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Arlo Churchill

Peter Bradley

Humanities 2023-2024

4/29/24

Project Fortress Solar Farm

Arlo Churchill

A solar plant with the ability to produce 373 MW at maximum capacity and with battery

storage of 700 MWH, this plant will be able to power over 100,000 homes at any given moment

with nearly 100% green energy, the only thing stopping this from becoming a reality is the

NIMBYists. Solar energy, first used in 1883 has become a key part of moving towards a green

energy solution. By capturing energy in one of the many PV cells it can create an electrical field,

forcing electricity to flow. The project in question is one of the largest solar projects being built,

the Project Fortress Solar Plant. The Project Fortress solar farm has very minimal environmental

damage, and positive economic impacts but due to the NIMBY mentality this project is being

fought, this is causing this and many other green energy projects to be canceled.

Despite energy projects normally being placed in low-income areas solar is different, it

needs to be placed in areas with high sunlight. Income is not normally a primary decision-maker

on projects like this. Located in Kent, UK, specifically on the Graveney marshes between

Faversham and Whitstable. By no means is this project located in an impoverished area, but in

fact, it is quite the contrary. The average income in Faversham is well over £70,000 a year, and

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with over 95% of the population being white, the motive to place the solar farm here is not racial

or financial reasons. The land it is situated on does not have any historical connections to the

people. Solar energy has no bi-product, e.g. sound and fumes. But still, this project is being

constantly fought. According to NS Energy, this project would bring green energy to over

100,000 homes and bring jobs to the area. It seems like the pros massively outweigh the cons of

this project.

The reason the project is being fought is because of the NIMBYism(not in my backyard)

mentality that surrounds this project and many other green energy projects. Britannica states that

“NIMBY, a colloquialism signifying one’s opposition to the locating of something considered

undesirable in one’s neighborhood.” By all means, many of these people want to switch away

from dirty coal energy towards a green future. Still, when confronted by the reality that they will

need to host a solar farm they believe that they are wrongfully treated and want to go back to

energy-making where they don’t see it being produced. Green energy cannot be placed

anywhere, solar needs to be in areas that have high sunlight, and wind needs to be placed in

consistently windy areas, like ridge lines. The issue with this is these areas are normally

desirable areas to either live or look around. People with power are far more likely to fight the

new wind turbine that has been placed on their local mountain ridgeline or the solar farm that has

been built near their suburb that they brag is always sunny; than the coal-fired plant 30 miles

away. This is because of the NIMBY mentality, even though the solar or wind farm does a

miniature fraction of the environmental damage compared to the coal plant, the coal plant will be

far less retaliated because it is out of sight and therefore not a concern to these people.

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 Solar energy can have a very low impact on the environment and is one of the only

energy-generating methods that allows people to generate electricity easily in their own homes. It

also can be placed on high energy consumption buildings like schools to lower emissions to

make them carbon neutral or even negative. This is visible even in Durango, Animas Highschool

there are solar panels that can produce 149 KW in peak conditions, this is enough energy to

power nearly five American households. According to the Durango Herald, the 9R school district

has just established a partnership with Veregy LLC to provide solar panels to six schools in the

district. This project aims to eliminate 1,836 metric tons of carbon emissions annually. These

local projects give more and more hope in moving towards a green future, every KWH that is not

produced in a green way is on average another one pound of carbon emissions in our

atmosphere. According to the UN at the moment only 29% of the world's energy comes from

renewable sources and of that, only 4.5% comes from solar energy. Considering that scientists

reckon that “to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, emissions need to be reduced by

almost half by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.” This shows that our efforts are still not enough,

money and mindset our currently killing us and our planet, and if we don’t stop the effects may

be irreversible.

Our mentality and what seems like humans' inability to look ahead in time is what causes

climate change and it even affects solar. Solar may seem like a perfect solution, it can be placed

anywhere that receives sun, and it can produce as little as 100W to the Bhadla solar park which

can output 2,245 MW. But there is one issue with it, after 25-50 years the panels expire and will

no longer function. This isn’t an issue with small-scale projects since they can be recycled for

around $15-20 but once these large solar farm panels need to be replaced the system will not be
able to handle that large amount of waste. Project Fortress will need to dispose of around

800,000 panels and the Bhadla Solar Park will need to dispose of around 10 million panels. More

than 90% of a solar panel is recyclable but there isn’t much instruction set up to recycle these

panels. Far from enough to handle the millions of panels that will need to be recycled, this means

many will end up in landfills then the toxic lead and cadmium will seep into the soil. Project

Fortress and many others currently have not stated a plan to deal with the panels once they

expire. This is an issue in not just solar but most industries. It is far easier to ignore our problems

than to deal with them, it's far easier to let the next generation deal with our problems than deal

with them and it's far easier to never fix our problems. This is why burning fossil fuels is still the

leading method of producing energy, and why the white hill uranium mill still exists. In truth,

many of the world's problems will not affect this current generation, but they will kill the next.

One should not think about the now but should think about the future. Our current mentality is

already creating very noticeable problems that are damaging us if we continue like this the

problems will only become worse. People must realize that they need to sacrifice that unused

piece of land for a solar field, or that windy ridgeline for a wind turbine. Or lose that car that gets

10 mpg for a more sustainable alternative. Our problems will not fix themselves, work, money,

and sacrifice are needed. The only free option is to destroy our planet and kill all future

generations.

This is the principle of commensurate burden and benefit. One must be ready to sacrifice

and take the burden to reap the benefits. Without burden, there will be no benefits to reap.

Attitude must change, and sacrifice must be made. At the current rate global temperatures will

rise 1.6 C in the next 10 years, and around 20-50 years after that our damage will become
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irreversible. The NIMBY attitude is blocking beneficial action from taking place and our lack of

thinking forward will and has caused far more damage than is needed. Change is needed

immediately before change isn’t possible.

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Work Cited

“Bhadla Solar Park, Jodhpur District, Rajasthan, India.” NS Energy,

www.nsenergybusiness.com/projects/bhadla-solar-park-rajasthan/. Accessed 18 Apr.

2024.

EPA, Environmental Protection Agency,

www.epa.gov/hw/end-life-solar-panels-regulations-and-management#:~:text=Basics%20

Web%20Page%20.-,Are%20Solar%20Panels%20Hazardous%20Waste%3F,the%20envir

onment%20at%20high%20levels. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

“U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis.”

Electricity in the U.S. - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA),

www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/electricity-in-the-us.php#:~:text=Fossil%20fuel

s%20are%20the%20largest%20sources%20of%20energy%20for%20electricity%20gener

ation. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

“What Is Renewable Energy?” United Nations, United Nations,

www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-renewable-energy. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

Brown, Tyler. “Durango School District Moves toward Solar Energy.” Durango Herald, 14 Feb.

2024,

www.durangoherald.com/articles/durango-school-district-moves-toward-solar-energy/.

“Nimby.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.,

www.britannica.com/topic/NIMBY. Accessed 29 Apr. 2024.

“Project Fortress, Kent, UK.” NS Energy,

www.nsenergybusiness.com/projects/project-fortress/#. Accessed 8 Apr. 2024.

National Grid “throttling” Battery Storage Development with Underuse,

www.ft.com/content/6485d918-5882-448e-b277-5b5674869281. Accessed 8 Apr. 2024.

Henning, Ottilie Von. “Rural Constituencies Lead UK Residential Solar Adoption.” Solar Power

Portal, 8 Apr. 2024,

www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/rural-constituencies-residential-uk-solar/.