Advanced BioFuels USA

by Julia Bayly (Bangor Daily News)  Approximately 67,000 fixed-tilt, bifacial panels will comprise a solar farm under construction at the Eastern Piscataquis Industrial Park in Milo. There is growing concern that development of solar farms will come at the expense of crop producing farmland. — There is a finite number of acres in Maine that can produce crops and support agricultural farms. Only 13 percent of the state is suitable farmland, according to the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

In recent years, those acres have been targeted by solar farm developers. The most desirable land for large solar farms is at least 25 acres, flat, open to the sun, easily accessible by good roads and near existing power lines.

In other words, land that is perfect for farming.

Now a group — formed as a result of legislation last summer — will make policy recommendations that balance the need to protect Maine’s current and future farmland against the need to develop sources of renewable energy.

There’s no official data on how much farmland has already been converted to solar farms. In 2020, 88 percent of the 335 solar farm pre-applications submitted to the Maine Natural Areas Program included high-quality farmland. That’s a potential loss of 14,949 acres of Maine’s nearly 2.9 million acres of available farmland.

This land — referred to as prime farmland, or soils of statewide importance — has soil with the best physical and chemical characteristics to produce food, animal feed and forage crops. The designation is determined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

…

Wilcox (New Gloucester farmer Carl Wilcox) fears that the more prime farmland and important soils are taken out of food production, the more farmers will have to rely on more marginal land that is less ideal for crops.

There is also the financial reality faced by working farmers.

“The value of a lease agreement from solar development on the farmland may exceed that of the farm’s normal income,” McBrady (Nancy McBrady, director of the Maine Bureau of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources) said.  READ MORE

MAINE SAYS NO: (Politico’s Morning Energy)

Power line vote challenged in court; no halt to construction (Associated Press)

Solar-plus-food in ethanol fields could fully power the United States (PV Magazine)

After slow start, Massachusetts sees more interest in incentives to mix solar with farming — In 2018, Massachusetts became the first state to offer financial incentives for “dual-use” projects that blend solar energy and agricultural production. Since then, just three projects have been completed, but more are in the pipeline. (Energy News)

Excerpt from Politico’s Morning Energy:  MAINE SAYS NO: Mainers voted to ban new high-impact transmission in the Upper Kennebec region of the state, effectively axing a project that would have brought enough Canadian hydropower into New England to power 1.2 million homes. Voters approved the referendum by 59 percent, also voting to require the state Legislature to grant its blessing to any similar projects on state lands going back to 2014.

Though environmentalists opposed the project for its impact on the state’s woodlands and natural gas plant operators feared it would make the local energy market more competitive, the New England Clean Energy Connect had strong support in the administration from Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Democratic Gov. Janet Mills for its potential to bolster the region’s renewable generation share. Castor also said Wednesday that the referendum results were “concerning” and highlighted the need for a comprehensive legislative package that boosts efforts to expand transmission planning and upgrade the grid. Jordan Wolman has more on the referendum for Pros.

But the fight may not be over, with backers of the line challenging the referendum’s constitutionality in court, the AP reports. “It’s not the end of the road. We’re going to continue to advocate for the project,” said Thorn Dickinson, president and CEO of the New England Clean Energy Connect.  READ MORE

Excerpt from Associated Press:  The 145-mile (233-kilometer) power transmission line would serve as a conduit for up to 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower and would be fully funded by ratepayers in Massachusetts. Most of it would be built along existing corridors but a new 53-mile (85-kilometer) section is being cut through the woods to reach the Canadian border.

Supporters contend the renewable energy — enough to power 1 million homes — will remove carbon from the atmosphere and stabilize energy prices, benefiting the entire region.

Critics say the environmental benefits are overstated and that the project would forever change the character of the forest.

The latest legal challenge, filed Wednesday by CMP’s corporate parent, Avangrid, contends the referendum violates separation of powers, a principle regarding retroactive laws, and a provision protecting contracts.

It seeks an injunction to prevent enforcement of the referendum to ensure construction can proceed while the lawsuit is heard.

Orlando Delogu, professor emeritus at the University of Maine Law School, said “ex post facto” laws, which retroactively target something that was previously legal, violate the Maine Constitution.  READ MORE