Solar farms are NOT the future of the Derbyshire's energy sector

I was recently made aware of planning application AVA/2020/1224 (view here) which relates to a potential solar farm at Hall Farm in Alfreton. There are in fact even more of these proposals in the Wingerworth and Shirland division just see this. I want to take the opportunity to explain my thoughts and why I believe that this is not the right way forward for Derbyshire's energy supply.

The site covers 400 acres or about 150 football pitches worth of countryside and farmland. The proposal by German company, Kronos, is to fence off the area, install CCTV and cover the area rows and rows of photovoltaic solar panels.

Now as a Green Party candidate you might expect me to be in favour of such a project, I do believe that renewables are the future and I am keen to support that. However, I have a number of concerns which mean that I cannot support this particular scheme. I detail these concerns below.

The first, and most obvious, concern is the loss of green space. This site would see 150 football pitches worth of green space replaced by a huge solar park.

The fencing erected around the perimeter will prevent wild animals, such as foxes, badgers and hedgehogs, from accessing these areas and will further restrict already limited habitats.

Grass land and fields alone are not great at storing carbon especially when they are being used for agriculture, therefore much of this area is doing very little to limit the climate crisis. If this land was abundant with trees and wildflowers it would be far better at sequestering carbon and would also provide better habitats for nature. It is vital that we protect these green spaces so that we can enhance them and stop them being developed on.

If the main aim is to decarbonise then we should be protecting and enhancing green spaces alongside building small scale, community led renewable energy schemes. By destroying one to get the other we are halving our efforts. We can have both whilst doubling our impact.

Local councils should be encouraging farmers and land owners through grants and bursaries to rewild their land. Currently many are forced to sell out to large companies as they cannot sustain their way of life due to continued cuts.

Fields and natural environment do not only nurture our wildlife, they also provide a sanctuary for us. During lockdown our mental health has relied on these open spaces, the fresh air and the beautiful views which surround us.

I believe that the climate crisis presents an opportunity. An opportunity to restructure our energy sector and to empower our communities.

We need local jobs more than ever as we face an economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19. The Kronos solar park would employ just 2 people. This is not the green jobs revolution which this country so desperately needs. The profits would leave this country and go to Germany where the company is based.

Local councils and national government should be subsidising the installation of solar panels on the roofs of our homes. All new build homes should be built for the future and have solar installed. Grants and funding should be made available for small scale, community-led energy sites. The local community should be at the heart of our response to this crisis.

Not only will localising energy production create local jobs, create profits for the community and give us the power to shape our energy needs, if we retrofit homes and improve the energy efficiency, we will be able to further reduce our energy bills.

The Green Party are committed to a 2030 deadline of carbon neutrality, this is 20 years sooner than the Governments 2050 date. The Green Party set a 2030 deadline because this is in line with the latest science (see UNEP Emissions Gap Report p. 12). Any later and the worst effects of climate change will become irreversible. There is a need to act quickly and to make sure we decarbonise rapidly.

It is Green Party policy to avoid reliance on solar farms and instead support small scale, community-led schemes (see here). These small community schemes with allow the local community to prosper. There would also be greater investment in offshore wind power, hydropower, tidal, geothermal and other renewable technologies if the Green Party were in Government. These will provide revenue for the Government and local councils as they would be publicly owned assets. This increases the capabilities to invest further in the sector.

Other parties argue that there is a need for solar farms however, it is completely incompatible with the crisis. How can they justify destroying swathes of green land in order to solve the climate crisis?

There is a nature crisis. We need more trees, flowers, bees, butterflies and wild spaces in our country. If we destroy these to build energy plants then we have just fuelled another crisis. Bees pollinate crops and trees store carbon, without them we are all in deep trouble.

Yes, there must be a focus on decarbonisation and a rapid move to renewables but to do this at the expense of the natural environment is contradictory and wrong. The climate crisis cannot be solved by destroying our environment. We need joined up thinking and a new approach to how we produce energy. We must value nature for what it is and allow it to flourish. We must work around the constraints of the natural world and not fence it out of ours.

We must not push 'green' solutions without consideration for the wider impact. Only Green Party have a holistic, joined up and well thought out plan for the climate crisis. Hurrying through half-hearted and poorly thought out solutions such as this risk making things worse.