New steerage for landowners contemplating photo voltaic manufacturing on farms and in rural communities in Pennsylvania was launched Thursday.
Russell Redding, secretary of the Pennsylvania Division of Agriculture, mentioned in a launch that the commonwealth’s farms are a worthwhile useful resource for producing meals, defending our surroundings and feeding the financial system.
“Photo voltaic vitality manufacturing has nice potential for producing electrical energy to energy farm operations and advance Pennsylvania’s transition to a clear vitality future. When correctly deliberate, well-placed and correctly upkeep, photo voltaic manufacturing doesn’t compromise or scale back worthwhile farm assets, relatively it enhances them,” mentioned Redding.
In accordance with the discharge, the steerage outlines the Wolf Administration’s assist for applied sciences that create jobs and generate farm revenue with out compromising meals and fiber manufacturing.
Photo voltaic vitality is a climate-smart expertise that achieves targets whereas lowering emissions and serving to to scale back the detrimental results of local weather change.
Points guiding enterprise determination making embody:
- Sustainable web site choice prioritizes rooftops, parking tons or brownfields over agricultural or forest land, avoiding high quality land areas altogether.
- Upkeep that protects soil and pollinators by means of native crops with out invasive species; offers precedence to grazing in comparison with mowing, paying farmers for the service; and consists of decommissioning plans to completely restore any land in a venture’s completion.
- Integrating vitality and agricultural manufacturing in a means that’s complementary relatively than aggressive.
To know extra concerning the full information, go to the division’s web site.
