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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is hosting a series of virtual listening sessions to hear perspectives on the benefits and challenges of the increased levels of clean energy projects being sited on agricultural lands and in rural communities.
USDA and DOE seek feedback directly from a diverse set of stakeholders about what the agencies can do through their leadership, program guidance, or research and information sharing to encourage positive clean energy siting outcomes that benefit farmers, rural Americans, the renewable energy industry, and others.
Register to participate in one of the stakeholder-specific listening sessions listed below:
Clean energy deployment is key to addressing climate change, domestic energy security, and rural economic development. Clean energy can offer significant economic opportunities to farmers and rural Americans. For example, leasing non-productive land for clean energy production can be an important source of income for farmers facing drought and other extreme weather events. There are also opportunities to co-locate clean energy on agricultural land and continue farming it.
However, state and local siting restrictions can prevent communities from accessing the benefits of clean energy deployment. These siting restrictions often arise out of concern over farmland loss, but the main driver of farmland loss is suburban expansion. There is no one-size-fits-all solution or best practice to siting renewable energy projects like wind and solar because each community that hosts a project is unique. DOE and USDA are interested in better understanding the impact of renewable energy development on these communities and public sentiment about these projects.
In addition to the virtual listening sessions, stakeholders are invited to submit written comments to CleanEnergySiting@USDA.gov by January 20, 2024.
Access solar energy resources for farmers and learn more about solar energy and agriculture co-location.
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