solar farms than ever. But as projects expand, they’re also raising questions about where they belong. A new industry analysis suggests one of the biggest concerns — that solar is consuming too much prime farmland — may be overstated, especially in the American West.
The Solar Energy Industries Association found that utility-scale solar occupies less than one-tenth of 1% of the nation’s prime farmland – areas considered most suitable for growing crops. It also found the West uses the smallest share of that land for utility-scale solar of any region in the country.
“There’s zero states where solar uses more than half a percent of prime farmland,” said Sean Gallagher, the trade group’s senior vice president of policy. “In fact, nearly every state has more abandoned prime farmland than it has prime farmland on which solar has been developed.”…