Liz Truss hates solar panels on farmland. In reality, solar panels can be good for crops—and vice versa

In 2014, as the country’s environment secretary, Truss lamented that it makes her “heart sink to see row upon row of solar panels where once there was a field of wheat or grassland for livestock to graze.” The Guardian reports staff in her department said at the time they have “no evidence” to back up Truss’s belief that solar panels were replacing crops.

Solar panels currently cover 0.1% of all land in the U.K. Carbon Brief calculates in a fact check that even if the U.K.’s solar industry grew to meet the government’s own net zero targets, solar panels would occupy an area equivalent to 0.5% of U.K. farmland, or less than half the current area of British golf courses.

But Truss repeated the charge against solar panels during her campaign to become PM this year. Now, the prime minister’s own environment secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, has taken up the cause and has urged the government to redraw regulations protecting farmlands from industrial development. 

It’s a senseless plan.

The U.K. has a five-tier ranking system for farmland, with category 1 being the most arable and 5 not arable at all. Currently most solar farms are built on category 3b land, which is of a quality suitable for few crops and produces relatively low yields. Jayawardena wants to incorporate 3b land into the regulatory category of “best and most versatile.” Fields in that tier are reserved strictly for agricultural use.

Of course, relabelling 3b land as “best” won’t make it magically more productive. Instead the scheme will rob farmers of the chance to diversify low-yield land usage and earn money from solar installations. Industry group Solar Industry UK estimates the plan, which would place 41% of England’s landbank off limits for solar development, will strike $20 billion of investment from the industry.

More importantly, the accusation that solar panels are stealing space from farmland presents a dichotomy that doesn’t necessarily exist. Instead of one forcing the other out of place, solar panels and agriculture can operate and even thrive together in a symbiotic industry called “agrivoltaics.”

Grazing animals, like sheep and cows, can be allowed to feed off the grass in fields beneath solar panels. Research has even shown that the shade provided by solar panels can help boost yields of certain crops, by providing shelter from direct sunlight and reducing plant water loss through evaporation. 

“One study found certain peppers will have three times the production,” Colorado State University researcher Jennifer Bousselot told Dezeen last month. “That’s a shocking number.”

Meanwhile, the evaporation that does occur provides a cooling effect for the solar panels, which function poorly under high temperatures. But how solar panels and crops can be configured to best improve yields from both is still under research.

Some considerations are economic. Solar panels need to be spaced a certain distance apart in order for farm machinery to navigate around them, for example. Elevating panels to create crop space underneath also means installing strong support beams, which is more expensive than installing panels at ground level. A new industry for modeling all these variables is beginning to bloom. 

It’s an exciting prospect that solar panels could boost both energy and food security. But even if agrivoltaics doesn’t get off the ground, shifting to renewable energy and minimizing the impact of climate change will be the best solution to global food insecurity.

Eamon Barrett
– greeninc.news@fortune.com
@eamonbarrett88

CARBON COPY

French strikes

Workers at French petroleum refineries have been on strike for several days, causing fuel shortages across France and hours-long queues at gas stations. Roughly a third of the country's service stations are suffering shortages. The workers are on strike to demand better pay after the energy crisis scored bumper profits for refinery owners, Exxon Mobil and Total Energies, this year. The companies rewarded shareholders with billions of dollars in dividend payments. Guardian

German energy

A commission of experts proposed that the German government cover payment for all household energy bills throughout December and subsidize the cost of gas for at least a year, starting in 2023. The measures, proposed to tackle Germany’s energy crisis, caused by the war in Ukraine, could cost the government €91 billion ($88.4 billion). The majority of funding (€66 billion) would subsidize private residences and small businesses. Industry would receive the remainder. FT

GFANZ

The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), the world’s largest climate-focused alliance of asset managers, told Bloomberg it denies reports that members of its 500-strong coalition have threatened to leave. Reports last week claimed heavyweights including JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley want to quit the coalition, after the UN Race to Zero initiative proposed investment guidance that included restrictions on fossil fuels. GFANZ founder and former Bank of England Governor, Mark Carney, said Race to Zero had gone “too far” and reassured GFANZ members that the alliance is not subject to Race to Zero’s guidance. Bloomberg

Inflation reduction

If investors scorn being forced to divest from fossil fuels, incentivizing investment in renewables is the alternative approach to greening the economy. During Fortune’s Global Sustainability Forum last week—which you can recap and watch here—economist Laura Tyson noted that the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed by the U.S. Congress in August sought to do just that. “The U.S. path right now is let’s stimulate private demand by companies and by consumers for every single product or service that addresses the climate challenge.” A new report from Credit Suisse shows how bountiful that stimulus can be. The bank projects the catalyst of $370 billion in government funding will kickstart a further $1.3 trillion in private capital over the next 10 years. Fortune

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Fast-fashion giant Zara faces a huge challenge in the climate crisis. Can its heiress-turned-leader make the brand fast, cheap, and green? by Vivienne Walt

Small companies, big impact: Why startups loom large on the Fortune Change the World list this year by Matt Heimer

‘Cultured’ meat could help solve the climate crisis. Here’s what it will take to move it from the lab to the dinner table by François Candelon, Maxime Courtaux, Vinit Patel

Companies that focus on the human impact of the climate crisis can turn risks into opportunities by Rishi Agarwal, Chirlie Felix, Laura Tilghman

‘Children can’t advocate for themselves’: American public schools have a massive plastic waste problem by Hollie Stephens

CLOSING NUMBER

2,803

When the U.K. suffered a record heat wave earlier this summer, health experts warned that thousands could die under the scorching temperatures. A new report by the U.K. Health Security Agency and the Office for National Statistics shows those experts—who were scorned by the government for fear mongering—were right. According to data from the report, the U.K. recorded 2,803 more deaths than usual among people over the age of 65, for the period of time when heat waves struck between June and August. During the longer heat wave, from Aug. 8 to 17, the U.K. recorded 1,458 excess deaths among the elderly, who are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat.