Renewable energy - WKTV Journal

Solar array with pollinator-attractive plants. Photo by and permission granted: Fresh Energy

By Joy Landis, Michigan State University Extension

A new executive decision by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer hits a sweet spot by allowing solar arrays on lands in a farmland preservation program if pollinator-friendly guidelines are used. The pollinator protection practices were developed by Michigan State University’s Department of Entomology based on a decade of research on how to establish pollinator habitat, and were central to determining how to allow development of solar energy on farmland while also supporting pollinators.

Michigan’s Farmland and Open Space Preservation Program, administered by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, preserves farmland and open space through agreements that restrict development. Tax incentives within the program encourage participation. Previously, participating landowners were allowed to lease land for wind turbines and oil and gas exploration. However, solar arrays require more space and were perceived to be too disruptive to benefit preservation. The practices laid out in the new guidelines mean the land will better serve the pollinators that need habitat to provide the nectar, pollen, and nesting sites that are essential to their survival.

MSU research has identified which native plants are best for supporting pollinators in various settings, including solar installations. Here, attendees learn about research results with drought-adapted flowering plants. Photo by Jordan Noble, MSU Photography.

“There is a consensus that lack of flowering plants in farm landscapes are limiting wild bee populations, so this program is an opportunity to help support these valuable insects when new solar installations are set up,” says Rufus Isaacs, one of the developers of the scorecard and MSU professor of entomology.

The resulting document, the Michigan Pollinator Habitat Planning Scorecard for Solar Sites, provides a roadmap for developers to evaluate the site and develop a land management plan, and to consider the risk of insecticide exposure, quality of existing habitat for pollinators, and the quality and diversity of wildflowers that will be planted.

A bumblebee explores a native flowering goldenrod. Photo by Thomas Wood, MSU Entomology.

The new policy has the potential to greatly increase the acreage of Michigan land designed for better pollinator habitat. The timing couldn’t be better for that. A study released earlier this year by Isaacs and his colleagues compared current distributions of bumble bee species across the state to historic data collected as far back as the 1880s. The research found that the geographic range in Michigan of half of the bumble bee species studied have declined by more than 50%.

By Terry Gibb, Michigan State University Extension

Two major energy producers in Michigan would accelerate plans to increase their renewable portfolios. This action was in exchange for the dropping of a ballot initiative to increase the state’s renewable energy increase mandate. The 2018 ballot initiative, if adopted by voters in November, would incrementally increase state standards from 18 percent by 2022 to 30 percent by 2030. The current 2016 state law outlines a goal of 15 percent renewable energy generation by 2021.

DTE and Consumers Energy have agreed to work toward a 50 percent clean energy goal by 2030. This will be accomplished through a combination of 25 percent renewable energy and 25 percent in energy efficiency.

This agreement will be included to each company’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) that must be filed with the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) which oversees these companies. An IRP is a long-term plan outlining a utility’s resource needs to meet future energy demand. Currently, 33 states require utilities to file IRPs with their state PSC.

Renewable energy generated from natural processes, such as wind, sunlight and water, will be used to obtain the 25 percent in the agreement. These sources will never be depleted unlike coal, oil or gas which are finite resources. Besides being unlimited, renewable energy sources also are clean sources because they don’t release carbon pollution in the atmosphere when burned to create energy. The primary alternative energy sources typically considered are:

Solar energy, available for many years, uses solar panels to change the sun’s energy into electricity or heat that can be used for energy.
Wind energy, formed by the earth’s rotation, captures air currents and turns it into electricity through wind turbines.
Geothermal energy, while not as common as solar or wind, has significant potential as an energy source. Geothermal (“Geo” means earth and “thermal” means heat) heat energy is generated from the Earth’s constant underground temperature using water reservoirs.
Hydropower is created either by moving water (water current in a river) or water’s change in elevation or fall from one level to another (waterfalls).

While this agreement will decrease pollution in our air and water, there are tradeoffs. It takes significantly more of a renewable energy to generate the same amount of power compared to the non-renewable sources of gas, oil or coal. There are still some environmental impacts from renewable energy and, in some cases, the lifespan of the renewable system can be shorter so requires replacement sooner than convention energy generation sources. Some areas have issued moratoriums on additional renewable sources, such as wind, due to issues of sound, flickering, land use and viewscapes.

For more information about renewable energy sources and how they work, see Renewable energy initiative update – Part 2.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit http://expert.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).