Grazing and Green Energy: Navigating Risk in Shared Landscapes
Livestock producers understand the competition for land and resources is intensifying, particularly in support of a decarbonising world. Renewable energy generation is a key part to Australia’s clean energy transition, and it is becoming a more common feature in the landscape. Members have recently raised concerns about the potential longer-term impacts of land and food chain contamination from renewable energy generation.
As part of the recent upgrade to the LPA accreditation and reaccreditation process, Integrity Systems Company (ISC) included solar panels and wind turbines as examples of potential equipment on farm that should be considered in a producer’s property risk assessment.
The updated LPA guidance is a prompt for producers to consider renewable energy generation infrastructure more critically and to ensure our industry’s risk identification and management remains current.
There is no prohibition or restriction on having infrastructure such as transmission lines, solar panels or wind turbines on a property. ISC developed similar guidelines for gas wells several years ago as more properties entered into agreements for drilling.
However, while it is safe for livestock to graze in a paddock which contains this infrastructure, producers need to be aware of the potential risk of contamination as equipment degrades or reaches end-of-life (EOL).
Financial, environmental and social licence risks need to be considered in any EOL management plan. While the Australian Government is currently considering better ways to address EOL management issues through regulation and recycling programs, gaps remain.
The decommissioning of solar and wind facilities presents considerable EOL challenges. Solar panels typically have a lifespan of 25-30 years, while wind turbines last about 20-25 years. At EOL, these systems generate substantial waste, including non-biodegradable materials like glass, polymers, and composite resins. Cumulative impacts on surrounding land are also not well understood.
Solar panels primarily comprise silicon, glass, and metal components. Although silicon and metals are recyclable, the process is energy-intensive and costly. Hazardous materials, such as cadmium and lead in some panels, pose environmental risks if not handled correctly. Recycling rates for solar panels remain low due to the lack of economically viable recycling processes and established infrastructure.
Wind turbine blades present significant disposal challenges being made of reinforced composites that are difficult to recycle. Most blades currently go to landfill.
Decommissioning of infrastructure is a fundamental stage of any renewable energy project. The renewable energy developer is generally bound to decommission the infrastructure and restore the land back to its original condition or into a state that is appropriate for a future land use. It is therefore critical that robust financial assurance mechanisms are in place to account for future risks.
Our industry has some experience dealing with contaminants accumulating in the environment that were not well understood. In the early 1960s the Australian Government established the National Residue Survey (NRS) following concerns about pesticide residues in exported meat. NRS activities have expanded considerably since then and have been industry funded since 1992. The risks associated with degrading or EOL renewable energy infrastructure is known and must be owned by the renewable energy industry.
By Travis Tobin