The Italian government approved a decree that will ban the installation of solar panels on agricultural ground, local media reported on Monday, citing officials.
Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida said the ban on solar panels would only apply to productive agricultural land, as quarries would still be allowed to be used for energy production. However, EU-funded projects will be exempt from the ban.
With the decree, 'we put an end to the wild installation of photovoltaic panels on the ground,” Italy's ANSA news agency reported Lollobrigida as saying.
The decree is part of a bigger package of measures to protect farming and fisheries, according to ANSA.
The move comes after energy and climate ministers of the G7 countries, including Italy, agreed last week to end the use of “unabated” coal by 2035 and committed to the implementation of the global goal of tripling installed renewable energy capacity by 2030 to at least 11 terawatts.
By Handan Kazanci
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr