Environmental and economic impacts of agrivoltaics in Bangladesh

This policy brief explores how agrivoltaics are a more sustainable and land-efficient energy source than fossil fuels.

Authors

This brief explores findings from a study focusing on the potential of agrivoltaics in Bangladesh by estimating the upstream impacts on employment, emissions, land, and wage levels using an input-output model for the following sources: coal, gas, oil, hydropower, nuclear, solar, and agrivoltaics.
Our research indicates that agrivoltaics will positively impact the creation of low-skilled and medium-skilled jobs and are expected to yield the smallest gender employment gap compared to other energy sources.
Agrivoltaics are projected to require less land for energy than fossil fuels, offering a more sustainable and land-efficient approach.
This policy brief highlights a potential alternative to fossil fuels: setting up agrivoltaic systems in less fertile and single-cropped land to achieve Bangladesh's 40% renewable energy target by 2041. The methodology used encapsulates key considerations within the food, energy, and environment nexus and provides policymakers with a framework that clearly presents the implications of energy choices.