Sun vs. Soil: Myth-busting Political Opposition to Solar
94,354 square miles. That’s the geographic constraint of the United Kingdom.
International instability beyond our shores is forcing policymakers to balance the competing priorities for our finite land resources. Politicians now routinely argue agricultural land must be prioritised for food production, opposing solar development in rural settings. Well-funded anti-solar campaigns are gathering momentum, recruiting parliamentary lobbyists, and gaining sympathetic press coverage in parts of Fleet Street. Solar is now being attacked from Whitehall to town halls, with the Telegraph publishing an excoriating article in recently claiming meeting net zero commitments would require 5-10% of the country to be covered with solar panels.
An Artificial Consensus on Energy Security?
Global supply shocks following the Covid-19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine have brought the UK’s reliance on global energy and food supply chains into sharp focus. As prices for necessities have skyrocketed, so has the salience of domestic energy and food security for political leaders. Recently, both the Government and Opposition have outlined measures to improve UK energy security.
Taken at face value, it could look as though a consensus has emerged on the need to build solar capacity. Nevertheless solar developers are increasingly facing organised opposition to their proposals from residents groups, campaign organisations, and politicians.
Political Opposition to Solar
Food Security:
The issue was catapulted into the spotlight of the 2022 Conservative leadership contest. Both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss pledged to their party members to oppose ground mounted solar on agricultural land.
Backbench MPs have pressed the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to restrict what agricultural land can be utilised for solar development- with many arguing land graded as 3b should be preserved for farming.
A series of Parliamentary debates have followed, with Conservative MPs regularly arguing against the ‘industrialisation of the countryside’. Facing electoral unrest in Conservative heartlands, Ministers are currently reviewing the UK Land-Use Framework. Defra intend to publish the framework before the summer parliamentary recess.
Food Security - The Facts:
The Government’s recently published National Food Strategy estimates that 70% of the UK’s total land is currently used for agriculture. By contrast ground mounted solar accounts for just 0.1% of total land use.
The UK Energy Security Strategy estimates, that allowing for future solar technology to meet the national target of delivering a five-fold increase in solar power would require just 0.3% of UK land. This would represent just 0.5% of current farmland. Today, 2% of the UK landmass is used as golf courses alone.
Source - Carbon Brief https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-is-solar-power-a-threat-to-uk-farmland/
Climate & Bio-Diversity:
It isn’t credible to suggest solar deployment is a serious threat to UK food security- by contrast failing to decarbonise a the subsequent impacts on the climate could be. DEFRA itself recognise climate change as the greatest threat to UK food security. According to Climate Central - over 55% of the UK's highest grade agricultural land is most at risk of climate change induced flooding by 2050.
Another strand of opposition to solar characterises the deployment of the technology as rural industrialisation. However, when compared to the construction of traditional energy infrastructure – coal plants etc, ground mounted solar is very light touch. It is an entirely reversible form of land use, with time limited planning permission.
Additionally, solar can allow lower quality land to be used concurrently to increase biodiversity, allowing intensively farmed soil to recover, and allow livestock to graze around the panels. Solar farms also provide rental income and diversification for farms in a challenging post-brexit economy.
Public Opinion:
Despite the issue growing in prominence among some Westminster and townhall politicians - solar remains nationally popular. The BEIS Attitudes tracker has found 87% of people supported solar development in their area, with just 7% opposed. Indeed, polling by YouGov has found 71% Conservative Party members support the construction of solar farms .
BEIS Attitude Tracker - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62a8a54ce90e07039ba54faa/BEIS_PAT_Spring_2022_Energy_Infrastructure_and_Energy_Sources.pdf
The Challenge ahead
Faced with a difficult electoral outlook- the Conservative Government is increasingly sensitive to the squeamishness of backbench MPs in rural heartlands. The UK solar sector represents a major recent UK success story, with billions of private capital investing in energy security, reducing carbon emissions and creating green jobs.
However, Defra’s ongoing review of the Land Use Framework poses a significant challenge to investor confidence in the UK Solar industry, with the potential to derail planned investment worth billions.
With local and a general election on the horizon, support for solar projects from political leaders cannot be assumed. Developers must engage early, and map both national and acutely local political sensitivities to solar in each geography.
Stephenson Mohl Group have a proven track record of appraising political risk and engaging with stakeholders to support millions of pounds of development for the UK solar industry. In a challenging political climate, Stephenson Mohl Group provide local insight, and national impact on every project. Contact us today at contact@stephenson-mohl.co.uk