cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/67515975
Obvious choice
Cover our roofs, make the streets cars free.
this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
240 points (93.5% liked)
196
6076 readers
5781 users here now
Community Rules
You must post before you leave
Be nice. Assume others have good intent (within reason).
Block or ignore posts, comments, and users that irritate you in some way rather than engaging. Report if they are actually breaking community rules.
Use content warnings and/or mark as NSFW when appropriate. Most posts with content warnings likely need to be marked NSFW.
Most 196 posts are memes, shitposts, cute images, or even just recent things that happened, etc. There is no real theme, but try to avoid posts that are very inflammatory, offensive, very low quality, or very "off topic".
Bigotry is not allowed, this includes (but is not limited to): Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, Sexism, Abelism, Classism, or discrimination based on things like Ethnicity, Nationality, Language, or Religion.
Avoid shilling for corporations, posting advertisements, or promoting exploitation of workers.
Proselytization, support, or defense of authoritarianism is not welcome. This includes but is not limited to: imperialism, nationalism, genocide denial, ethnic or racial supremacy, fascism, Nazism, Marxism-Leninism, Maoism, etc.
Avoid AI generated content.
Avoid misinformation.
Avoid incomprehensible posts.
No threats or personal attacks.
No spam.
Moderator Guidelines
Moderator Guidelines
- Don’t be mean to users. Be gentle or neutral.
- Most moderator actions which have a modlog message should include your username.
- When in doubt about whether or not a user is problematic, send them a DM.
- Don’t waste time debating/arguing with problematic users.
- Assume the best, but don’t tolerate sealioning/just asking questions/concern trolling.
- Ask another mod to take over cases you struggle with, if you get tired, or when things get personal.
- Ask the other mods for advice when things get complicated.
- Share everything you do in the mod matrix, both so several mods aren't unknowingly handling the same issues, but also so you can receive feedback on what you intend to do.
- Don't rush mod actions. If a case doesn't need to be handled right away, consider taking a short break before getting to it. This is to say, cool down and make room for feedback.
- Don’t perform too much moderation in the comments, except if you want a verdict to be public or to ask people to dial a convo down/stop. Single comment warnings are okay.
- Send users concise DMs about verdicts about them, such as bans etc, except in cases where it is clear we don’t want them at all, such as obvious transphobes. No need to notify someone they haven’t been banned of course.
- Explain to a user why their behavior is problematic and how it is distressing others rather than engage with whatever they are saying. Ask them to avoid this in the future and send them packing if they do not comply.
- First warn users, then temp ban them, then finally perma ban them when they break the rules or act inappropriately. Skip steps if necessary.
- Use neutral statements like “this statement can be considered transphobic” rather than “you are being transphobic”.
- No large decisions or actions without community input (polls or meta posts f.ex.).
- Large internal decisions (such as ousting a mod) might require a vote, needing more than 50% of the votes to pass. Also consider asking the community for feedback.
- Remember you are a voluntary moderator. You don’t get paid. Take a break when you need one. Perhaps ask another moderator to step in if necessary.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
I mean, that is not a field, that is a lawn.
Solar panels covering grassland does much less ecosystem damage than any fossil fuel generation, or constructing parking lots or lawns for that matter.
We shouldn't gatekeep solar panels, just fucking install them!
Technology Connections did a whole video on it. In the US you could use the space currently farming biofuels and it would generate 10x the energy.
There are a lot of fields in the US dedicated to growing corn for use in fuel which could instead be used for solar panels. Also what is shown is potentially a terrible idea if a car runs into one of the poles or someone is stupid enough to try to park with a vehicle that crashes into the sides of the panels
Edit: Please see this extremely well made video about renewables https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgxb8I1nk2I
Also what is shown is potentially a terrible idea if a car runs into one of the poles or someone is stupid enough to try to park with a vehicle that crashes into the sides of the panels
They do have covered parking where you are from yeah? Or is that some magical novelty to the natives?
I've never seen covered parking (not counting indoor parking), but also I'm not american. Maybe solar panels like that would work, but as shown in the photo does make me sweat a bit
Also not southern European I imagine.
nope, norwegian
Additional options include:
- Partially cover agricultural fields that get too much sun (yes, it is possible for a plant to get too much sun, depending on the species)
- Cover water reservoirs with floating panels, which both cools the panel (improving its efficiency and lifespan) and lowers evaporative water losses.
- Cover patches of desert, which get a ton of sun.
- Cover rooftops.
Regarding point 1 thats called Agrivoltaics for those interested.
Lots of plants are happier with some shade.
Deserts are ecosystems that must be protected. If you must put them in fields, incentivize farmers who grow corn for ethanol production to install solar instead.
Let's actually stop giving out ethanol incentives. Shits dumb
True, but out of all the ecosystem the one which gets the highest insolation per square meter requires the lowest amount of square meters of disruption for a given amount of power.
Disruption for who? It is incredibly disruptive to the flora and fauna.
For square meters of physical space.
Yeah, but also both. In Europe we don't have that many car parks, we have underground parking below buildings. So yeah, we still need solar parks.
It's more that we should cover more infrastructure, since that area has already been claimed by humans.
That too, just saying that in Europe that's not enough since we are generally more efficient with space already. Still, all the shaded parking lots I've seen where I live already have solar panels above.
Yeah, America is shit
The zoo in my city did this. Not only does it generate power, it saves power by keeping the cars cool so people don't need to use A/C to bring it down to a normal temperature.
The issue, as always is money. It is far cheaper to build close to the ground than high in the air. That solar field will payback far faster than a solar parking lot.
It has become law in France, any new carpark of a given size must be covered with solar panels.
Build separated bike lanes with solar panels on top. Now you're making energy and people can commute by bicycle more comfortably in all weather.
Or put up trees, those help. I'd put them on people's roofs, connected to their own electricity.
Well, it's not either/or.
The idea is to put them literally everywhere, so you have enough solar power for everything even on cloudy days in winter.
If you took the fields used to grow corn for “biofuels” in the US and covered them in solar panels, they would produce the annual US energy need many times over!
Cover bicycle parking instead!