• Basic Information
• Additional Info

Basic Information

• Project No. and Title: NECC2001 : Sustainable Farm Energy Production and Use
• Period Covered: 10/01/2022 to 09/30/2023
• Date of Report: 12/23/2023
• Annual Meeting Dates: 10/23/2023 to 10/24/2023

Participants

A.J. Both, Rutgers Andy Wetherill, Delaware State Univ Bill Myers, Virginia Tech Charles Gould, MSU Extension Chuck Schwartz, Sun Agri Dan Williams, AES David Kay, Cornell University David Specca, Rutgers Deborah Meyer DeWan, Ag Policy Professional Derek Whitelock, USDA-ARS SW Cotton Gin Research Lab Dunbar Birnie, Rutgers Ethan Schoolman, Rutgers Ethan Winter, American Farmland Trust Gabrielle Hayes, Blue Wave Iain Ward, Solar Ag Services Jared Buono, Cornell University Jesse Robertson-DuBois, Blue Wave John Ignosh, Virginia Tech Kevin Sullivan, Rutgers Linda Garrett, American Farmland Trust Mary Ann Ibezisna, Virgina Tech Mary Kering, Virginia State Univ Michael Glos, Cornell University Mingxin Guo, Delaware State Univ Neil Brown, Virginia State Univ Owen Deitcher, Lightstar Renewables LLC Paul Funk, USDA-ARS SW Cotton Gin Research Lab Pete Nitzsche, Rutgers Ross Rucker, Rutgers Sarah Beebout, USDA Ag Research Service Vitalis Temu, Virginia State Univ Zhenshan Chen, Virginia Tech

Accomplishments

Impacts

1. Experiment Station: Connecticut - Rising urbanization, increasing global population, and increasing strain on the food supply chain have increased the threats to our food supply. Now more than ever, we need methods to intensify food production to meet our food needs without further degrading the environment. Urban areas with high population concentrations are heavily dependent on foods that have traveled long distances to meet their needs which represented resources wasted on movement and significant carbon emissions. In the face of the worldwide population increase and urbanization, the Yang lab at the University of Connecticut has developed the GREENBOX technology for massive vegetable production in urban settings. We aim to create a true plant factory (like an assembly line production of food) in close proximity to urban centers by utilizing low-cost warehouse spaces to house standardized, stackable, and individually controlled GREENBOXES at variable scales. A medium to large-scale GREENBOX setup represents a significant reduction in carbon emission associated with food transport and eliminates the need for food transportation and storage. Each GREENBOX consists of a thermally insulated enclosure with an artificial lighting element and an environmental control system, which renders it independent from the requirement of open spaces and exposure to the sun. GREENBOX systems can produce different crops or at different stages for a continual supply. Because the warehouse environment is less affected by external weather variations, the GREENBOX systems use less energy and water than a traditional greenhouse and, therefore, the technology has high potential to be widely applied in fresh food production in urban areas. We have delivered several presentations at professional meetings and seminars for potential supporting agencies and collaborators. Seven refereed journal articles has been published or accepted for publication.
2. Experiment Station: New Jersey - NJ has ambitious renewable energy goals and has a history of promoting photovoltaics. A logical option would be to allow for more solar farming. However, solar farming typically takes the land out of agricultural production. In a small and densely populated state like NJ, that is a less attractive option. Raising the photovoltaic panels on taller posts and reducing their density would allow for a combination of agricultural production and electricity generation with photovoltaic panels. The NJ Agricultural Experiment Station and the state legislature have provided over $3M of funding to the Rutgers Agrivoltaics Program to develop a number of research and demonstration facilities at three university farms across the state. Two of these facilities have been installed (see figures below) and the third will be installed before the end of 2023. A range of field and forage crop trials are planned. Long-term, the impact from our efforts will assist farmers, Extension professionals, solar developers, and regulators with research-based information about agrivoltaics. The dual-use/agrivoltaics program can make a substantial contribution to the NJ Governor Murphy’s stated goal of 100% clean energy by 2035.
3. Experiment Station: Pennsylvania - Presentations, written materials, on-site demonstrations, and responses to inquiries have been provided on farm energy production and use. Extension efforts supported the development of two new biogas digester projects in the state.
4. Experiment Station: Virginia - Virginia Land and Energy Navigator Assists Virginia Localities with Land-use Decisions Goerlich, D., Donovan, P., Herndon, B., and Ignosh, J. Balancing economic development and natural resource conservation is an important issue to localities, the Commonwealth of Virginia, landowners, industry, and others. This challenge presents itself in a variety of ways, with a current example being solar energy project development on agricultural and forested land. Recognizing the importance of this issue the Virginia General Assembly adopted HB894, which charged Virginia Cooperative Extension with leading an effort to develop a map or repository of prime farmland in consultation with relevant and necessary state agencies and other partners. Effective July 1, 2023, HB894 required VCE to submit an initial report on this effort to the Governor and General Assembly by December 1, 2023. Response Virginia Cooperative Extension began the programming process by conducting interviews with local government representatives regarding current gaps in existing resources and desired outcomes. Simultaneously, VCE worked with state and federal, non-profit, and private agency partners to build a workgroup consisting of 25 individuals representing a diversity of backgrounds and interests. A subcommittee was created within the workgroup that consisted primarily of members with specialized GIS expertise. VCE established an MS Teams site to host presentations, resources, meeting agendas, and related materials. Overall, three full workgroup meetings and three subcommittee meetings took place during the timeframe from July 6, 2022 through December 5, 2022. Results The HB894 Section 3 Workgroup completed a comprehensive 51-page report and submitted it to the Governor and General Assembly on December 1 as required. Recognizing the significance of this issue to localities, the Commonwealth of Virginia, landowners, and others, however, the workgroup members endeavored to go above and beyond the initial charge by developing a web-based interactive tool and intuitive user interface as near to December 1 as practical. With a $157,349 grant secured from Dominion Energy to support initial platform development and hosting/maintenance over a five-year period, the team unveiled the Virginia Land and Energy Navigator (VaLEN) https://valen.ext.vt.edu/ . Currently in the pilot testing phase, VaLEN brings together GIS information related to prime farm and forestland, land conservation, brownfields, transmission lines, and other topics via an intuitive, user-friendly interface. The goal of VaLEN is to support and inform decision-making, not prescribe outcomes. Presentations on the HB894 Section 3 Workgroup effort were delivered to a joint House and Senate Ag and Natural Resources subcommittee retreat and the Center for Rural Virginia and Council for Rural Virginia joint board meeting. Response to VaLEN has been overwhelmingly positive with numerous stakeholder compliments regarding both the process and the outcome. VaLEN will be officially launched to the Commonwealth before the end of January 2023. Solar Project Siting: Multicriteria Decision Analysis Workshop Ignosh, J., Havranek, T., and Taylor, T. Twenty-one people participated in the Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) Workshop (16 in person and 5 online) held on October 19, 2022 at Virginia Tech. Forty-eight percent of the workshop evaluations were returned either via a hardcopy or a shortened online follow-up survey instrument. Participants indicated that some of the most beneficial content from the workshop related to: gaining more familiarity with MCDA and its use, understanding new methods for stakeholder analysis, and the range of agrivoltaic planning considerations discussed. Seventy-eight percent of respondents anticipated sharing, or applying, the information learned through this workshop with others. Feedback regarding how participant knowledge of the MCDA methodology and agrivoltaic project development applications increased by 98% and 65%, respectively, and that their awareness of potential MCDA applications specifically in solar project development increased by 144% as a result of their participation in this educational event. All of the hardcopy respondents indicated that they would attend this type of workshop in the future or recommend this workshop to a friend. Additionally, 71% of respondents had identified specific actions they plan to take as a direct result of this workshop, including: developing related educational outreach materials, apply the tool to address some solar project development challenges, share this methodology within their organization for consideration of its use in their project development, incorporation of conjoint methods for preference solicitation and weighting, and share the spreadsheet with student project teams for its use in project applications.

Publications