DomR
Well-known member
Agent Orange
Solar Farm project WILL impact Clarion River water quality
- Thread starter Clarion River parking guy
- Start date
TerrellBFly
Active member
At least it isn't an AI data center.... I do hope this solar farm doesn't have much impact.... I hate to say it, but it could ALWAYS be worse.
JG63
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Wait until the data farms start pulling massive kilowatt hours OUT of the grid - we really can’t have it both ways - you can’t be green AND espouse miracles in energy generation while eliminating fossil fuels AND having to serve the huge demand from AI/networks etc. something big is about to happen
There is at least one data center planned to take advantage of the reopening of Three Mile Island. As much as it pains me to see this in my area it
Seems to be a logical placement. Proximity to the Susquehanna is also geographically advantageous.
Seems to be a logical placement. Proximity to the Susquehanna is also geographically advantageous.
DomR
Well-known member
Unfortunately there are more than a few people that think the energy fairy will just wave their magic wand and power everything without needing additional infrastructure in their backyards. Those pesky and unsightly powerplants, solar farms, wind mills, and.........GASP......NUKE PLANTS! Not in my neighborhood they'll howl.
dragfreedrift
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Please show an example of how a govt subsidy allows a solar developer to offer landowners exorbitant offers without strings attached. I can’t make any sense of that comment.
Many solar projects wouldn’t be financially viable without subsidies, where do you get this nonsense from?
This thread started about paranoid concerns of pesticide use on solar fields, which is comical, to this now of past administrations being to blame.
lycoflyfisher
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Google mineral basin solar project. $90million in federal grant to build solar on 2500+ acres in clearfield county to power new york state.
The money offered to landowners puts natural gas lease offers to shame. Those offers would not be the same without the substantial federal funds involved.
The money offered to landowners puts natural gas lease offers to shame. Those offers would not be the same without the substantial federal funds involved.
Have you found a good map of that project? I did a web search and found this map, but the map is so bad that I couldn't figure out the location.
Mineral Basin Solar Project in Girard Township to begin Phase 1 activities
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations has awarded the Mineral Basin Solar Project, led by Mineral Basin Solar Power, LLC, with more than $2 million (of the total
JG63
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All the good seeds for war between the states - how can Utah maintain their own power needs if selling a good portion of it to California? The same might be said if PA does the same with NY - all the years of “going green” should have been called “going camo” for Gates / Bezos etc. I’ll say it again - something big is about to happen
dudemanspecial
Well-known member
Pa has sold power to new york for decades.
JG63
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Not the kind of kilowatt hours needed for AI hubs and such - point being even if the percentages stay mostly the same, neither PA or NY will be able to supply the demand unless we start building yesterday - something the clean and green pulled the rug out from under - again you can’t have it both ways and power plants take much longer to put into operation than a mega data hub
Cougarbaby
Well-known member
Took me a minute to find that location yea anything will go right into East Branch Lake then right into the river ,fingers crossed
6xAdams(Jones)
Well-known member
(You probably meant fusion... Fission has been and continues to be how heat is generated at commercial nuclear power plants.)
dragfreedrift
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Crazy the Trump admin is giving $90 million to a green energy company. I wonder what the companies I build for are getting…
Well if ya hate govt subsidies it seems like cherry picking to hate solar. I could only imagine how ya feel about farmers and US of A car manufacturers. Perhaps we agree the govt shouldn’t be doling out money to any company.
lycoflyfisher
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That funding is from the prior administration and there was very real concern from the developers that they would lose it after the election.
Most ag subsidies benefit corporate entities, not individual farmers. So in this case, one benefit is that the subsidies lilely contributed to the viability of higher lease compensation to individual landowners.
Regardless, I stand by my statements that industrial scale solar would not be financially viable without significant federal govt subsidies.
Same with the data center development explosion in PA, although that likely also ties in foreign investors as we are dealing with the largest corporations in the world and billions of dollars to develop 1000-1500 acre data center campuses.
Most ag subsidies benefit corporate entities, not individual farmers. So in this case, one benefit is that the subsidies lilely contributed to the viability of higher lease compensation to individual landowners.
Regardless, I stand by my statements that industrial scale solar would not be financially viable without significant federal govt subsidies.
Same with the data center development explosion in PA, although that likely also ties in foreign investors as we are dealing with the largest corporations in the world and billions of dollars to develop 1000-1500 acre data center campuses.
tomgamber
Well-known member
Ah, 2 of my favorite meaningless statements people make. " I stand by my statement..." so? And solar isn't viable without subsidies.
Look up how much oil companies make and how much they receive in subsidies. The bigger number will tell you that your statement also applies to oil.
Here is an interesting article that talks about oil companies and their increasing investments in renewable. And why not? If you use every available energy source, you'll always have adequate energy. Do you have your retirement account in only one stock? I don't think so.
Leading oil and gas companies in the renewable energy theme
GlobalData uncovers the top ranked oil and gas companies in the renewable energy theme.
www.offshore-technology.com
![[WR]](/data/avatars/m/46/46991.jpg?1788113944){kind=avatar}
[WR]
Active member
They can do the vegetation maintenance by hiring goat herds or leasing to farmers for grazing. "Agri Voltaics " seems to be a thing. From what I've read, it works well.
Drive west on 192 out of Lewisburg headed towards Halfway Dam. Keep count of the number of solar panels you see. One poultry farm went totally off grid by seeding what used to be a large productive pasture and grain field into a solar array that would turn many off grid preppers and a few small nations green with envy.
Take 204 south from New Berlin to Selinsgrove, and count the number of arrays you see. Not many are rooftop only. Quite a few, such as next to the Selinsgrove Airport, or just north of Kratzerville take up at least 2-5 acres.
Like it or not, people are adopting solar. Yes there is conflict of use induced by poor planning due to corporate and political greed.
Instead of carping about it online, get involved in forcing transparency and better planning. Protest letters and phone calls do help. (I am involved in 4 pro 2A issues right now. In one case we blew up the phones and email servers of several congress critters and we able to get votes in our favor)
Where I currently live, we're having the same issues Pennsylvania is concerning poor fisheries management decisions. 23 of the 29 tribal entities joined us to bring the state to the table to discuss reforms and better management policies. Right now it's a stalemate but we got them to the table, so that's a win.
Sorry I drifted. There's so many aspects to the issue originally posted its sometimes hard not to
Drive west on 192 out of Lewisburg headed towards Halfway Dam. Keep count of the number of solar panels you see. One poultry farm went totally off grid by seeding what used to be a large productive pasture and grain field into a solar array that would turn many off grid preppers and a few small nations green with envy.
Take 204 south from New Berlin to Selinsgrove, and count the number of arrays you see. Not many are rooftop only. Quite a few, such as next to the Selinsgrove Airport, or just north of Kratzerville take up at least 2-5 acres.
Like it or not, people are adopting solar. Yes there is conflict of use induced by poor planning due to corporate and political greed.
Instead of carping about it online, get involved in forcing transparency and better planning. Protest letters and phone calls do help. (I am involved in 4 pro 2A issues right now. In one case we blew up the phones and email servers of several congress critters and we able to get votes in our favor)
Where I currently live, we're having the same issues Pennsylvania is concerning poor fisheries management decisions. 23 of the 29 tribal entities joined us to bring the state to the table to discuss reforms and better management policies. Right now it's a stalemate but we got them to the table, so that's a win.
Sorry I drifted. There's so many aspects to the issue originally posted its sometimes hard not to
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[WR]
Active member
Let's not forget that those data centers pull hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per day for cooling purposes. Downstream water temps will definitely see significant rise
TimMurphy
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Dear [WR},
Locally, several schools and public complexes have smaller scale solar fields. I've seen the goats doing the weed whacking on a few of them.
It might be a difficult task on 1000 acres, but we all need to start thinking about combining capabilities and talents if we want to move forward. At the same time, we need to understand that the results will not be immediate but gradual.
My roots are in the Anthracite region. The mentality still exists in more than a few places that we should simply mine coal like the 1920's and everything will be wonderful. They leave out the parts that the life of the typical miner was nasty, brutish, and short. In addition, they completely ignore the fact that large scale mining will be virtually all mechanized and no one but a handful of operators will be working at the mines.
Everything needs to be re-thought, and we need to have the wherewithal to make a plan and stick with it. That's a herculean task today.
Regards,
Tim Murphy 🙂
[WR]
Active member
Tim,
They also conveniently fail to mention the loss of several towns due to underground mine fires, which also pollute water table amd large aquifers with all kinds of nasty mining associated chemical run off.
Honest, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around those quoted 1000-2000 acre sized collector arrays. The biggest I've seen myself is 175 acres and the employees say it's a nightmare to manage because of the size.
Let's not forget, there's a gigantic collector array in Nevada that's being closed down by DOE after only a few years of operation because the govt says its inefficient, contrary to what the operator and previous DOE post opening studies say. There's currently no remediation planned for the site. And none required by law.
Soooo, what's to happen if the proposed array in McKean County suddenly gets shut down or abandoned?
