Representation by Lisa Bowman
- Date submitted
- 16 March 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am totally opposed to the Sunnica scheme. The land produces high quality vegetables (potatoes, onions, carrots, cereals and sugar beet). The destabilisation of Europe as shown by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has served to highlight the fragile nature of global food supply as well as the dependency on Russian gas. We import 40% of our food; global shortages of wheat, barley and cooking oil are being forecasted. There are two equally important national needs, energy and food, competing for the same resource – land. You can choose where to put solar schemes – you cannot choose what crops you can grow where. The best land to grow high quality onions and the best quality finish on potatoes is achieved from the sandy loams within the proposal, onions do not grow well on grade 1 silts. Paul Christensen, Newcastle University Professor said from 2018 to August 2021 there were 38 large lithium-ion battery fires; because of the release of gases “we don’t have a definitive answer of what is the best way to deal with an energy storage fire,” “They are essential to the decarbonisation of this planet but their penetration into society has far outstripped our actual knowledge of the risks and hazards associated with them,” Gavin Harper, (University of Birmingham research fellow) said: “it’s imperative that we decarbonise rapidly, but at the same time, we need to take a precautionary approach as we deploy new technologies at scale” . • Beijing: 235 firefighters attempted to bring a fire under control, two firefighters died when Lithium-ion PHOSPHATE batteries exploded. • September 2019 a lithium-ion battery caught fire in Liverpool, people told not to leave their homes because of toxic fumes. • Arizona fire (caused by a short circuit) left a fire fighter with life changing injuries, the report on the fire says, “lessons the industry has learned from these incidents is that Li-ion batteries are inherently fragile, any electrical, thermal, or mechanical abuse, along with internal defects, can potentially initiate cell failure and thermal runaway,” DNV GL McMicken incident report. ‘Thermal runaway’ cause -faulty cells, overcharging or damage. Extreme heat and toxic gases are produced, which form a vapour cloud that can ignite or explode. Water merely cools the batteries; as they break down they produce their own oxygen and reignite. Installing batteries close to villages is irresponsible and negligent, a Grenfell decision. No plans for the safe disposal of contaminated toxic water, drinking and irrigation water is taken from the aquifer. Ground nesting birds, including the highly protected Stone Curlew’s natural defence is camouflage, and nesting on flat open fields enabling it to see predators. Obstruction caused by solar panel ground mountings renders it no longer suitable for ground nesting birds. Small mitigation sites offer little in comparison to the 2700 acres lost. Erosion from rainwater run-off and the subsequent silting of rivers, leading to damage to the ecology of those rivers and a loss of irreplaceable topsoil. Total industrialisation of the landscape, loss of amenity and views, potential destruction of archaeology. The land at Bay Farm, Worlington is already allocated under the planning permission for the AD plant for distribution of waste from said plant.