Representation by Josh Pollock
- Date submitted
- 17 February 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Sirs, I wish to register my support for this scheme. Given the current energy crisis and concerns about food security, Mallard pass seems to be a bit of a lightning conductor for anti-solar sentiment in the area, largely I fear in general ignorance of what our agricultural produce is used for. Solar farms on agricultural land deliver far more energy per acre than is produced by the same land currently used to grow millions of tonnes of wheat to make bioethanol (600,000 acres of wheat between the Vivergo plant ain Hull and Cropenergies' plant in Teeside alone), Oil seed rape for biodiesel, or maize for anaerobic digestion As a simple comparison, the wheat grown for bioethanol produces enough energy annually to power approximately 13000 miles of petrol car travel per acre of land used per annum, whilst this scheme will deliver approx. 810,000 miles of electric vehicle travel per acre per annum. OSR for biodiesel and maize for AD produce even less energy than wheat for bioethanol. I live within 6 miles of the scheme and have at least three Anaerobic Digestion plants closer to home, using up hundreds of acres of land to provide a fraction of the power that Mallard Pass will deliver (0.6MW in total compared to Mallard Pass’s 350MW). The land chosen for Mallard Pass is not “Good” agricultural land – it is average agricultural land at best – and some of the lowest quality land in Lincolnshire. The scheme will deliver environmental benefits locally as well as a significant contribution to our de-carbonisation targets, whilst freeing up better land to grow crops for food production. I fully support this scheme and trust the Minister will approve it Yours sincerely Josh Pollock