Kanmai before and after solar, 2009 to 2020. The garland-like dark line is the bund of the kanmai. It retains the monsoon water which backs up and spreads out over the lands now covered with solar panels. Source: Google Earth.
Wasted Sunshine
In the semi-arid karisal (black clay) lands of Kamuthi in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu, Adani Green Energy operates a 648-megawatt solar photovoltaic project. Ironically, Adani’s sister company in Australia is pushing to operate the world’s largest coal mine in the face of stiff opposition from environmental NGOs and local aboriginal people. In Kamuthi, Adani’s project with 2.5 million solar modules is spread over around 3,000 acres—the size of 1,500 soccer fields.
Ramanathapuram is famed for its centuries-old kanmais (irrigation tanks) that trap water and extend the farming period in this dry, but fertile land. The meikal poromboke (grazing commons), tank beds, and even private farm lands support a thriving livestock economy, specializing in hardy native sheep and goat breeds. According to Seeman Thangaraj, a breeder of native bulls and goats from the nearby city of Madurai, “Farmers allow, even pay for, goats to graze on private lands because they fertilize the fields with their droppings. The fallow lands and the kanmai edges have enough fodder.”
Kanmai before and after solar, 2009 to 2020. Source: Google Earth.
The photovoltaic power station encloses three kanmais and deprives locals of more than 3,000 acres of grazing land. The solar panels are arrayed covering the entire catchment of the kanmais. Global green energy cheerleaders claim that solar power stations like the one in Kamuthi are generators of clean, sustainable energy. But this claim assumes that the land is dead. It hides the energy cycles that are disrupted when 2.5 million panels intercept the sun’s rays, preventing them from striking the ground. Solar energy harvested by vegetation satisfies the fuel, fodder, and livelihood needs of local communities and other life-forms. Managed well, these services can continue indefinitely to support the modest lifestyles of local communities. In contrast, Adani’s project—owned by one of the wealthiest billionaires in India—has a lifespan of about twenty-five years. It hurts local communities, robs non-human life of their refugia, and enriches a prosperous corporation. - Extracted from Nityanand Jayaraman The Perils of Climate Activism https://www.e-flux.com/architecture/survivance/410014/the-perils-of-climate-activism/