In Japan, the movement to mix sustainable agriculture and energy production through agricultural solar energy appears to be actively underway.
Patagonia Provisions, well-known for its fashion and outdoor clothing, announced on the thirteenth that it had launched organic soybean paste using agricultural solar energy generation.
The reason is that it’s created from soybeans grown through organic farming under a solar energy plant.
Patagonia emphasized, “We cultivated it in a way that’s as near nature as possible.”
As well as, Japan's Sunfarm announced on the fifteenth that it would concurrently perform power generation and agriculture through agricultural solar energy generation at its farm situated in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture.
We began making and selling vinegar using blueberries produced on the farm. Sunfarm said, “We are going to increase profit margins through the sixth industrialization of agriculture and proceed research on how various crops can grow well under solar panels.”
Japanese IT company iMobile began operating a recent agricultural solar energy plant in Tochigi Prefecture on the eighth, and Nanto City also formed a consortium and commenced construction of an agricultural solar energy plant on the fifth.
Data released by the Japanese government also confirms the increasing trend of agricultural solar energy.
In keeping with data released by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries at the tip of 2022, the number of latest and relicensed agricultural power plants has increased rapidly, exceeding 800 and 600, respectively, as of 2021. It began with about 100 cases in 2013 and has increased about 14 times in 8 years.
This shows that agricultural solar energy generation in Japan is expanding beyond a way of energy production to a broader interest in sustainable agriculture and society.
Experts said that these efforts are leading green innovation in Japan while emphasizing the importance of environmental protection, sustainable agricultural practices, and use of renewable energy.
Reporter Lee Yu-seon energy@aiitmes.com
