A team of researchers and industry experts highlighted in a new paper published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology that solar farms could create essential habitats for wildlife if they are properly located, constructed, and managed. They argue that policy changes are needed to realize these benefits fully.
Currently, UK solar farms produce about 8.6 GW, sufficient to meet roughly one-sixth of the country's peak electricity demand. To fulfill international climate commitments, some estimates suggest that the UK will need to develop approximately 70,000 hectares of solar farms by the mid-2030s.
"If located in the right places and managed correctly, solar farms have great potential to restore degraded habitats and help meet the UN's Sustainable Development Goals to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, although not every species may benefit," said Professor Alona Armstrong of Lancaster University and co-author of the paper. "Some in the solar industry embed nature benefits into the design of solar farms and their management, but this approach is not universal."
Professor Piran White of the University of York and co-author of the paper added: "There is considerable potential for more solar farms to be managed for the benefit of nature, so that existing solar farms and any new solar farms, such as those recently approved by the new Government, can contribute to mitigating the ecological crisis as well as the climate crisis."
Previous research by some of the scientists behind the paper has shown that pollinating insects can benefit from solar farms managed for biodiversity, and these benefits can also extend to surrounding areas if the crops are pollinator-dependent.
However, current policies may cause the UK to miss out on biodiversity benefits from solar farms because public financial incentives to boost biodiversity on agricultural land do not currently include solar farms. Additionally, there is potential to encourage private funding to support biodiversity on solar farms.
"Renewable energy, together with strategic land use and management, is essential to address the climate and nature crises," said Hing Kin Lee, of NextEnergy Capital and co-author of the paper. "The right cross-sectoral policies and incentives can enhance nature on solar farms, providing long-term stable returns and measurable environmental benefits."
The paper's authors call on the Government to identify opportunities to revise policies that currently address climate and biodiversity separately.
Dr. Fabio Carvalho, a Senior Research Associate at Lancaster University and lead author of the paper, said: "In order to deliver dual benefits for climate and nature, solar farms not only need to be well managed, but also supported by appropriate public policies that take a more coherent joined-up approach.
"Unless policies aimed at boosting biodiversity on agricultural land include solar farms, we risk missing opportunities to enhance nature through land use change for solar farms, and perhaps even exacerbate the biodiversity crisis if solar farms are not properly built and managed."
Research Report:Integrated policymaking is needed to deliver climate and ecological benefits from solar farms
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