EGU22-4759
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-4759
EGU General Assembly 2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Impacts of large‐scale Sahara solar farms on global climate, vegetation cover and solar potential

Zhengyao Lu1, qiong Zhang2, Paul Miller1, Jingchao Long3, Qiang Zhang2, Ellen Berntell2, and Benjamin Smith4
Zhengyao Lu et al.
  • 1Lund University, Lund, Sweden (luzhengyao88@gmail.com)
  • 2Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
  • 3Guangdong Ocean University
  • 4Western Sydney University

Large-scale photovoltaic solar farms envisioned over the Sahara desert can meet the world's energy demand while increasing regional rainfall and vegetation cover. However, adverse remote effects resulting from atmospheric teleconnections could offset such regional benefits. We use state-of-the-art Earth-system model simulations to evaluate the global impacts of Sahara solar farms. Our results indicate a redistribution of precipitation causing Amazon droughts and forest degradation, and global surface temperature rise and sea-ice loss, particularly over the Arctic due to increased polarward heat transport, and northward expansion of deciduous forests in the Northern Hemisphere. We also identify reduced El Niño-Southern Oscillation and Atlantic Niño variability and enhanced tropical cyclone activity. Comparison to proxy inferences for a wetter and greener Sahara ∼6,000 years ago appears to substantiate these results. In addition, through perturbed atmospheric circulations, the global cloud cover is affected, and in turn, the solar potential in many heavily solar-powered regions. Understanding these responses within the Earth system provides insights into the site selection concerning any massive deployment of solar energy in the world's deserts.

How to cite: Lu, Z., Zhang, Q., Miller, P., Long, J., Zhang, Q., Berntell, E., and Smith, B.: Impacts of large‐scale Sahara solar farms on global climate, vegetation cover and solar potential, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-4759, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-4759, 2022.

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