'Grass Grazing + Solar' Model - Technology and Animals Coexistence on the Rise in the US

While seeking the benefits of technology, humans also hope that the surrounding creatures can coexist with it. Recently, some American clean energy companies have found great models.

They have used sheep grazing to keep the solar panels from being 'attacked' by weeds , both feeding the sheep grass to save on mowing costs, and letting the sheep stand under the solar panels to enjoy the shade and avoid the heat in the summer; there is also a model of cage fish farming at offshore wind farms .

The sheep grazing + solar power model is growing strongly in the US and spreading to Europe. (Photo: AFP).

New model suitable for new era

The US solar industry is growing rapidly, with nearly 30 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity expected to be added this year, capable of powering tens of millions of homes. However, this electricity comes at the cost of huge areas of uncultivable land. As a result, people are worried that the world is currently facing water and food shortages, and if large areas of land are covered by buildings, roads or photovoltaic panels, there will be insufficient arable land and pasture in the future.

A new report from the nonprofit American Farmland Trust estimates that the additional farmland lost in the United States between 2016 and 2040 will be a staggering 18.4 million acres, an area roughly the size of the US state of South Carolina.

However, more and more farmers around the world are partnering with new energy companies, hoping to improve the situation of agricultural land being used only to place solar panels through the new method of "grazing + solar power" .

The image shows the effectiveness of the model: weeds are cleared and sheep shelter from the sun under solar panels. (Photo: Sohu).

More than 6,000 sheep are being released into eight solar power plants in Texas, an initiative by renewable energy company Enel North America, which is partnering with Texas Solar Sheep LLC to create the largest solar livestock grazing agreement ever in the United States. The sheep are not only 'woolly gardeners' on more than 10,100 acres (4,087 hectares), but also play a vital role in maintaining ecosystems and improving energy efficiency.

The sheep will be free-range in areas with solar panels, where they can lounge in the shade on hot days. They reduce the need for herbicides and fossil fuel-powered lawn mowers. This is not only good for the environment, but also saves money for energy companies. The sheep's manure can also fertilize the soil, improving soil quality and ecosystems. In addition, sheep can carry wildflower seeds in their wool and hoof prints, contributing to the regeneration of natural vegetation.

In fact, Enel North America has tested this model in Minnesota and the results showed that soil quality at some locations improved by more than 200% in terms of organic matter, proving that sheep grazing not only supports energy production but also brings many benefits to the local ecosystem.

'By prioritizing sheep grazing for land management, we demonstrate that solar energy and agriculture can coexist while ensuring optimal performance of our solar facilities,' said Marcus Krembs, Director of External Relations and Sustainability at Enel North America. He also emphasized that this commitment not only helps protect the environment but also supports the local economy through the creation of new job opportunities and ecosystem services.

Sheep grazing in solar-harvesting areas saves money.

Solar farming, a term used to describe the use of land for both solar energy and agriculture, is growing in popularity. ' Solar grazing is becoming a leading trend in the solar farming industry, and we are seeing more and more solar industry leaders investing in long-term partnerships with farmers and creating new opportunities for U.S. agriculture,' said Kevin Richardson, Director of Outreach at the American Solar Grazing Association .

Grazing sheep in solar fields is not only cost-effective, but also has other benefits. According to Jesse Puckett, director of sustainability and community affairs at Enel, letting sheep graze is cheaper and less risky than mechanical mowing. Sheep don't chew on wires like goats, and they don't damage solar panels, keeping the system safe and efficient. " It saves us money," Puckett says. "It's an efficient way to do it. It's good for the environment, but it also helps our bottom line. So it's a win-win for us. "

Puckett also emphasized that the solar industry has an opportunity to do things differently and better, contributing to sustainable development and environmental protection.

Sketch of a farm modeled after fish farming + wind power. (Photo: Sohu).

Grazing + Solar Power Brings Hope to Farmers

Additionally, this approach could bring new income and hope to the declining lamb industry and sheep farmers in the United States.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the number of sheep slaughtered and the demand for them are decreasing year by year. Currently, the number of sheep slaughtered each year is just over 2 million. Although the demand for lamb by Jews during festivals and other communities is increasing, this demand is still not enough for sheep farmers to maintain their livelihoods.

Additionally, the USDA report found that since the 1960s, per capita lamb consumption in the United States has dropped from nearly 5 pounds to just about 1 pound per year. This is due to more Americans accepting less lamb, competition from other meats such as poultry, pork and beef, and cheap lamb prices in Australia and New Zealand, making business more difficult for American sheep farmers.

Josie Trople, 27, who runs Cannon Valley Graziers in Minnesota with her husband, Arlo Hark, told Bloomberg that the choice to partner with solar companies was a matter of conservation, as ranching is notoriously low-margin.

She also said that the family business previously owned more than 100 Rambouillet sheep, but the meat and wool sold were not enough to sustain life and preserve assets. If they wanted to continue this business, they needed to make corresponding changes.

Using sheep instead of diesel lawn mowers could also reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to ongoing research at Cornell University. Sheep also provide fertilizer, which improves soil fertility, as well as the ability to extract more carbon from the atmosphere and store it in their roots.

While the grazing + solar model is welcomed, it still faces barriers to adoption, such as the insurance required by solar developers and the cost of transporting sheep. In 2018, the US established the Grazing + Solar Association, the first single agency to provide a solar grazing resource, with contract templates and a mapping tool to connect farmers with solar companies. The association is currently developing a franchise model that would allow grazing animals to share insurance and other resources with solar plants.

There are now 470 members across the United States, and the area dedicated to solar grazing is exploding. In New York, there were only about 79 acres in 2018, and by 2020, it had grown to 900 acres.

'There are many benefits to working together on sheep grazing + solar power ,' said a farmer participating in the livestock + solar power model . 'We thought about it ourselves and saw this as the future of agriculture.'

This model uses offshore wind generators and cages installed nearby to grow fish or algae. (Photo: Sohu).

Offshore 'fish farming + wind power' model floats around the world

In addition, the model of generating electricity that coexists with living organisms is also emerging in the ocean. This model uses offshore wind generators and cages installed nearby to grow fish or algae.

Recently, some scientists have proposed: on the premise of not affecting the protection and operation of wind farms, establishing a cage system within the scope of offshore wind farms to make the "wind power plant + aquaculture" model feasible. They believe that turning offshore wind power and traditional fishing into cooperative development within a square kilometer can help fishermen transition to sustainable fishing.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in 2017, about 34% of fish stocks in marine fisheries worldwide were depleted so rapidly that species could not recover and regenerate themselves, while stocks had only declined by 10% in 1974.

Therefore, many people believe that this ' industrialization of marine aquaculture' can reduce the depletion of freshwater resources on land and the depletion of marine fish resources, which is beneficial to maintaining the balance of marine ecology and providing enough marine fish for humans.

Additionally, the deep-sea location of offshore farms is seen as an advantage, avoiding coastal erosion caused by fish farms in bays and estuaries, while minimizing the potential for overfishing of wild fish populations.

Additionally, a 2019 study that collected water samples near underwater fish cages off the coast of Panama concluded that offshore farms can cause relatively little pollution if properly located. A previous study that compared more than 15,000 bluefin tuna from nearshore and offshore farms found that bluefin tuna raised offshore had lower mortality rates and were less susceptible to sea lice than those raised nearshore.