CPRE, the countryside charity, has called for new solar farms to be banned from the UK’s highest-grade farmland over concerns that they impact domestic food security.
A report from the body claims that 59% of England's largest operational solar farms are located on productive farmland, while almost a third (31%) of the area they cover is classified as the nation’s ‘best and most versatile’ (BMV) agricultural land.
Solar power is one of the primary forms of energy generation that the UK will need to utilise if Labour’s plan to decarbonise the grid by 2030 is to be achieved. However, figures from last year showed that solar was responsible for just 5% of energy generated, compared with 30% from wind.
CPRE is calling for 60% of the UK’s solar to be generated on rooftops, alongside a ban on new solar farms on the highest two grades of farmland.
The report examined the 38 operational solar developments that produce more than 30MW of energy and found that more than half of these sites (53...