Barron-Gafford, G., et. al. (2019).

Agrivoltaics provide mutual benefits across the

food-energy-water nexus in drylands. Nature Sustainability, (2), 848-855.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0364-5

Growing climate change concerns have led researchers from the University of Arizona,

Tucson, the University of Maryland, and more to partner together in minimizing water

usage and the impact of farming on the environment. Solar energy is a sustainable source

of energy, but it takes a lot of land to support the photovoltaic (PV) panels. Gafford et. al

found in several controlled experiments that placing PV panels directly above growing

fields created shade, which reduced evaporation of water from the crops, impacted

overall air temperature, increased CO2 absorption, and doubled fruit growth. This article

is intended for audiences with a higher education background in biological data collection

and interpretation. For a similar article on biotechnology, or ecotechnology, a study on

wetland habitats in the Mississippi by Dayton et. al investigates infrastructure changes to

prevent river run-off from destroying wetland habitats. (C.H.T)