fullscreen

eFinder

eFinder

Home › Article

Building more renewable energy sources means rethinking land use for agriculture and conservation

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · · 725 words · By Adam Gallaher
headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing
Ready to play
Daily briefing

What to know about Building more renewable energy sources means rethinking land use for agriculture and conservation

The author, a geographer, discusses the land-use challenges associated with meeting New York's large-scale solar energy goals. The article explores the trade-offs between utilizing agricultural land, forests, and wetlands, while suggesting dual-use alternatives like agrivoltaics and ecovoltaics to mitigate environmental impact.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 12
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

The state of New York could meet its goal of building 46 gigawatts of large-scale solar by midcentury, but not without making difficult choices in how land is used across the state.

Why it matters

That’s the overall finding of an analysis several colleagues and I have made in that state.

Common ground

It’s an issue that other states, and the U.S.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

The author, a geographer, discusses the land-use challenges associated with meeting New York's large-scale solar energy goals. The article explores the trade-offs between utilizing agricultural land, forests, and wetlands, while suggesting dual-use alternatives like agrivoltaics and ecovoltaics to mitigate environmental impact.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/building-more-renewable-energy-sources-means-rethink…

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 12 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

verified Verified By Reference 4
info Single Source 3
help Insufficient Evidence 2
schedule Pending 2
check_circle Corroborated 1
verified
Claim 1: “a 100-megawatt solar project could require approximately 417 acres of land, roughly the same area as 316 American football fields, based on a conservative power density of 0.24 megawatts per acre”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The evidence provided contains dictionary definitions of 'based' and unrelated Wikipedia entries. No source confirms the specific calculation of 417 acres for a 100 MW project at 0.24 MW/acre.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of operational hydroelectric power stations in the United States with a current nameplate capacity of at least 100 MW. The Hoover Dam in Arizona and Nevada was the first hydroelectric p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hydroelectric_power_st…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Solar power in Nevada is growing due to a renewable portfolio standard which requires 50% renewable energy by 2030. The state has abundant open land areas and some of the best solar potential in the c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Nevada
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Zaporozhtransformator (ZTR) is a Private Joint Stock Company (formerly Zaporozhye Transformer Plant) specializing in the design and manufacturing of oil-filled power transformers, shunt reactors and m…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaporozhtransformator
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 2: “70 gigawatts of generating capacity is expected to come on line in 2026 and 2027”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The evidence provided for this claim consists of general Wikipedia entries for the number 70 and the year 1970, and general energy outlooks that do not mention the specific 70 GW projection for 2026-2027.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — A battery energy storage system (BESS), battery storage power station, battery energy grid storage (BEGS) or battery grid storage is a type of energy storage technology that uses a group of batteries …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_energy_storage_system
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_University
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Sikorsky S-70 is an American medium transport/utility helicopter family manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. It was developed for the United States Army in the 1970s, winning a competition to be des…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-70
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 3: “The state of New York could meet its goal of building 46 gigawatts of large-scale solar by midcentury”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While web search results mention NYSERDA and land use for utility-scale solar in New York, none of the provided evidence snippets explicitly confirm the specific goal of 46 gigawatts by midcentury.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States. It is located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Assembly
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York or Metro New York, is the largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a gross metropoli…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area
+ 3 more evidence sources
help
Claim 4: “Grazing livestock or growing crops underneath or between rows of raised solar panels, known as agrivoltaics, is one way to keep land available for agriculture while also generating electricity”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this claim in the search results.
help
Claim 5: “those projects are expected to replace roughly 22,000 acres of forest and just under 10,000 acres of wetlands”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this claim.
schedule
Claim 6: “Another emerging alternative involves solar panels that are constructed to float on water rather than being mounted on land”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 7: “Solar energy is the fastest-growing source of electricity in the U.S., with nearly 397 gigawatts waiting to come on line as of 2025”
SINGLE SOURCE
One source mentions solar is the world's fastest-growing energy source, but the specific figure of 397 GW in the pipeline for the U.S. as of 2025 is not corroborated by the other provided evidence.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bloom Energy (formerly, Ion America) is an American public company that designs and manufactures solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) which independently produce electricity onsite for power generation in d…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom_Energy
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of all the commercial nuclear reactors in the world, sorted by country, with operational status. The list only includes civilian nuclear power reactors used to generate electricity for …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_commercial_nuclear_rea…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Methyl-CpG-binding domain protein 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MBD2 gene.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methyl-CpG-binding_domain_prot…
+ 3 more evidence sources
check_circle
Claim 8: “power plants that burn coal and natural gas can produce large amounts of electricity from relatively small areas of land – but solar requires more space to generate the same amount of electricity”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that solar requires significantly more land per unit of power than coal or natural gas. One source specifically states solar requires at least 10 times as much land.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jun 16, 2022 ... One part of the total land use is the space that a power plant takes up: the area of a coal power plant, or the land covered by solar panels.
https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-per-energy-source
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Wind and solar generation require at least 10 times as much land per unit of power produced than coal- or natural gas-fired power plants, including land ...
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/renewables-land-use-and-l…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The global energy system has a relatively small land footprint at present, comprising just 0.4% of ice-free land. This pales in comparison to agricultural ...
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9258890/
verified
Claim 9: “nearly 148 gigawatts operating at the end of 2025”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence consists of dictionary definitions for 'approximately' and unrelated Wikipedia entries; there is no data regarding the 148 GW operational capacity for 2025.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Germany is a major electricity producer and consumer. It has the largest economy in the European Union. The country produced 488.5 TWh of electricity in 2024, with 59.4% from renewable energy sources.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Germany
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Offshore wind power in the United States is in the early stages of development and shifting public opinion. In 2022, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimated that the country has a "t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offshore_wind_power_in_the_Uni…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — A pulsating white dwarf is a white dwarf star whose luminosity varies due to non-radial gravity wave pulsations within itself. Known types of pulsating white dwarfs include DAV, or ZZ Ceti, stars, wit…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsating_white_dwarf
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 10: “the 70 gigawatts of solar energy expected to come on line in the next two years will require just over 320,000 acres of land”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided includes general energy outlooks for 2026 but does not mention the specific land requirement of 320,000 acres for 70 GW of solar.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jan 29, 2026 ... Any further increase in production beyond that will require a larger investment and more time. ... forecast to be more than 30% colder than usual.
https://gabelli.com/research/2026-outlook-energy-sector/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Feb 2, 2026 ... Although we raised our forecast for coal consumption, we still expect the U.S. electric power sector will use about 7% less coal this year than ...
https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/archives/feb26.pdf
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Apr 10, 2018 ... Additional land capacity associated with Commercial ... needed per MW of solar energy, 17,400 acres of land would be required to site these.
https://psc.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/MD-Costs-and-Ben…
schedule
Claim 11: “Another approach, known as ecovoltaics, involves designing solar projects to equally support renewable energy and ecosystem services, such as providing habitat for pollinators or reducing evaporation in stressed arid ecosystems”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 12: “about 53% of which is expected to displace farmland”
SINGLE SOURCE
While sources discuss solar on agricultural land and the potential for it, none of the provided evidence confirms the specific figure that 53% of the projected 70 GW capacity will displace farmland.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — of the land that is suitable for solar (about 140 GW potential) is agricultural. Maryland projected that while half of its current solar capacity comes from ...
https://farmlandinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — A utility-scale solar power plant may require between 5 and 7 acres per megawatt (MW) of generating capacity. Like fossil fuel power plants, solar plant ...
https://seia.org/research-resources/land-use-and-solar-devel…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Sep 12, 2024 ... ... about 10 times more land area per megawatt of capacity than wind farms. ... 70 percent of solar capacity was from large-scale, commercial solar ...
http://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2024/september/agricultu…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.