⚡️ Britain Doesn’t Need to Sacrifice Its Fields for Solar: SMRs and Rooftop Revolution Can Power the Future 🌿

🔥 The False Choice: Energy or Agriculture?Across Yorkshire and the Humber, over 300 solar farm projects are on the table, threatening to consume up to 17,500 hectares of land. While these projects promise clean energy, they also risk long-term damage to our food security, natural landscapes, and local identity. It doesn’t have to be this way.Recent data suggests:🌾 1.56% of all farmland in Yorkshire and the Humber could be lost🏞️ 0.76% of the region’s greenbelt could disappear under panels❌ Many projects face local opposition due to landscape and access concernsWe urgently need a more balanced, forward-looking strategy that delivers clean energy without sacrificing the countryside. The good news? That alternative exists, and it’s already taking shape.

⚖️ What the Numbers Show

Yorkshire and the Humber spans 1.54 million hectares, of which:🌾 73% (1.125 million hectares) is farmland (GOV.UK)

🏞️ 17% (261,600 hectares) is designated greenbelt (DLUHC)

With proposed solar farms consuming up to 17,500 hectares, the scale of land loss is no longer negligible. In fact, it rivals the land footprint of entire towns.

⚡️ Some of the Biggest Projects:

Tween Bridge, South Yorkshire: 2,527 ha (up to 800MW)

Whitestone, Rother Valley: 1,416 ha (750MW) – on greenbelt

Fenwick, Doncaster: 536 ha (up to 237.5MW)

East Yorkshire Solar Farm: 1,277 ha (400MW)

🌍 A Better Way: SMRs and Rooftop SolarRather than eating up fields, Britain should fast-track technologies that are less land-hungry and more socially accepted:

⚛️ Small Modular Reactors (SMRs):

Clean Power Without Sprawl

🔹 Factory-built nuclear reactors designed for rapid deployment

🔹 UK-made: Rolls-Royce SMRs can be produced domestically

🔹 Output: ~470 MW per unit, enough to power over 1 million homes

🔹 Land needed: Just 10 hectares or less, vs. thousands for solar> “This is energy sovereignty made real.” — Rolls-Royce SMR CTO, 2024

SMRs can be sited on brownfield land or decommissioned coal stations, avoiding countryside altogether. They’re also 24/7 power sources, unlike intermittent solar.References:Rolls-Royce SMRUK Nuclear Roadmap 2024

🏢 Solar Where It Belongs:

On Roofs, Not Fields

New ultra-thin solar film technologies, such as those by Power Roll, are flexible, affordable, and ideal for rooftops, car parks, and infrastructure:

🔹 250,000+ hectares of commercial rooftop space available in UK

🔹 Can meet solar targets 3 times over without touching farmland

🔹 Local generation reduces transmission losses and builds energy resilience> “The UK has enough rooftop space to meet its solar goals without sacrificing one acre of farmland.” — Solar Energy UK, 2023

References:Power RollSolar Energy UKCarbon Brief

❌ Why Solar on Fields is the Wrong Direction

🌾 Food Security:

The UK imports nearly 50% of its food. Losing farmland weakens our resilience.

🌱 Biodiversity Claims Often Exaggerated: Developers promise “net gain,” but studies show minimal long-term impact.

📉 Unjustified Energy Sprawl: Projects like Whitestone and Tween Bridge cover more land than major towns.

🏦 Grid Problems: Remote solar sites need costly, disruptive cabling and substations, often through villages and farmland.

✅ What Should Be Done Instead

📊 Implement a rooftop-first solar policy

🏢 Mandate solar on new warehouses, factories, and commercial sites

🏞️ Reserve greenbelt and best-quality farmland for food, not energy

💼 Fund and fast-track UK-based SMRs on brownfield land

🤝 Involve communities in planning energy projects they actually support

📢 Call to Action for MPs and Local AuthoritiesIt’s time for Yorkshire’s MPs to push back on unsustainable energy sprawl. We need a parliamentary inquiry and regional roundtable that:Reviews solar sprawl on farmland and greenbeltExplores regulatory reformAligns national energy policy with food and landscape security

🔴 Stop the destruction of everything that makes Yorkshire beautiful and green.

🔍 Sources and Further Reading

Map shows 300+ solar farms across Yorkshire [Yorkshire Post]

Agricultural facts Yorkshire and Humber – GOV.UK

Local authority green belt:

England 2023-24

Power Roll Solar Film

Solar Energy UK Rooftop Report

UK Civil Nuclear Roadmap 2024Rolls-Royce SMR TechnologyCarbon Brief –

Rooftop Solar Potential

🔁 Share this blog if you agree:

Britain can power up without paving over.

#StopSolarSprawl #SMR #RooftopRevolution #SaveOurFarms #EnergyWithBalance