West Virginia University College of Law professor Jesse Richardson published new scholarship with the National Agricultural Law Center. The work, titled "Land Use Conflicts Between Wind and Solar Renewable Energy and Agricultural Uses", was co-authored with Peggy Kirk Hall of Ohio State University and Whitney Morgan, a clinician in the WVU Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic.
From the abstract:
The terms “solar farm” and “wind farm” could not more perfectly demonstrate the inevitable pairing of renewable energy and agriculture as uses of land. At the same time, harvesting the sun and wind and converting both to energy forms usable to mankind are far from traditional agricultural practices. This paper first reviews the issues arising between renewable energy and agriculture when siting the two uses, highlights results of research on the status of state laws in place that weigh the interests of renewables and use of agricultural lands, and compiles recommendations from existing laws, recent state bills, as well as leading resources on siting renewables on agricultural lands, including model code language.
This paper was first published by the National Agricultural Law Center and is also available from their website: https://nationalaglawcenter.org/center-publications/renewableenergy/#solarfarm
Find more of Professor Richardson's scholarship on SSRN and his SelectedWorks scholarship profile.