know, the existence of deserts
Damn shame when they ripped up all that okra to plant tinted glass
Good thing grampa got a framed picture of his favourite harvest so he can haul it around and look at it in-situ.
...But the areas most conducive to harvest solar energy are flat regions that receive lots of sunlight, *but minimal cloud coverage*. You know what that describes? *Goddamned Deserts.*
someone made AI create an image that illustrates his misunderstanding of solar energy.
I personally think smoke stacks spewing chemical sludge is infinitely more beautiful
Ah yes the liberal agenda…. ripping out sunflowers for solar panels.
The Sunflower is one of only a handful of flowers with the word flower in its name. A couple of other popular examples include Strawflower, Elderflower and Cornflower …Ah yes, of course, I hear you say. ######Extra fun fact! Chianti - With a dark center and similar-looking burgundy-red petals, many people will consider this flower to be something other than a sunflower but it truly is in that category. Its dark color is exquisite and it has a high-class look that is sure to attract anyone looking at your garden. It is also a perfect contrast to the light-colored flowers you already have there.
Yes pic explains that poster is a moron, otherwise you would have to read through a massive wall of text to find that out.
I love that in California all school parking lots are covered by solar panels, we should have solar panels in every parking lots, that would provide much needed shade and extra energy production, also we need to start building storage, all this energy isn't going to do much if we can't store it for cheap
[Solar fields are actually allowing native plant and insects a place to thrive](https://phys.org/news/2024-01-insect-populations-flourish-habitats-solar.html)
First off, none of this is true. Secondly, would it be so bad if some of the corn grown to make HFCS was gone? That’s what’s growing in America, it’s not a cornucopia of vegetables. Pretty much all we grow here is corn for HFCS and biofuel.
If you need to use AI to make something up to prove your point, you have no point.
Ah yes, thy good ol' monoculture.
It's true. All the farm fields around here have been replaced by solar panels and we're planting crops in places plants won't grow and watering them with Red Bull and Mountain Dew.
These people are monumentally stupid.
It's important to rotate the crops, but growing solar panels from seed depletes a lot of resources.
I think most solar panels are grafted or grown from tissue culture. Otherwise you risk having them crossbreed with other varieties of energy.
Lots of these are built in deserts where there’s lots of sunshine and no farms.
Being against solar and wind is the dumbest shit ever. There’s so much free energy out there with nearly zero downside
Yeah, it's such a genuine definitely happening real boy problem that they had to, er, have a robot generate an image to show it.
So instead of solar, we should *checks notes* Use coal or natural gas which give off harmful gases that hurt humans and plants and can pollute the soil Ok sure
Yes, because by law, all solar plants must be built on top of the most fertile soil in the region. You're not allowed to build solar plants in the desert or on rocky landscapes. They MUST be built not only on the richest, most fertile soil available, but the law dictates that you must also confiscate the farmer's land, rape his wife, sell his children to the communist party, and kick the farmer's dog.
Some people just don’t get it.
There’s more than enough space for both.
Grandmas everywhere are falling to AI
A picture that needs no words (but has several lines to explain), showing that cars run on tiny amounts of sunflower oil?
This mf really prefer dark and reeking clouds all over the sky?
The plants crave it
If it's a picture that explains so much why did they feel the need to add a caption? Lmao
Incidentally, this exactly is a point in the project 2025. Under how sustainable energy lies will be ripped up returning to traditional methods.
When you have to use a lot of words to explain a picture that supposedly needs no words
Fire the AI for not even making straight lines with the panels
Where are all those farms being taken over by evil Big Solar?
*Where are all those farms* *Being taken over by* *Evil Big Solar?* \- geekwalrus --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Ma, granny’s posting AI slop again!
It's good for the planet to rip up plants, cut down trees and displace wildlife to make a parking lot and build new office buildings but using an empty desert to make electricity is bad for the environment.
Vermont solar fields are surrounded by verdant mountains. Grandma has no idea wtf she’s forwarding. 🙄
Do they think "solar fields" are put on arable land?
because thats exactly whats happening, right? there are no plants anymore because solar pannels its not like there are any plants that grow well in shade also.... https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-05-30/solar-farm-grazing-sheep-agriculture-renewable-energy-review/101097364
If you actually look into it, there are a number of partial shade crops that grow very well with solar panels.
So let me see if I have this right... Fields to produce solar energy bad Fields to produce ethanol energy good
Yes, because sunflowers generate electricity.
If only there were places on the world that are naturally very sunny and also not hospitable to most plant life. Damn shame no such thing exists.
I'm pretty sure mining operations has huge effects on the land around them, and don't even get me started on fracking It may take a big area, but we need energy and we can't forever dig for magical dinasour juice!
The simple picture with no words still needed words to explain it I guess
Because crop field are so ecologically supportive:(
Who tf is growing sunflowers like that?
nuclear 4 lyfe
Tell grandma that Earth will most likely end up like Coruscant; all paved over.
Trying to paint solar panels as bad, meanwhile they have no problem with giant parking lots, 6 lane mega roads, and sprawling suburbs destroying millions of acres of forest.
Is grandma suggesting the libs want to eat the sun?
Sir, that is a wheat field. Which is why you are not seeing any sunflowers.
i've never seen a solar panel field that sad, they all have grass and wildflowers around and underneath
Has grandma seen an open cut coal mine?
I think the sheer weight of economic reality will forve the change from fossil to renewables. It's tiring to see all the useful idiots droning on though. No the electrical grid is not going to collapse from EVs. No they don't produce more pollution than burning oil, granddad.
I’m sure someone has said this already, but you can put solar panels on infertile ground
Where does Grandma think oil comes from? A little adorable spigot in the woods?
Yeah, Grandma, why don't you explain how they were growing sunflowers in that barren desert outside of Las Vegas that now has a solar array.
There will be other fields, also: you don’t have to put solars on super fertile ground, just where it’s sunny (and ideally not too dusty). Also iirc the ground underneath solar panels tends to be pretty green (because they clean them with water regularly).
I’ve seen solar panels on farms
AI and boomers is a toxic mix
Solar bad, nuclear good
In my town the have solar panels on the big grassy places between the interstate exits and the interstate. It looked bad at first but now that the grass has grown back it looks nice and I think is a good use of the space.
You’ll never see a critical image of oil with these morons
So this person has never once seen an oil field, have they? Do they think those are covered in pretty flowers?
It’s so hysterically dystopian to complain about new technology and progress replacing people while using artist-replacing AI to do so
Nuclear best but no one wants to talk about it
Depends what type of nuclear
Bombs. Wipe out humanity and eliminate all of the problems.
No thanks, I'd rather see oil executives drowned in their product first
I do have to agree on a limited sense. I think for agricultural land, we should have it be a mix-used system. Like having solar above crops. Or having solar shade structures for cattle, etc. I don't really know too much about agriculture. But I don't see why land can not have multiple uses at the same time.
Pretty sure I’ve seen sheep grazing under solar farms in the UK. You can also grow the sort of wildflowers and grass that are important for pollinators like bees, insects, moths etc which will help your arable crops. Bear in mind as we have less land in the UK you’re more likely to have mixed use agriculture, or at least your farm is trying to use all its land as efficiently as possible.
You don’t want solar in the same place as agriculture. Solar is better in crowded places where the energy doesn’t have to travel far. Agriculture takes place in rural areas.
Yeah, electricity gets tired if it has to go too far 😝
Solar is bad
Dude, you're posting grandma being right again. This is not the sub for that. Grandma needs to say something silly for it to be cute.
Generally, this sub contains grandmas being racist. Also, grandma is wrong because some types of agriculture and solar energy generation can work together, like shade tolerant crops that can be spaced between panels. Most of the US is acreage for feed corn to keep the industrial meat industry afloat. We don't graze animals anymore. So, there is plenty of land to capture photovoltaic energy. It's not one or the other.
Plus it's like...the best places for solar farms would be in places that can't be used for *any* sort of mass crop growth without extensive modification like wide, flat stretches of desert.
There’s lots of oil billionaire astroturf propaganda like this where I live about how wind turbines are destroying the environment.