To promote the use of renewable energy sources, the government allows developers to turn agricultural land into solar farms, but the policy has been criticized for reducing the availability of fertile land.
The National Property Administration has approved a 600 hectare plot of agricultural land in Changhua County’s Fangyuan Township (芳苑) to be developed by five solar energy companies Farmers are protesting the decision.
In 2022, the proportion of energy generated from sustainable sources in Japan reached almost 25 percent. Solar capacity accounted for more than 10 percent of the total at 85 gigawatts, which was behind only China and the US.
There is “coopetition” — competitive cooperation — between the agriculture and solar power sectors for the use of land amid the energy transition in Japan, and there are concerns that solar panels might harm crops.
However, years of experimentation and implementation have proved that crops can grow well as long as solar farms are well designed. More than 50 kinds of fruits and vegetables had no problem in the experiments.
Tokyo has designed two pathways of energy transition: One is to permanently change the use of farmland to generating solar power; the other is to allow farming and solar generation to coexist.
Even given the small scale of power generation, the latter is considered more popular, as it creates value in agricultural landscapes, bringing them back to life and attracting young people to return to their hometowns.
This makes it a win-win situation for farmers and solar firms.
Taiwan’s nuclear-free homeland policy and the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 have driven the development of green energy. Solar panels are scattered across farmlands and fish ponds after the rapid expansion of solar projects.
Although this has contributed significantly to the efficiency of the power supply, it comes at a cost: sacrificing agricultural development, and worsening the self-sufficiency rate for grain production.
Striking a balance is the key to a win-win situation.
Dino Wei is an engineer.
Translated by Fion Khan
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