Could wind and solar farms coexist with agriculture?
Wind and solar farms are expected to play a crucial role in tripling renewable energy capacity on a global scale by 2030. However, many countries are facing difficulty transitioning to clean energy at present, let alone meeting the net zero target.
One of the struggles with the renewables is to find good locations for installations that do not involve deforestation or disrupting local communities. Currently, installing wind and solar farms on agricultural land is on the rise, but it comes with its challenges.
Related: Renewable energy investments call for stronger commitment to net-zero initiatives
Tripling of renewables by 2030
The COP28 target of tripling global renewables by 2030 requires generating more than 11,000 GW during this timeline compared to 2022 levels. Figure 1 shows how much annual additions are needed to reach this target.
The BNEF estimated about 392 GW of new installations in 2023, primarily driven by solar energy. The market saw a significant increase in solar panel manufacturing capacity, which has doubled in just over two years and is expected to exceed 1,000 GW by 2024.
However, tripling global renewable capacity does not mean each country must triple its capacity. The contributions will vary based on each country's starting points.
The net-zero scenario needs the global share of electricity generation from wind and solar to be about 40% by 2030, according to IEA. Figure 2 shows the renewable targets of some of the countries in 2030, compared to 2023.
The IEA's Net Zero report forecasts that a huge reduction in fossil fuel usage will reduce CO2 emissions by 35% from 2022 to 2030 and by 65% by 2035.
The report also projected that twelve countries added more renewable energy capacity in 2023 than their average annual additions needed to meet 2030 targets (Figure 3).
The current trajectory offers little hope
However, the problem is if the world only expands renewable energy by approximately 500 GW per year (at the 2023 rate) from 2024 onwards, global renewable capacity would only be doubled, not tripled by 2030.
To achieve a capacity of more than 11,000 GW, we need to accelerate annual additions from 500 GW in 2023 to around 1,500 GW by 2030. This means the annual additions must increase by 17% each year from 2024 onwards (Figure 4).
This also means wind and solar farms require rapid installation. However, to do that, there is another problem. One cannot just go around installing wind and solar farms everywhere. The land area must consider several factors, including turbine or panel capacity, spacing density between turbines and panels, land use efficiency, and operational requirements.
For example, the EU's target capacity is 425 GW of wind power by 2030. Assuming each turbine generates three MW on average, approximately 141,667 turbines would be necessary to achieve this. Based on the assumption of two acres per turbine, this results in a total land requirement of 283,334 acres. That is equivalent to 283,334 football fields and larger than New York City.
Similarly, the solar farms require an estimated 6-8 acres per MW. But there is an opportunity for the landowners. Leasing their land to a solar or wind energy company can generate additional income for them while using it for agricultural production.
Related: Wind turbine vs solar panel: which is the ultimate winner?
Disadvantages of wind and solar farms on agricultural land
So, it's clear that installing wind and solar farms on agricultural lands could be beneficial.
While it sounds very appealing, installation could also cause soil erosion and degradation. The process can lead to soil compaction that reduces the soil's ability to absorb water, increasing erosion over time.
Additionally, the wind turbines could change the local wind patterns, affecting soil moisture levels. These changes could have lasting effects on the productivity of agricultural land.
Farmers should be well aware of these consequences and implement the best practices for soil conservation if they want to maintain it also as agricultural land.
Related: 7 disadvantages of solar energy
Case study of wind and solar farms on U.S. rural land
A recent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service analyzed the effects of wind and solar farms on farmland, covering from 2009 to 2020.
In 2020, solar farms covered an estimated 336,000 acres, while wind farms took about 88,000 acres of land. To put this in perspective, the total land area used by solar and wind farms combined was roughly 0.05% of the approximately 897 million acres of farmland in the U.S.
The installation took place on the land previously classified as cropland, non-agricultural land, and pasture-range land.
Related: Maximizing energy efficiency with solar-powered windmills
The report stated that after installation, solar sites often resulted in changes to land cover at 26%, frequently shifting away from agriculture (Figure 5). In the case of wind, it was only 5%, proving better compatibility between wind energy and agriculture.
About 15% of solar sites shifted out of agriculture, while for wind turbines, it was less than 1% after installation. Among sites previously classified as cropland, 36% of solar sites were uncultivated in at least one-year post-installation, contrasting with wind turbines at 7%.
This means the land within wind farms often continues to support alternative uses like farming or ranching. In contrast, solar projects need close spacing between panels, requiring the removal of vegetation and topsoil beneath the panels before construction.
Although solar farms generally occupy smaller areas than wind farms, the associated infrastructure typically has a larger impact.
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