Lewis, M. (2024, January 23). Here’s how utility-scale solar farms may just help save the bees. Electrek. https://electrek.co/2024/01/23/utility-scale-solar-farms-bees/

Researchers at the US Department of Energy conducted research around solar farms that incorporated native plants and wildflowers and studied the effect on bees. Bees are really important to the ecosystem and are facing a lot of threats in the US in recent years from pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change itself. Bees pollinate plants and play an important role in biodiversity and keeping soil fertile as well. Over the course of 5 years, the researchers studied the number of bees around solar farms and learned that solar farms that used native plants and wildflowers around the panels saw an increase of 20x the number of bees. This contributed to plant diversity and overall helped make farmland locally more healthy.

This was an interesting article and focused on the idea that integrating new technologies with natural resources and habitats can allow the ecosystem to thrive and recover, and at the same time generate electricity for people without hurting the environment. Bees are especially important, and not just because they make honey. This research was a confirmation that it isn’t just about building large solar panels to shift to sustainable energy sources, it needs to be done in a way that maximizes its positive impact on the environment.