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Sustainable co-production of food and solar power to relax land-use constraints

Nature Sustainability volume 2, pages 972–980 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Renewable energy could often be land constrained by the diffuse nature of renewable resources. To relax land constraints, we propose the concept of ‘aglectric’ farming, where agricultural land will be sustainably shared for food and energy co-production. While wind turbines on agricultural land are already put into practice, solar power production on agricultural land is still under research. Here, we propose photovoltaic systems that are suitable for installation on agricultural land. Adjusting the intensity, spectral distribution and duration of shading allows innovative photovoltaic systems to achieve significant power generation without potentially diminishing agricultural output. The feasibility of solar aglectric farms has been proven through shadow modelling. The proposed solar aglectric farms—used alone or in combination with regular solar parks or wind plants—could be a solution for a sustainable renewable economy that supports the ‘full Earth’ of over 10 billion people.

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Fig. 1: Detailed calculation model for a fossil fuel to solar energy transition.
Fig. 2: Power density requirements by state, and percentages of agricultural land required to meet states’ energy needs.
Fig. 3: PV systems for co-production of food and energy with farmland.
Fig. 4: Spatially mapped shadow depth for cases A, D and E from Table 1.

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Data availability

The data used in this analysis were obtained from the references as noted. Any additional data needed to reproduce or support this work can be obtained from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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The code required to reproduce this work is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Sustainable Food, Energy, and Water Systems programme, funded by National Science Foundation Research Traineeship Award 1735282.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Caleb K. Miskin, Yiru Li.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Caleb K. Miskin, Yiru Li, Ryan G. Ellis & Rakesh Agrawal

  2. School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Allison Perna, Elizabeth K. Grubbs & Peter Bermel

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  1. Caleb K. Miskin
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Contributions

C.K.M. and R.A. developed the initial land-area estimation model, conceptualized the aglectric PV systems and estimated the power output of these systems. Y.L. refined and finalized the land-area estimation model. Y.L. and R.A. analysed the synergy of PV and wind aglectric farming, drafted the associated results and compiled the author contributions. A.P. developed the shadow depth model and simulation with consultation from P.B. and E.K.G. R.G.E. provided the schematics of land-area estimation and innovative PV systems. R.A. directed the overall research. All authors assisted in drafting and editing the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Rakesh Agrawal.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Notes 1–5, discussion, Tables 1–6, methods, Fig. 1 and references 1–19.

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Miskin, C.K., Li, Y., Perna, A. et al. Sustainable co-production of food and solar power to relax land-use constraints. Nat Sustain 2, 972–980 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0388-x

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