Too Many Message Boards

An interesting discussion is taking place in South Taranaki regarding the development of utility scale solar generation facilities. Basing their arguments on the historical remuneration agreements for oil developments that were shortsighted and biased towards the fossil fuel companies seems to be an inappropriate model to base solar developments on.

I can sympathise with the claims that bushland and wetlands will be affected by these projects but the loss of dairying income has to be put alongside the potential income stream and downstream development opportunities that a significant electricity source presents.

A background factor that isn't mentioned in this report is that the relatively uniformity of topography of South Taranaki's volcanic ring plain lends itself well to development of such projects and whereas dairying capitalises on the fertility of the volcanic soils these projects do so with the benign topography, and without the often criticised environmental impacts of intensive dairy farming. Obviously the STDC members will have strong connections within the dairy industry so this will influence their opinions on any competing activities on their patch.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/climate-change/3...re-profits

If done right, it has huge potential.
You can still farm stock around the solar panels if enough spacing is provided, they also give the animals shade, one downside would be the inability to make hay from the area i guess, but its a win win if you can still use the land for farming.
NZ doesnt have as much wasteland as some countries, but see what China is doing in their desert, they are building huge solar farms there which I believe are already the worlds biggest, was just watching a video about this yesterday. Its quite impressive what China is able to do.
Australia would lend very well to solar in their outback and they have quite an energy crisis on their hands, very reliant on coal. There is some talk about them going Nuclear as they have one of the worlds largest uranium reserves and they export it all over the globe.

(01-02-2024, 09:43 AM)nzoomed Wrote: [ -> ]If done right, it has huge potential.
You can still farm stock around the solar panels if enough spacing is provided, they also give the animals shade, one downside would be the inability to make hay from the area i guess, but its a win win if you can still use the land for farming.
NZ doesnt have as much wasteland as some countries, but see what China is doing in their desert, they are building huge solar farms there which I believe are already the worlds biggest, was just watching a video about this yesterday. Its quite impressive what China is able to do.
Australia would lend very well to solar in their outback and they have quite an energy crisis on their hands, very reliant on coal. There is some talk about them going Nuclear as they have one of the worlds largest uranium reserves and they export it all over the globe.

Defnitely an interesting idea, & you're right about Oz, they really should be doing likewise. Every country which can, should.