The annual Environmental Initiative Awards were recently announced, with the Energy and Climate award going to the Food Group’s Solar Farmland Access – Emerging Farmers project, which seeks to increase land access for emerging, BIPOC, and immigrant farmers by utilizing spaces under and around solar farms. GPI partnered with the Food Group’s incubator program, Big River Farms (BRF), along with member-owned cooperative Connexus Energy and US Solar on the pilot project in Minnesota that enables access to farmland for emerging farmers within a solar production site. As shared in the Connexus press release on the launch, the project set out “to solve for how solar energy development can be increased while also preserving agricultural land for the people who grow the state and nation’s food.”
The Mortenson Family Foundation funded the pilot project, along with support from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory.
The following statement can be attributed to Brian Ross, vice president of Renewable Energy at GPI:
“GPI is proud to be part of this innovative solar project that can serve as a model for increasing clean energy production while delivering multiple benefits for communities, including in agricultural communities. We applaud our project partners for the collective work to receive this award to expand access to farmland in Minnesota. We’re excited to continue our efforts to build on this successful project by helping other communities identify how to develop projects that deliver broad economic and environmental benefits.”
The Environmental Initiative Energy & Climate Award “recognizes a partnership working across differences to reduce greenhouse gas or carbon emissions, cut energy consumption, enhance climate resiliency, advance energy efficiency, address the changing climate, or improve air quality.” A ceremony will be held on June 5 in Minneapolis to celebrate the award winners.
Learn more about our work to increase solar energy deployment by visiting our Renewable Energy program page. Stay up-to-date with the latest from GPI by signing up for our monthly newsletter.
