Solar farms offer one way to meet the world's decarbonization targets, but they could also be used to deal with another of the planet's big problems: loss of biodiversity. The approach is starting to take off. Residents of Barnsdale, for example, will soon play host to a new solar farm lined with grass field of wildflowers and native grasses, which Banks Group, the developer, says will promote pollinating insects.
The idea comes from the combination of two long-term trends: declining numbers of pollinating insects and the growing amount of land distributed to solar farms. According to the Center for Biological Diversity in Arizona, more than 40 percent of insect pollinators globally are listed as "highly threatened"—an issue that could seriously threaten food security. Meanwhile, solar-energy competence has been increasing. Matthew O'Neal, a scientist at Iowa State University, would like to see more solar developers seize this opportunity.
The benefits of such projects don't stop at the insects. Research from Yale's Center for Business and the Environment indicates that pollinator-friendly solar farms can raise crop output on nearby farmland, increase the recharging of groundwater and reduce soil erosion. In 2018, a US Department of Energy study found that if all existing and planned solar facilities near soybean and cranberry crops included pollinator home and increased output by just one percent, annual crop values could rise by US $1.75 million, US $4 million and US $233,000, respectively.
"Farmers could identify unprofitable areas, such as poor, highly erodible lands, as candidates for a pollinator-friendly solar farm. There's the potential to increase their net income with pollinator motivation projects," says O'Neal.
With enough forward thinking, these studies show, clean energy can provide new environmental opportunities. "We're at a turning point with energy production and we're seeing more opportunities to provide extra benefits that wouldn't have been considered with older methods of energy generation," says O'Neal. "You never heard of a coal mine planning pollinator conservation."
