Renting Rooftops for Solar Power

Some big utility companies are
looking at projects using more renewable
energy. Some are investing in solar on
the rooftops of their customers’ homes. Julie
Grant reports on one of the biggest pilot
projects in the nation:

Transcript

Some big utility companies are
looking at projects using more renewable
energy. Some are investing in solar on
the rooftops of their customers’ homes. Julie
Grant reports on one of the biggest pilot
projects in the nation:

Duke Energy plans to rent 425 rooftops from homeowners
and businesses in North Carolina to install and maintain
solar panels.

Dave Scanzoni is a spokesman for Duke Energy. He says
building a new nuclear or coal plant could take a decade.
But this solar project could contribute electricity to the grid in
just a couple of years.

“Instead of a big, main baseload power plant that we
traditionally think of, we have several hundred small, little
power plants. It’s distributed power plants, a different way to
distribute energy closer to the customer.”

If the project is approved by regulators, the money to pay for
it will come from ratepayers – an 8-cent hike on the average
utility bill.

Other utilities have rooftop solar projects in the works as
power companies begin to experiment to find ways to reduce
carbon emissions.

For The Environment Report, I’m Julie Grant.

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Super Weeds on the Rise

Farmers across the country are increasingly using genetically
modified crops that are resistant to an herbicide commonly known as
“Roundup.” But as Tracy Samilton reports, weeds are starting to
develop resistance to the chemical, too:

Transcript

Farmers across the country are increasingly using genetically
modified crops that are resistant to an herbicide commonly known as
“Roundup.” But as Tracy Samilton reports, weeds are starting to
develop resistance to the chemical, too:


Glyphosate, known by the brand name Roundup, kills all kinds of plants –
except for crops engineered to resist it. Unfortunately, weeds are
beginning to develop Roundup resistance, too.


Steve Duke is a researcher with the US Department of Agriculture. Duke
says there are ways to slow the evolution of Roundup-resistant weeds,
such as rotating crops, rotating herbicides and using more than one
herbicide.


But many farmers aren’t using the techniques, because they’re more
trouble and more expensive:


Farmers tend to think, oh there will be another silver bullet coming
down the pike in the near future, so they want to maximize their
profits this year.


Duke says farmers could use glyphosate for a lot longer if they follow
the recommended practices. Duke says that’s good, because Roundup is considered
less harmful to the environment than other herbicides.


For the Environment Report, I’m Tracy Samilton.

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