Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Tech/Science

Solar Farms Providing Unexpected Benefits for Insects and Biodiversity in the UK

After the cloudy and wet winter, it may seem surprising that solar farms are becoming an increasing fixture in the British landscape. The low cost of solar electricity production, coupled with battery storage, is clearly commercially viable. But it is also controversial, with some objecting to the loss of potential food production and alleging damage to the character of the countryside.

One unlooked-for benefit is for bees, butterflies, moths and hoverflies, all species that are otherwise rapidly disappearing from our countryside. Field data from 15 sites in 2021 showed that pollinating insects thrived in solar parks, particularly where a variety of plants have been allowed to flourish or been planted underneath and around the panels.

Perhaps a surprising finding was that solar parks set among fields where hedgerows and other habitats had been destroyed by farmers were the most beneficial for insects, providing an oasis of food and nectar unobtainable elsewhere.

It is one of the clear examples of where the problems of climate change and loss of biodiversity in our impoverished landscape can be tackled together. Solar developers taking the time and trouble to plant a variety of native food plants for butterflies, bees and once common insects would bring back much-needed diversity to the countryside.

LEAVE A RESPONSE

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *