Solar parks and turbines

The sight of solar parks and wind turbines are not to everyone’s taste but such visual impacts must be balanced against the prospect of more extreme weather patterns associated with climate change.

I will pin my colours to the mast – I do believe that burning fossil fuels is contributing to climate change.  

I recall doing A-level chemistry back in the early 1980s and when my teacher explained the potential impact of liberating greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and many of his predictions appear to be coming true.

For instance 2014 was the warmest year on record in the UK and eight of the UK's top ten warmest years have happened since 2002.  Similarly 2014 was the fourth wettest year since the Met Office records started in 1910, meaning we have experienced five of the UK's top six wettest years since 2000.

I believe this is sufficient evidence to make us think very seriously about the impact that burning fossil fuels has on our climate.  But the government has taken a retrograde step in turning off support for many renewable projects so abruptly and yet at the same time also appears to be encouraging fracking. This does not make climatic sense.

Then we saw our government do a deal with the Chinese government over the building of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point, demonstrating that David Cameron does see the need to subsidise non-carbon energy production to provide security of supply.  I do not disagree with this but I do question the muddled thinking regarding the government’s wider energy policies and the impact this is having on the renewable energy sector in particular.

This sector has grown strongly from virtually nothing over the last 10 years and has become increasingly efficient with the result that solar projects are on the verge of becoming cheaper than gas as a means of generating electricity. 

Therefore reducing subsidy for solar projects was the right thing to do, but cutting it by 87 per cent is too extreme and will constrain the development of this form of renewable energy which has not only helped reduce the production of climate damaging gases but also provided opportunities for many farmers and landowners here in the South West. 


James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk