dcf.cymru stimulus sheet · Geography · Year 11
Llanrhedyn, every company, group, newspaper, website, person and figure on this sheet are invented for practice. The web addresses are made up: do not type them in. The kinds of claim, and the mistakes in them, are the kind you will meet in real research.
Llanrhedyn is a market town of about 4,800 people (1,960 households) in mid Wales. Many homes are old, hard to heat and use heating oil. The town council wants to cut the town’s carbon emissions and energy bills. Three options are on the table:
| Option | What it is |
|---|---|
| A: Solar farm | Heulwen Renewables Ltd wants to build an 18 MW solar farm on 36 hectares of Fferm Tŷ Gwyn, 2 km north of the town. It would feed electricity into the national grid for 40 years, then be removed. |
| B: Home retrofit | A community energy co-operative, Ynni Rhedyn, wants to insulate 300 of the coldest homes and fit heat pumps and solar panels on their roofs. It would cost £3.6 million, paid by grants and loans. |
| C: Wait | Do nothing for now and wait for national schemes. |
A pupil typed llanrhedyn solar farm into a search engine. These were the first seven results, in this order.
“Tŷ Gwyn Solar is an 18 MW scheme that will power 12,000 homes with clean Welsh electricity. The project will create 150 jobs and bring a community benefit fund of £18,000 a year (£1,000 per MW) for local groups. There will be no loss of farmland: sheep will graze between the panels. We have built 14 solar farms across the UK.”
Heulwen Renewables Ltd is the company applying for planning permission. No author is named.
“80% OF LLANRHEDYN SAY NO! Our poll: 212 votes, 170 against. These toxic panels will leach chemicals into OUR BEST FARMLAND and the glare will blind drivers on the main road. Look at this photo of what they want to do to our valley! Share before it’s too late!!”
The poll was open to anyone who saw the post, including the group’s followers outside the town. The photo shows a very large solar farm in a dry, flat landscape; there is no caption saying where it is. The group is run by two families whose houses look out over Fferm Tŷ Gwyn.
“The town council posted a survey to every household in Llanrhedyn in January. Of 1,960 households, 588 replied: 241 support the solar farm, 218 oppose it and 129 are unsure.
Heulwen Renewables says the scheme will ‘power 12,000 homes’. The county council’s planning officer puts the figure at under half that. Campaigners say the panels will poison the soil; the planning officer’s report found no evidence of this.
The Ynni Rhedyn co-operative says its retrofit plan would do more for local people. Its chair, Councillor Huw Pryce, is also a member of the town council that will give its view on both plans. He told Y Gwyliwr he would not vote on the issue.”
“FACT: solar panels simply don’t work in cloudy countries like Wales. FACT: a solar farm uses more energy to build than it ever makes. FACT: every solar farm puts up local electricity bills by 20%. Experts agree!”
No author. No links to any evidence. The page carries adverts for home generators.
“Our plan: insulate 300 of Llanrhedyn’s coldest homes and fit heat pumps and roof solar panels. Cost £3.6 million, from Welsh Government grants and low-interest loans. Every home saves up to £400 a year. 12 local jobs for 3 years. Cuts carbon by 900 tonnes a year. The money stays in the town.”
Small print: “Savings based on 2022 energy prices.” Energy prices in 2022 were unusually high, so savings at later prices are likely to be smaller. The grants have been applied for but not yet awarded.