NEW YORK(WENY)-- Throughout New York state solar arrays have been popping up in droves as New York aims to reach its drastic climate protection goals and farm land has been disappearing. 

The Climate Leadership and Protection Act was implemented in 2019 under previous Governor Andrew Cuomo. The act has some of the most difficult goals ever proposed by any state; such as eliminating 100% of the climate pollution caused by humans and an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. These goals are to be implemented by the Climate Action Plan, and are created by a Climate Action Council. 

Now the reduction of 85% of New York’s greenhouse gas emissions will rely heavily on one thing, the installation of solar arrays. That’s because the electric power sector is among the largest contributors of greenhouse gasses in the US; according to the Environmental Protection Association, it represents 28% of all emissions. 

Philip Palmesano, Assembly member of the 132nd district said he understands that value that comes with the installation of solar arrays but he believes it comes with a cost. 

“The concern we have is the amount of land it takes for this to get to 100% renewable for our power generation, it is going to take up millions and millions of acres of land,” said Palmesano.

The average solar array takes up 32 acres of land (a football field is 1.32 acres end to end)  and has the ability to bring electricity to 1,000 homes but according to a study led by Max Zhang, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineer at Cornell University, a large majority of these arrays are being installed on rich agricultural land. 

“One of the major findings is that forty percent, over forty percent of existing solar farms in the state of New York is developed on agricultural land,” said Zhang. “Over eighty percent of the land for future utility scale land in the state is agricultural land, you know that will have a lot of implications.” 

The industry standard lifespan of a solar panel is 25 to 30 years and while solar farms can be very profitable for farmers,  Zhang worries about the future of the agricultural industry in New York. 

“While we have developing energy, it is very critical to consider their environmental, ecological and agricultural impact,” said Zhang. “A lot of the service industry, you know, that produce tractors, they may have to leave because there is not enough activity to support their business.” 

 In New York State, agriculture is almost a four billion dollar industry and in many cases the state is one of the leading producers of a wide variety of products–products like cabbage, cheese curds and apples. The state also has a large number of individuals that suffer from food insecurity, a humanitarian issue that 1 in 10 New York Households struggle with everyday. 

But, according to Zhang’s study there is a way to both reach New York’s climate goals while keeping the impact on agricultural land low. 

“Part of it is to incentivise the installment on low incentive agricultural land,” said Zhang. “We have to find this nice balance, you know, between ecological impact and renewable energy.” 

As of right now, Zhang said solar arrays are being installed without the consideration of agricultural land. He did say there's good reason for  agricultural land to be used for these arrays; the land normally has access roads, it is close to power sources and its well maintained. 

With New York being one of the first states to embark on a project of this scale, Zhang said the whole world will be watching. 

“There's a tremendous opportunity to do this right and we are essentially setting an example for the rest of the country.” 

Zhang has been awarded a two and a half year grant worth $200,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority with the hope of determining where solar arrays can be installed to avoid land use conflicts.