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Growing energy
The New Agriculture
Author: Jessica Owley
Publisher:
Published: 2019
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Across the United States, government agencies and energy developers are looking to agricultural land for development of renewable energy. One attraction of agricultural lands is that they are already relatively ecologically impaired compared with the previous solar development sites in the California and Arizona desert that have been a major source of concern for many environmental groups -- and subject to expensive mitigation requirements under the Endangered Species Act. Renewable energy development pressures are accelerating the existing loss of agricultural land, heightening concerns about food security and the economic viability of agricultural communities. California farmland is at the center of this conflict. Suburban sprawl in California already leads to conversion of nearly 40,000 acres of agricultural land a year.Now, a new competitor has entered the scene: solar energy facilities. Both users compete for water, which is only becoming scarcer in the face of climate change and periodic drought. The pressures on California's agricultural land have long inspired the state legislature and local governments to enact various measures to protect farmland and promote the business of agriculture. We examine the ways California's Williamson Act (which provides tax benefits for agricultural land) and the California Environmental Quality Act (the state's environmental review statute) have proven and not proven to be obstacles to taking agricultural land out of crop production and putting it into solar energy production. We demonstrate that current laws are neither protecting prime agricultural lands nor adequately creating conditions for evaluating the tradeoffs and alternatives when farmland -- or ecologically sensitive habitat -- is used for large-scale renewable energy development.
Land Use Change and Sustainability
Author: Seth Appiah-Opoku
Publisher:
Published: 2020
Total Pages:
ISBN-13: 9781838807320
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Energy in Farm Production
Author: R.C. Fluck
Publisher: Elsevier
Published: 2012-12-02
Total Pages: 384
ISBN-13: 0444597816
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This last volume of the Energy in World Agriculture series is in many ways the series' Alpha and its Omega. It addresses the broad issues related to the use of energy in agricultural production, and also characterizes and quantifies the energy involvements of many agricultural production technologies. It is a compilation of descriptive and analytical information and design principles and data of energy use in this field. A significant aspect is the relationship between energy and agricultural productivity, increased knowledge and resulting improved management of energy-consuming operations on the farm. Information provided here has not been published elsewhere before. Throughout the book are examples of the important role that energy inputs have played in increasing productivity of the world's agricultural systems. Together with a revived interest in energy for agricultural production due to increases in energy costs, this volume meets that interest with valuable information and insights.
Farming for Our Future
Author: PETER H.. ROSENBERG LEHNER (NATHAN A.)
Publisher:
Published: 2021-12-07
Total Pages: 272
ISBN-13: 9781585762378
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Farming for Our Future examines the policies and legal reforms necessary to accelerate the adoption of practices that can make agriculture in the United States climate-neutral or better. These proven practices will also make our food system more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Agriculture's contribution to climate change is substantial--much more so than official figures suggest--and we will not be able to achieve our overall mitigation goals unless agricultural emissions sharply decline. Fortunately, farms and ranches can be a major part of the climate solution, while protecting biodiversity, strengthening rural communities, and improving the lives of the workers who cultivate our crops and rear our animals. The importance of agricultural climate solutions can not be underestimated; it is a critical element both in ensuring our food security and limiting climate change. This book provides essential solutions to address the greatest crises of our time.
Energy Island
Author: Allan Drummond
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2011-03
Total Pages: 44
ISBN-13: 0374321841
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Tells how the people of Danish island of Samso decided to use wind energy to power their lives and became the "Energy Island."
Farmland Preservation
Author: Wayne J. Caldwell
Publisher: Univ. of Manitoba Press
Published: 2017-03-22
Total Pages: 322
ISBN-13: 0887555187
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →As land is lost to urban sprawl and other non-farm activity, our ability to produce food is diminished and options for future food production are limited. Farmland preservation speaks to the need to preserve the agricultural land base for future generations. The need for protection is driven by uncertainty caused by climate change, population growth, food security, energy availability, and other local and global factors. This uncertainty means that there is an ever-growing responsibility to ensure that the actions of today do not compromise the needs of future generations. This second edition of Farmland Preservation provides a range of views and case studies from across Canada, the United States, and beyond. Its fourteen essays are intended to help the reader understand the importance of the issue and the potential for applying new approaches to agricultural protection, policy tools, and initiatives.
Solar Farm Policy and Farmland Price - a Land Zoning Perspective
Author: Hung-Hao Chang
Publisher:
Published: 2023
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Photovoltaic or solar energy is globally promoted as a major source of renewable energy. Although previous studies have discussed the use of price incentives to regulate the use of solar panels, not much is known about the role of land zoning policies. The development of solar panels is associated with farmland use since solar power generation requires large acres of farmland. This phenomenon raises concerns on significant loss of farmland and deterioration of farming environment. To mitigate this problem, the Taiwanese government issued a revised zoning regulation tightening the allowance for small-scale solar panels installed on farmland. After this policy reform, no solar panels were allowed on farmland under 660 square meters. This paper examines the effect of this zoning regulation on farmland prices in Taiwan. Using nationwide farmland transactions data with the difference-in-differences method, we find that the tightened regulation for solar panel installation has reduced farmland prices by 21.8%. In addition, the magnitude of the negative price effect is smallest for good productivity farmland. Moreover, the price fall started two months after the reform and escalated over time. Finally, we find a distributional effect with respect to price: farmland with higher prices per hectare are most severely affected.
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
Author: Bill Gates
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 2021-02-16
Total Pages: 201
ISBN-13: 0385546149
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical—and accessible—plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market, he describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete, practical plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions—suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers, and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but if we follow the plan he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.
