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13/10/2023 Renewables, Natural Capital, Grape-Picking

After a big solar farm in Yorkshire was rejected, we ask what criteria renewable energy companies use to chose their sites. The true value of an upland common. Grape harvest.

How do energy companies decide where to put renewables? After a Yorkshire couple, successfully challenged plans to build a solar installation on their tenant farm, we speak to the company that wanted to create a solar farm there, and find out how they select land for renewable projects.

Conservationists say the government's new agri-environment scheme, the Sustainable Farming Incentive, doesn’t reward farmers adequately for the human, social and cultural value of the land they manage. Friends of the Lake District has published research to establish the ‘true’ value of an upland common. We visit Little Asby Common in the Westmorland Dales to see why the charity thinks the 450 hectare site has a potential value of £61 million.

All week we're celebrating autumn fruits. It's been a good year for grapes, with vineyards enjoying a bumper harvest. One producer in Shropshire has enlisted a small army of volunteers to help pick the crop.

Presenter: Caz Graham
Producer: Jon Wiltshire

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13 minutes