Solar or food production? Somerset farmers locked into debate

Image credit: Farming UK News

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Once again the obvious intermittency issue with renewables, whether solar or wind, is buried. Solar production peaks in the middle of the day, nowhere near the times when electricity demand is highest, and is highly seasonal. Outsourcing ever more food production to other countries has its own risks, but so does farming itself.
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Should rural land be used to produce food or energy? It is a question that divides farmers nationwide, and is being debated on the Somerset Levels, says BBC News.

On ancient grazing pastures steel and silicon solar panels are being installed, taking thousands of acres of farmland out of food production.

Across the country, the new Energy Security Secretary, Ed Miliband, has already approved three huge controversial developments, covering 6,200 acres (2,500 hectares) of farmland.

And while some farmers see solar as offering financial stability, others fear the loss of the land that feeds us.

Mr Miliband wants to quadruple UK solar power, which he says will “make the UK a clean energy superpower.” [Talkshop comment – with part-time electricity?]

Some farmers are happy to rent their fields to the growing green energy industry.

Others are joining forces with campaigners fighting to keep farms for food.

“We’re losing so much of our farmland,” said Hugh Williams, of Somerset Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).

“Once it has gone, the damage is done.”

So why do farmers agree to put their fields under silicon panels? And will it mean Britain has to import more food?
. . .
Louis Smith is an experienced rural accountant at the advisory firm Old Mill.

I asked him to compare solar with wheat, the most profitable crop farmers grow in the South West.

He explained: “In a phenomenal year you might hope for four tonnes of wheat per acre, which would give you a gross revenue of £600-£800 an acre, depending on the price. So after costs, you might make £200 an acre profit.”

Solar schemes are, he calculates, four or five times more profitable.

The government wants to quadruple the amount of solar energy made in Britain, from 15 gigawatts now to over 70 GW by 2035.

Plenty of farmers will be offered a solar sweetener. Few would want to put all their fields under panels, and there are tax consequences of doing so.

But a part of the farm? Mr Smith is quite clear.

“If you can get financial stability in your business, surely that’s what everybody is after?”

Full article here.
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Image credit: Farming UK News

Source: https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2024/08/28/solar-or-food-production-somerset-farmers-locked-into-debate/