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Farming Today: Farming Today This Week: Renewable Energy

Farming Today This Week

14/03/2015

Farming Today This Week: Renewable Energy

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Farming Today This Week: Renewable Energy

How farmers are harnessing the power of renewable energy.

From solar panels to wind turbines the countryside is increasingly used to provide power. According to the Department for Energy and Climate Change, 17% of electricity was generated renewably last year, up four percent on the year before. Some methods continue to be controversial, with disputes over planning permission for wind turbines and solar farms in many parts of the country, as well as concerns by conservationists about their effect on wildlife and botanical habitat. Farming Today this Week visits Steve Edmund who runs a renewable energy demonstration site in Ashcott, Somerset. He says that renewable energy is the way forward in order to be cost effective and reduce carbon emissions. On-Land Wind turbines have been one of the more controversial forms of renewables. Whilst turbines can be a valuable income for farmers and landowners, others see them as a blight on the countryside. John Smeaden owns a 60 acre deer farm in Cornwall, he tells Anna Hill why he decided to install wind power on his land. Nigel Evans is the Conservative MP for the Ribble Valley in rural Lancashire. He is president of the anti wind turbine group Country Guardian. He thinks they are a blight on the landscape. Tim Wagstaff runs his family's agricultural estate near the village of Diseworth close to East Midlands airport in Leicestershire - Ben Jackson went to visit a 40 acre solar farm site he has just created.
The generation of power from rivers has seen an increase of nearly 6%, though some supporters say that could be much higher if planning laws were relaxed. Sally Challoner went to Longaller Mill in Somerset where Jo and William Beaumont have upgraded an ancient mill wheel to a modern system which generates enough electricity to power several homes. Presenter Charlotte Smith. Producer Ruth Sanderson.

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