Combining Clean Energy Generation and Regenerative Agriculture to Drive Social and Economic Outcomes
In this feature article in Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits, learn how Silicon Ranch’s Regenerative Energy® is combining clean energy generation and regenerative agriculture to drive social and economic outcomes.
In 2018, Silicon Ranch introduced Regenerative Energy®, a holistic approach to solar design, construction, and land management that normalizes regenerative agriculture practices on solar farms. It co-locates regenerative agriculture and energy generation in a way that builds on the significant benefits of solar energy, delivering additional social and economic growth and helping improve quality of life for people residing in communities where solar development is occurring.
Two years later, Silicon Ranch has released both a standard to provide consistency and guidance for other solar energy companies wishing to enable similarly enhanced benefits from a solar energy project, and a methodology that monitors, measures, and reports on these benefits. The company is also delivering Regenerative Energy® on thousands of acres across multiple projects in several states, increasing soil organic matter and improving soil health, water quality, and biodiversity, and helping meet the need for climate action and decentralized and resilient energy and food systems.
Meaningful community engagement is a central element of the Regenerative Energy® platform and is crucial to ensuring that each project is conceived and delivered in a way that maximizes value to the community. When Silicon Ranch sites a power plant, it becomes an active member of the local community and engages its fellow community members through workshops, focus groups, surveys, and one-on-one interviews.
Regenerative Energy® is energy for social and economic growth and environmental restoration. It makes solar do more.