How can New York State’s climate change efforts progress during a global pandemic?
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory says one way is to have solar developments on the state’s farmland.
However, Energy, Water, and Land Analyst Jordan Macknick is finding some resistance.
“It becomes a major challenge and a major barrier to the development of solar if you can’t find a place to site it or if there’s nowhere to put the solar because everywhere you go there’s pushback.”
Macknick says it would take less than one percent of U.S. land area to supply the entire country with the amount of electricity it needs with solar power. Currently, the laboratory is working on seven projects with Cornell University. One is studying what crops and livestock could be maintained on farmland alongside solar power installations.
Another concern is making progress on climate change as the economy is affected by the pandemic. President of New York Power Authority Gil Quiniones says making homes and businesses more energy efficient could create jobs.
“We need to focus on items like energy efficiency. Energy efficiency saves money and creates the most amount of jobs. But make no mistake, it’s tough out there. A lot of businesses are having a tough time and we need to be creative.”
The Energy Storage Association says battery storage is another way to create a more efficient environment. CEO Kelly Speaks-Backman says it’s important to remember these goals even during a pandemic.
“As we learn to live with this virus and learn to move forward in our work, we can’t forget that we have to keep energy affordable. We have to be efficient about how we do it and that includes storage even as we clean up our grid. And those jobs are going to come from the clean energy industry.”
Ideas on clean energy and climate change were discussed Monday during a virtual conversation by the organization Energy-21.
