New steering 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, stated in a launch that the commonwealth’s farms are a priceless useful resource for producing meals, defending the environment and feeding the financial system.
“Photo voltaic power manufacturing has nice potential for producing electrical energy to energy farm operations and advance Pennsylvania’s transition to a clear power future. When correctly deliberate, well-placed and correctly upkeep, photo voltaic manufacturing doesn’t compromise or cut back priceless farm assets, fairly it enhances them,” stated Redding.
In line with the discharge, the steering outlines the Wolf Administration’s assist for applied sciences that create jobs and generate farm earnings with out compromising meals and fiber manufacturing.
Photo voltaic power is a climate-smart know-how that achieves objectives whereas decreasing emissions and serving to to cut back the detrimental results of local weather change.
Points guiding enterprise resolution making embrace:
- Sustainable website choice prioritizes rooftops, parking heaps or brownfields over agricultural or forest land, avoiding high quality land places altogether.
- Upkeep that protects the soil and pollinators via native vegetation with out invasive species; provides precedence to grazing in comparison with chopping, paying farmers for the service; and embrace decommissioning plans to completely restore any land upon completion of a undertaking.
- Integrating power and agricultural manufacturing in a approach that’s complementary fairly than aggressive.
To know extra in regards to the full information, go to the division’s web site.
