The types of renewable energy most used are solar panels, wind turbines and methane digesters, in that order. 7,968 farms were found to be using solar (PV and thermal), 1,430 were using wind and 121 farms were using methane digesters.
California was the state where renewable energy is most prevalent amongst farmers, with an adoption rate of 25%. The Golden State was followed by Texas, Hawaii. In all these states more than 500 farming operations were generating their own electricity.
The census did not take into account farms that simply lease their land to utilities that supply the general grid, in which case the numbers would be a lot higher as this is quite common in the Midwest.
The switch to renewable energy is paying. In New York State some farmers said they had saved more than $5,000 in 2009 by generating their own electricity.
Via Clean Technica and USDA.
California is leading this trend thanks to its weather, of course, but also for its successfull government rebates and incentives. Each governments should offer important rebates in order to increase the importance of solar energy use. Farmers need a large amount of electricity, but they are not the only ones. Renewable energy is on its way to be more popular, instead of nuclear because of the dramatic Japan’s issues.