Closed petition Ban the use of greenfield land for solar panels and support uptake elsewhere

Closed on 9 February 2023

We want the Government to ban the erection of photovoltaic panels on greenfield land that is or could be used to grow food and fibre or plant trees. Instead the Government should facilitate uptake on commercial roofs and other currently redundant space.

Taking land out of production for photovoltaic panels reduces available resources for food production and carbon capture and storage, for example through forestry, and significantly impacts the viability of rural economies.

Government is ideally placed to both ban this practice, and put policy in place to facilitate uptake of panels in more suitable locations. Examples include forcing the better alignment of feed-in tariffs with energy costs, funding improved feed-in infrastructure, and resolving difficulties establishing an equitable arrangement on investment/income between landlord and tenant on commercial buildings. The Government should support associated environmentally-beneficial measures at the same time, such as rainwater capture on the additional surface area.