*The Effects of Green Energy Production on Farmland: A Case Study in Yunlin County, Taiwan DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85906*

environmental, agricultural, landscape, perspectives of cultural heritage, habitat, human settlement, etc. [13–15]. Solar farms are often a more efficient use for land encountering difficulty retaining its original use due to contamination, subsidence, or other deteriorating factors. In the third case, solar farms can be utilized as a tool to aid socioeconomic hardship on the part of landowners by offering a source of extra and potentially higher income, such as for financially disadvantaged or aging landowner communities.

Rooftop solar panels are allowed on agricultural land in Taiwan, but solar farms with panels set directly into the ground are restricted except in cases where the land has already been permanently contaminated and is not fit for further agricultural use. Rooftop panels are encouraged for most buildings, with the exception of greenhouses (who have a 40% maximum limit) and screenhouses, as they have minimal impact on ground-level land use and contribute to the self-sustainability of agricultural production. Ground-level solar farm use is generally not allowed for the protection of agricultural resources except when strict conditions are met, conditions that themselves correspond to the above three criteria (cf. **Table 1**). Under criterion 1, agricultural land of the highest grade (i.e., "special agricultural districts") without actual farming activity is restricted from building solar farms [17]. Under criterion 2, agricultural land with farming activity can build solar farms within designated areas up to a 40% land use maximum. In practice, however, this type of solar farm is not encouraged as local governments fail to designate the appropriate areas. Under criterion 3, contaminated agricultural land is applicable for building solar farms


#### **Table 1.**

*Compilation of designation of solar farm locations and associated issues.*

*Land Use Change and Sustainability*

hours of sunlight [9] (**Figure 2**).

production on a longer term.

2018) for 1000 m2

into three major categories:

ibility reasons.

replacement for original use.

good choice (cf. **Table 1**).

for 1000 m<sup>2</sup>

leasehold (of at least 20 years) with an energy company.

offered from solar panels is apparently alluring.

**3. Designating locations for solar panel installations**

of particular types of state-owned land (salt industry land, reservoir, detention basin, landfill, etc.) and 20% of devotion of farmland to the installation of solar panels. The authors, nevertheless, highlighted the possible conflicts between energy production and environmental protection and food security, to mention a few of them. For example, high-quality farmland that enjoys a full exposure to sunlight also tends to be well suited for solar panel installation. In this context, the counties of Changhua (彰化), Tainan (台南), Yunlin (雲林), and Chiayi (嘉義) have been promoted as priority counties for the installation of solar panels to exploit longer

Besides, the lack of experience and concern over environmental issues caused by the installation of solar panels will certainly lead to impacts on the farmland market, both in terms of sales price and transaction volume. The only study so far that attempted to measure the price effect of solar panels on nearby farmland was conducted by [10]. In this case study of Tainan City, no uniform price effect has been found. The farmland price might either rise or fall with the distance from the solar panels depending on the regions they are located in. However, [10] concluded with a warning saying that the rising farmland value might harm the farming

The link between energy consumption and location of solar panels on farmland is already recognized: the more the reliance on renewable energy, the more it will lead to a competition among alternative land uses. However, the discussions in Taiwan so far overly simplify the provision of farmland into sites of solar panels. Their conclusions are strongly based on the rosy assumption that a certain percentage, for example, 50%, of private land owners will soon agree to enter a long-term

In the leasing of farmland for installation of solar panels, the annual rent paid by the solar power company to land owners as advertised, for example, by MOTECH [11], is 40,000 New Taiwan dollars (approximately 1300 USD as of December

of farmland [12]. That is to say, the revenue of leasing land to allow

the dominant use of land from farming to solar panels? The *Council of Agriculture* reports an average rent for farmland per square meter in the Tuku Township of Yunlin—famous for its garlic farming—to be 9.14 NTD, equivalent to 9140 NTD

for photovoltaic installations earns 4.4 times the market rent for farming. The rent

Governmental criteria for designating land for solar farm use can be classified

1.Land characteristics suggest excluding solar farm designation due to incompat-

2.Land characteristics suggest incorporation of solar farms in addition to or as a

3.The landowner's socioeconomic status suggests incorporating solar farms is a

When it comes to the first case of incompatibility, a wide variety of concerns must be considered to avoid intrusion upon or damage to land resources:

that will last for 20 years. Is the rent attractive enough to move

**50**

#### *Land Use Change and Sustainability*

(who have a 70% maximum limit) only when landowners have been devoted to decontamination, but the land has failed to recover. This condition does not apply, however, to potential future contaminated land for a variety of reasons, including to avoid cases of intentional contamination [21]. Furthermore, subsided or salted land that loses agricultural capacity can be considered for the building of solar farms [18].
