New WeSET Film: Solar power, farming and biodiversity
WeSET has produced a short 8-minute film on ‘Solar power, farming and nature: towards a safe future’.
Solar power is a land-based energy system. It will need to use land to generate power cleanly and cheaply. Concerns have been raised about how much land in Britain would be needed for solar, along with linked issues about impacts on biodiversity and food security.
Our short video summarises the key points. The bottom line is pretty straightforward. About 18 million hectares of land in the UK are used for agriculture. 18,000 hectares are currently used for solar. That’s 0.1%. A fourfold increase in solar would still mean but we are using just 0.4% of UK agricultural land.
It includes speakers from two universities, the National Farmers Union, the RSPB, Solar Energy UK and Community Energy England as well as Adam Twine, the farmer at Westmill.
There is more information on these issues below and also on our Increase Biodiversity page.
SOLAR POWER, FARMING AND BIODIVERSITY
Farmland comes in different grades, and clearly the highest grade land should be kept for food growing. It is also the case that the solar farms should be designed to improve and maximise biodiversity. The solar farm at Westmill has been planted with wild flowers to improve its biodiversity. There is a flourishing population of hares living within the solar farm. Westmill offers tours of the solar (and wind) farm: we offer regular public tours and we can organise visits for specific groups by arrangement.
There is much work being done on solar, farming and biodiversity
A team led by scientists at the University of Lancaster has done much survey work. This is mentioned in our video by Professor Alona Armstrong. They have developed the ‘Solar Park Impacts on Ecosystem Services’ toolkit and have surveyed many solar projects over the last five years.
Solar Energy UK has also produced a range of guidance materials. These include:
- Ground mounted solar farms and agricultural land: The Facts
- Solar Farms & Food Security: The Facts
- Natural Capital Best Practice Guidance
- Solar Habitat: A Look into ecological trends on solar farms in UK is a new report looks at ecological issues at 37 solar farms across the UK
Solar Energy UK is also looking to set up a standardised ecological monitoring system for solar farms. The monitoring form can be accessed on the page above.
Wychwood Biodiversity has been working with renewable energy companies in the UK, Europe and the USA since 2011 to improve biodiversity on their land and their case studies are testimony to that.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) is represented on our video by Dr Jonathan Scurlock. The NFU’s materials on solar power include:
Renewable energy planning specialists Pager Power has produced a review on the current situation surrounding solar farms and biodiversity.
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