Ramping Up Renewable Energy Generation Requires Rethinking Land Use
The rapid expansion of solar power across the United States is creating a land-use challenge with no simple answer. Solar requires far more land per unit of output than fossil fuel plants, making the question of where to site new capacity harder to avoid. That tension is showing up at scale as renewable buildout accelerates across the country. A coal plant can power a city from tens of acres; a solar farm generating equivalent output may need hundreds. Solar is the electricity source growing fastest in the U.S., adding close to 397 gigawatts to the pipeline as of 2025, with…