<
https://theconversation.com/solar-farms-can-host-up-to-three-times-as-many-birds-as-crop-fields-new-research-249551>
"The UK’s installed capacity of solar power expanded rapidly over the past
decade to reach 17.2 gigawatts (GW) in 2024 – enough electricity to power
roughly 4 million homes. The government aims to raise solar generation capacity
to 70 GW by 2035. And by 2050, the government’s advisers estimate that as much
as 90 GW of solar power may be needed to achieve net zero emissions.
Building solar farms – large-scale installations of solar panels on
agricultural land – will have to be done carefully, to avoid exacerbating
another environmental crisis: the dwindling variety of wildlife, or
biodiversity.
However, surprisingly few studies have examined the impact of solar farms on
biodiversity. Our new research is one of the first to study the impact of solar
farms on birds in the UK. And, hectare-for-hectare, we found that solar farms
in the farm-rich East Anglian countryside that were managed with biodiversity
in mind contained a greater number of bird species, and more birds overall,
than surrounding cropland."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
