October 21, 2021
...AND CHEAPER...:
When these solar farms need their grass cut, they call in some woolly landscapers: It's ren-ewe-able energy (KRISTIN TOUSSAINT, 10/21/21, Fast Company)
On some solar farms in New York state, sheep act as landscapers, grazing among the solar panels to manage vegetation. It's a way to manage industrial-scale solar arrays without the use of fossil fuel-powered equipment like lawn mowers, and it provides an opportunity for local farmers to earn money contracting out their sheep. It could also spur the creation of a business cooperative to coordinate between shepherds and solar companies.Ramping up renewable energy means setting aside more and more land for solar arrays, and often it's agricultural land that gets transferred to solar production. To some, this expansion seems like a loss of farmland, but to others, it's a new opportunity for farmers.
Posted by Orrin Judd at October 21, 2021 12:00 AM