I’m not against renewable energy. As a matter of fact, I have solar panels on the roof of my house. But when you look at the economics, the reality is that most renewables just don’t work – and are unlikely to ever work – if you take away the subsidies that come with setting them up Many local councils are keen to invest in solar energy because it’s seen as an easy win. They’re not driving these plans forward because of any green credentials; by slapping down solar panels they can gain access to Government funding and low-interest loans.
The subsidies involved are huge, because solar and wind energy still aren’t viable without them. One of the key arguments for renewables is the increasing cost of energy. The thing that seems to be ignored is that food prices are predicted to grow at a much higher rate than energy prices. At the moment, our supermarkets are in a strong negotiating position and can dictate cheap prices. But as consumption increases in China, India and Africa, the countries we import so much of our food from will increasingly be able to sell all their produce at home. We’re in a better position to grow crops than many countries, but if we haven’t kept our farmland, we’re going to be even shorter of food.
Our prime, or even secondary, agricultural land is the last place we should be looking to build solar or wind farms. Yet that’s exactly where the city council in Peterborough wants to put 500,000 solar panels – on 900 acres of some of the best-quality farmland in the country. It’s so fertile it can yield two or three crops a year, and it’s easy to farm because the area is dead flat. To local people it’s known as the ‘land of the big skies’; as far as the eye can see, it’s beautiful countryside. A huge sea of solar panels over this area would just look awful. Nor has anyone looked at whether these panels will stay in place on the shifting fenland.
All the projected profits of the scheme are based on the optimistic, or naive, assumption that the solar panels will last 25 years with hardly any degradation in efficiency. With set-up costs being so high, profit could easily turn into a loss. Meanwhile, tenant farmers whose families have been working this land for five generations are being given notice to leave to make way for energy parks. They’ve sunk their life savings into their farms, and would receive minimal compensation. If you’re going to have solar, put it on top of buildings, not in the countryside.
In Peterborough alone, there are 3,000-4,000 council or housing association-owned houses where solar panels could be added, as well as schools, hospitals and other public buildings. If we’re going to subsidise things, let’s subsidise roof tiles that work as solar panels, and look at whether solar could be built into the planning of all new housing. That’s not going to impact visually on the beautiful countryside, or harm farming, but it could help to generate energy for individual properties and feed something back to the National Grid.