Also, I'm wondering why the enviros are protesting against those solar panels covering up the beautiful desert flora. It is really magnificent in the early spring after a wet winter...
If we grow corn for fuel and take up land for solar power; where do we grow our food? We are losing a lot of farm land to housing, and now fuel. We may end up with an abundance of fuel at some point and no food. I’m only wondering about this because there was an article about food shortages a few days ago due to corn being diverted into fuel. I wonder if the land used for this project is being diverted from farm ground or if it was just open land?
This seems like a good thing, I just hope everyone remembers we have to eat.
This is the Arizona desert. You do not grow corn where there is no rain but PLENTY of heat.
West Texas is already producing much more energy than this plant, with its abundant wind energy, by the way.
I would argue there is no land problem.
First, the project proposed is in Arizona on land not suited for agriculture.
Secondly, we have an excess of agricultural land. Farms in Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia are going fallow as the generational change moves people from farms to cities.
T he loss of land to housing and development is trivial as a function of the available total.
Further west there is a similar situation. As prices rise, land that is now unproductive will be used.
Suspect that it’s in non-irrigated desert, the same as with the planned Mojave solar plant in California.
or if it was just open land?
I was appalled at the per acre price of the land. They can make money buying land with a 14,000 plus price? They could have stayed south of the border, leased the land at 100 per acre for 100 years, and kept the deal from looking like a major scam.
Speaking of scams, the latest info from the wind energy front, is that the infrastructure necessary to transport electrical energy from the location of production to the point of use, is full.
In order to utilize newer production, we need to first invest in the lines to transport said energy from north to south and east to west. Wind farms are on a waiting list to inject their product onto the lines, because at the moment there is insufficient infrastructure available. Paraphrase of newspaper article.
Also, I'm wondering why the enviros are protesting against those solar panels covering up the beautiful desert flora. It is really magnificent in the early spring after a wet winter...
The crop prices are a daily reminder.
Farmers watch those prices and decide what to plant based on how much someone is willing to pay.
Food or fuel? Last year the focus was on fuel, this year it has shifted a bit more towards food.
I don’t think there is really any land for crops in the desert.
For 2007 FarmBill we have 35m acres that are set aside NOT to grow.
Uhhhh...just ask yourself what grows in the Arizona desert——besides cactus, of course. I lived there for 3 years——better to “grow” solar power there.
They can put these solar arrays in desert where not even a lizard can live, much less corn grow.