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Ohio solar project holds progress for farming research

By Andy Balaskovitz

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SOLAR: A large Ohio solar project will become one of North America’s largest test grounds for agrivoltaics as researchers study how and crops and solar panels can coexist and shape best practices for the industry. (Energy News Network)

ALSO:

  • Local officials in South Dakota discuss how to allocate more than $62 million in federal ​“Solar for All” funding for residential and community solar projects. (KOTA)
  • Some Detroit City Council members say legal and regulatory questions remain over the city’s plan to develop solar projects on vacant land in neighborhoods. (Axios)
  • A Minnesota farmer installs a solar project to reduce electricity costs and make the farm more self-sufficient. (KAXE)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Nearly three years after Michigan officials announced plans for an electric vehicle charging network around Lake Michigan, access to chargers remains spotty, making long road trips challenging. (Bridge)

NUCLEAR:

PIPELINES: Greenpeace attorneys ask a North Dakota judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Dakota Access pipeline developer over the group’s organized opposition to the project. (North Dakota Monitor)

COAL: To resolve decades of air pollution violations around St. Louis, Ameren and federal officials are eyeing an agreement for the utility to buy electric buses and high-grade air filters for the region, though the two sides don’t agree on how many. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, subscription) 

WIND: The reopening of a large wind turbine manufacturing plant in Iowa is among several large U.S. projects being supported by the federal Inflation Reduction Act. (New Republic)

BIOFUELS: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoes a state budget item that would have provided $3 million in rebates to gasoline retailers who sell E15 blends of ethanol. (Progressive Farmer)

COMMENTARY:

  • Allowing Enbridge to reroute and continue the operation of Line 5 through northern Wisconsin would be reckless, based on the company’s previous track record, says the head of a Wisconsin climate group. (Wisconsin Examiner)
  • Annual fixed payments that renewable energy developers make to Ohio communities are more valuable than property taxes because they don’t depreciate over time and don’t restrict school funding under a state formula, an Ohio solar advocate writes. (Ohio Capital Journal)
  • The head of an Iowa conservation group says state regulators’ approval of a carbon pipeline is a ​“failure of common sense.” (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

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