California is making headway toward its goal of attaining 100 percent renewable and carbon-neutral power by 2045, and agriculture might play a role, according to Daily Democrat.
Farmers around the state have made investments in renewable energy technology near vineyards, row-crop fields, and atop walnut dryers. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 8% of California farms have a carbon-neutral system on-site.
Aaron Barcellos, who produces row crops and trees in Merced and Fresno counties, took advantage of federal tax breaks to build two solar systems totaling 1.4 megawatts to balance the farm’s energy use.
Most farmers, if they have a drip system with an electric pump, are probably spending between $80 and $120 per acre per year on electricity expenditures alone, depending on the crop and how much water they’re providing, according to Barcellos.
With the continued drought and legislation requiring local authorities to balance groundwater supplies under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, more farmers are looking to renewable energy as a source of income, especially when farmland is projected to be lost.
Agriculture currently plays a significant role, particularly with SGMA, according to Barcellos.
Farmers have a unique role to play in California’s energy future, according to Arian Aghajanzadeh, an agriculture technology specialist who started Klimate Consulting in San Francisco.
Agriculture and land use are the only sectors of the economy that may “transition from being a large producer of carbon emissions to being a big carbon sink” in terms of cutting emissions, according to Aghajanzadeh. According to him, no other industry can do this.
The electrical mix in the state is already more than 60% carbon-free. Around 36% of that comes from renewable sources, namely solar and wind.
Due in part to incentives offered by a government tax credit, solar arrays have dominated the on-farm expansion of energy systems. Furthermore, under California’s power-generation rules, solar users who generate their own energy can obtain financial credits for any unused electricity that their systems give to the electrical grid.
The California Public Utilities Commission is considering eliminating long-term financial incentives that solar power purchasers have relied on under the net-metering scheme.
The PUC is debating whether to keep, reduce, or eliminate a perk for solar power consumers that permits them to sell unused electricity to utilities for 20 years.
In terms of water, Aghajanzadeh stated that irrigation is still quite energy-intensive for farmers, and the switch from flood to more pressured irrigation has raised power needs, particularly for those who rely more on groundwater owing to surface-water supply limitations.
However, new energy solutions are being developed. One initiative, dubbed “Project Nexus,” includes the installation of solar panels above San Joaquin Valley canals in order to generate renewable energy, conserve agriculture, and prevent water evaporation. Turlock Irrigation District, the University of California, Merced, and others are working together on the project.