Some scientists and engineers believe that covering California’s irrigation canals saves it from drought and that they could meet the state’s renewable energy commitment.
Vocabulary
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erect |
/əˈrek(t)/ v. construct; put up: Ex: “California erects solar panels…”
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vegetative |
/ˈvejəˌtādiv/ adj. relating to
vegetation or plant life: Ex: “reduce vegetative growth”
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drought |
/drout/ n. a long period of low
rainfall, leading to water shortage: Ex: Irrigation canals are saved from drought.
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panels
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/ˈpan(ə)l/ n. a flat or curved
component, typically rectangular, that forms or is set into the surface: Ex: The panels could prevent 65 billion
gallons of freshwater loss.
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arrays |
/əˈrā/ n. an ordered series or
arrangement; Ex: Several arrays of solar panels will help
provide power. |
Comprehension
Questions
What do some scientists and engineers believe?
What is Project Nexus?
What can solar panels prevent?
What state has proven that the project works?
What will covering the thousands of miles of
California canals generate with the solar panels?
Article
Some scientists and
engineers believe that covering California’s irrigation canals saves it from
drought and that they could meet the state’s renewable energy commitment.
Project nexus, a concept
and pilot project in Turlock Irrigation District, will cover a mile-long
stretch of canal in five megawatts worth of solar panels. It will hopefully
increase renewable power generation, water improvements, reduced vegetative
growth in the canals, and reduced water evaporation. The panels could prevent 65
billion gallons of freshwater loss through evaporation.
This concept, as reported
in 2021 by GNN, has already proven to work in the Indian state of Guajarat,
where the cooler temperature of the moisture beneath the panels cooled them
down, resulting in a small but significant increase in power generation.
Roger Bales, part of the
UC Merced paper, argued recently in the Smithsonian Magazine that covering the thousands of
miles of California canals with panels would generate 13 gigawatts of renewable
energy capacity: half of what the state would need to entirely decarbonize by
its self-imposed 2045 deadline.
“California grows food
for an ever-increasing global population and produces more than 50 percent
of the fruits, nuts, and vegetables that U.S. consumers eat,” writes Bales.
“Building these [canal] solar arrays could prevent more than 80,000 acres of
farmland or natural habitat from being converted for solar farms.”
Making sense on all
levels, Project Nexus is tremendously exciting, and Bales explains that other
similar projects are in the making.
Source: https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/california-erects-solar-panels-over-canals-to-save-huge-supply-of-water-from-evaporation/