In 2019 the (Tory) government committed itself to a “Net Zero by 2050” energy policy – meaning that Britain needs to use less energy (better insulation and so on); plant more trees to absorb more CO2; and hugely increase sources of “alternative energy” that do not use fossil fuels (except, in the beginning, for start-up).
Leading alternatives were, and are, wind-power; nuclear; and solar. Island Britain is enviably rich in wind. Nuclear power remains controversial but many acknowledged environmentalists as well as moneyed technophiles feel we need it at least for the next few decades.
So what of solar? The present government, like the last one, is putting its weight and legislation behind large area, ground-mounted solar installations – a ‘quick fix’ to a long-term problem. Plans are well advanced for such a “solar farm” in Oxfordshire that will cover 1400 hectares (3500 acres) – the biggest so far in Europe. To a large extent, too, this and other such installations are being built on good, productive agricultural land.
China, India, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico have much bigger solar installations – but they have vast, unpopulated deserts to put them on; and large solar/wing/battery installations are already being developed in Morocco to supply energy to the UK grid.
One scientist who thinks that large solar farms in the UK are a seriously misguided idea is David Rogers, Emeritus Professor of Ecology at Oxford University. Of course he advocates big investment in alternative energy, and is very much in favour of solar power in sunny countries the world over. He advocates solar power in Britain too – but only on the small scale: solar panels on rooftop and in carparks. In sun-starved, crowded Britain, large area solar installations make no sense at all – except financially, for speculators and land-owners. For Britain, surrounded by stormy seas, wind offers a far better and more reliable alternative.
Background. David Rogers became concerned about large-area ground-mounted solar installations when the largest in Europe was proposed on the doorstep of Oxford. The claims made for it seemed unrealistic, but the same claims were being made for other, large solar installations across the country. Together with others, he set up a small group, SolarQ UK, investigating the production characteristics of solar, the use by solar of valuable farmland and the impact of ground-mounted solar installations on local house values. The group submitted its results to several MPs, and these have already been quoted in House of Parliament questions on solar energy and in Westminster Hall debates on Large-scale Solar Farms.
SolarQ UK is now engaging with more and more MPs to open up a national debate on the role of solar in the renewable energy mix, especially in relation to the many other demands on land-use in the UK.
The group’s website at https://www.solarq.org presents its analyses in an un-biased way to inform both politicians and members of the public alike. The group’s email address is contact@solarq.org