Kirk here with something I’ve had on the back burner since July – a post about solar farms in rural Kumamoto. The picture you see is from the following Japanese news article:
https://news.livedoor.com/article/image_detail/24534867/?img_id=38210472
The concern is that the solar panels are an eyesore – black splats on the vistas the Aso area is famous for.
I was prompted to look into the downsides of solar panels after the heavy rains we experienced in July. At the time, I heard rumors that the panels exacerbated erosion during such storms because very little can grow beneath them. I was never able to find a good article about the issue vis-a-vis the flooding in July but I know it has come up in other parts of Japan and the world so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was more than a rumor.
Personally, I think that mitigating climate change should be a high priority and so I tend to be in favor of increasing solar panels. In fact, I’ve had solar panels on my house for a about a decade now. But, I also think that maintaining the beauty of Aso and preventing erosion are issues that deserve consideration. In regard to erosion, I’m still rather puzzled by why the issue remained mostly on the level of rumor and local talk and didn’t receive major media attention in July.