Renewable Energy and Agriculture

The document describes how wind, solar, and biomass energy can provide long-term income and operational savings for U.S. farmers. It highlights specific economic projections from the U.S. Department of Energy, such as the potential for wind energy to create 80,000 jobs and $1.2 billion in income by 2020, and the potential for tripled biomass use to generate $20 billion in new income. The text details the practical applications of these technologies—including turbine leasing, perennial energy crops, and solar-powered farm operations—and notes the availability of federal incentives via the 2002 Farm Bill and various state-level policies like net metering.

• Wind energy presents significant economic potential for rural landowners, with U.S. Department of Energy projections suggesting it could generate $1.2 billion in new income and 80,000 new jobs by 2020. In practice, developers may pay landowners between $2,000 and $5,000 annually per turbine, which occupies less than half an acre of land.
• Tripling the use of biomass energy in the U.S. could result in $20 billion in new income for rural communities and farmers, while reducing global warming emissions by an amount equivalent to removing 70 million cars from the road. While corn is the current primary energy crop, perennial options like poplar, willow, and switchgrass are expected to become more popular due to lower maintenance and input requirements.
• Solar energy offers various operational efficiencies for agriculture, including the use of photovoltaics for remote pumps and electric fences, solar heat collectors for drying crops and warming greenhouses, and solar water heaters for dairy operations. Solar power is noted as being often more cost-effective than the extension of power lines.
• Financial and regulatory support for rural renewable energy is provided through state-level policies—such as net metering and mandates for electricity companies to source renewable power—and federal incentives available via the 2002 Farm Bill.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2008). Renewable Energy and Agriculture. https://www.ucs.org/resources/renewable-energy-and-agriculture

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Renewable Energy and Agriculture. 2008. https://www.ucs.org/resources/renewable-energy-and-agriculture.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Renewable Energy and Agriculture |date=14 July 2008 |url=https://www.ucs.org/resources/renewable-energy-and-agriculture |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2008renewable, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Renewable Energy and Agriculture}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2008}, month = jul, url = {https://www.ucs.org/resources/renewable-energy-and-agriculture}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }