Agrivoltaics works where panels provide useful farm functions such as shade, crop protection or water resilience, not merely where crops survive beside solar.
Agrivoltaics is appealing because it seems to solve two land-use problems at once. Put solar panels and farming on the same land, and the conflict between food and electricity appears to soften. The farm keeps producing, the panels produce power, and the project can be described as more sophisticated than … [continued]
Volunteer Judi Van Der Spoole at the First Church community garden. Photo by Carolyn Fortuna, CleanTechnica
He wears a straw floppy hat, gray tee shirt, black shorts, and topsiders. His round face and easy smile belie his tenacity and vision. Bernie McBee has led an incredible mission to create a sustainable community garden in an economically disadvantaged area of Fort Pierce, Florida. With the support of … [continued]
ChatGPT generated image of a pile of fossil generated sulfur essential for fertilizer with the Strait of Hormuz behind it
When people think about the Strait of Hormuz, they think about oil tankers, LNG carriers, naval escorts, insurance premiums, and the price of gasoline. They generally do not think about yellow piles of sulfur beside gas plants, phosphate fertilizer complexes, or the acid circuits that keep copper and nickel processing … [continued]
Florida has its share of problems, but our ability to purchase produce year round is remarkable. In my town we have an open-air produce market open seven days a week, and different selections of fresh vegetables and fruits inspire my creativity to design interesting meals. I was thinking about how … [continued]
People sometimes think that I go out intentionally looking for good news. I don’t, really. But sometimes I happen across it. And sometimes, it is just a matter of seeing things that can be hopeful when they are viewed together. I was thinking recently about the Great Green Wall of … [continued]
ChatGPT generated this image of fossil fuel infrastructure emitting visible pollution to illustrate the enduring and dominant role of fossil fuels in driving climate change
Fossil fuels are the dominant cause of global climate change. Decades of rigorous scientific research, repeated validation, and global scientific consensus confirm this unequivocally. This core truth needs reinforcement because a provocative paper recently published in Environmental Research attempts to upend this established understanding by claiming that agriculture, particularly livestock farming, … [continued]
ChatGPT generated split-screen image featuring a Ukrainian military drone (e.g., PD-2) over war-torn landscapes transitioning into a thriving farm landscape with drones spraying fields
Ukraine has rapidly emerged as one of the world’s unexpected drone innovation hubs, driven by the brutal necessities of wartime. Thousands of sophisticated drones now soar above Ukrainian battlefields, ranging from compact FPV (first-person-view) attack drones to advanced reconnaissance platforms capable of extended missions deep into contested areas. Remarkably, this … [continued]
A couple of years ago, while exploring the potential of agricultural drone technology through the lens of Hylio’s innovative spraying systems, I found myself wondering if these small machines could shift the massive inertia of global agriculture. At the time, Hylio was doing intriguing work, showcasing promising results with farmers … [continued]
The humble rice hull could provide EV battery makers with a more sustainable, bio-based graphite supply chain that outperforms conventional graphite, too.
A new agrivoltaic system deploys on bio-based components to raise solar panels above crops (image courtesy of AgroSolar Europe).
A new eye-pleasing, biobased agrivoltaic racking system combines performance, functionality, and circularity.
