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Food is a necessity. Food is a delicacy.

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Food brings people together but the

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production of food requires utilization

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of inefficient sources of energy. How can

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we get our favorite foods a spot on our

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plate in an efficient and renewable way?

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The answer is solar energy. Solar

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electric systems can be used to charge

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batteries, pump water, and power farm

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operations.

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Additionally solar thermal energy can be

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used to dry crops, heat water, heat

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livestock buildings and even assist in

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growing crops. Solar energy use in

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agriculture can drastically reduce the

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amount of carbon that is released into

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the atmosphere and can even benefit

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farmers economically. Solar energy

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systems are different than other forms

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of farming. Because of its low

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maintenance costs the energy produced

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through solar panels is essentially free

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once the initial cost of the system is

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compensated. Another example of solar

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implementation is dual use farming. With

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this method crops grow below canopies of

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solar panels. In certain cases vegetables

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grown with this method can grow even

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better than crops that are planted in

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full sun. Certain crops including

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tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers have

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grown successfully under solar panels

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and actually needed less water for

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survival through this method. A

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significant example of solar energy and

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commercial food production is the

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formation of Frito Lays Sun Chips.

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In 2008 Frito-Lay and California Energy

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Commission initiated a 54,000 square

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foot group of solar concentrator mirrors

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to absorb sunlight. The energy that is

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captured through the mirrors generates

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steam which helps heat the oil used to

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manufacture the chips. Through this

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process Frito-Lay prevents the emission

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of 1.7 million pounds of co2 every year

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which immensely reduces the consumption

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of electrical energy. Another example of

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solar energy within food production is

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the story of Sun

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drop farms. Sundrop Farms is located in

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the South Australian desert and uses

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solar energy to provide tomatoes for the

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entire nation as well as many others. The

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farm has 24,000 solar mirrors which beam

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the sun's rays to the tip of the farm

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solar tower. Once the rays hit the tower

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the thermal energy works to power nearby

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glass houses where the tomatoes are

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grown. The energy is then used to heat

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seawater which generates electricity

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from the resulting steam. This

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electricity powers a massive

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desalination plant which turns seawater

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into fresh water to water the tomatoes

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The glass houses are climate controlled

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which keeps the fruit at a perfect

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temperature and allows the farm to

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produce nearly 25,000 tons of tomatoes

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each year. One disadvantage of solar

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energy compared to oil and coal is its

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steep cost. The cells that make up solar

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panels are made of silicon, an expensive

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and unique material with a costly

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purifying process. Since using solar to

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generate energy is still a fairly new

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technology we have not yet found a

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cheaper material that can conduct the

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sun's energy like silicon. As can be seen

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in this graph the cost to install solar

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has actually dropped dramatically over

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70 percent since 2010. New technologies

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and a market for solar energy are on the

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rise which is making the energy source

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more accessible to those who could not

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afford it before. Initial investment may

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be high but after that solar is

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practically free. Another problem we face

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is that the land needed for the solar

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panels takes away from land that could

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be used for agriculture. In order to gain

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enough energy from solar to power a farm

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a lot of space is needed. One possible

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solution to this problem is to choose

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deliberately what kinds of agricultural

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lands we are willing to give up for

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solar. This can be seen in a study that

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looked at what would happen if tobacco

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farms in the US were replaced for solar

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farms

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Researchers found that tobacco farms in

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North Carolina have high solar potential

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and justified that if these funds were

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to be replaced with solar, farmers could

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make more money, produce cleaner energy

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and help eliminate the abundance of

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health issues caused by tobacco. Solar

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may be an expensive and demanding

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technology but scientists across the

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globe aren't giving up. There is still

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much improvement that can be made to

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increase solar cell efficiency and to

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make this energy source more accessible

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to farmers. Through solar cell research

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and sunlight simulations scientists are

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working hard to build a bright future, no

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pun intended,

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full of solar energy

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[Music]

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[Music]