| Sectors & Activities/Landowners Climate change and the growing demand for renewable electricity and low-carbon fuels has led to many opportunities for landowners to utilise their estates in new, exciting, and sustainable ways. Furthermore, the restructuring of the rules on land subsidies offers the chance for farmers to diversify away from food-crop production. Key amongst these opportunities are:
However, the world of energy production and biofuels is a perplexing one for the uninitiated. Great care needs to be taken to ensure the economical viability and environmental integrity of any potential project. More so then ever, clients need advisers who understand these new markets, and can help access funding and specialist technical advice. For other landowners with surplus land, perhaps in an urban environment, a viable project to develop, say, a generation facility with sustainable features, typically combined heat and power, is becoming easier to contemplate. Not only can this be an effective way of controlling increasingly volatile energy costs, but recent legislative changes should make it easier to sell on surplus power into the grid. For many years, Martineau has had a sizeable private client base. A significant number of these clients are substantial landowners and farmers, and we have provided a range of advice in relation to their agricultural and rural businesses. Many of our other clients also have significant landholdings, for example local authorities and universities. Our services here include advice on:
Ian Flavell, Partner
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