TURBINES AND SOLAR PANELS WOULD INCREASE DOWNPOURS AND ENCOURAGE PLANTS TO GROW
Could wind farms bring rain to the Sahara?
This image shows the Tadrart Acacus desert in western Libya, part of the Sahara
Wind and solar farms could turn parts of the Sahara green, suggests a new study which links the technology to increased rainfall. experts used computer climate modelling of the effects of building large renewable power installations in the barren region.
They found that wind farms could double the daily amount of rainfall by mixing warmer air from above with cooler air below. Solar panels, on the other hand, could increase downpours by up to 50 per cent, by reflecting light away from the desert floor and allowing vegetation to grow.
Compared to power generation involving fossil fuels, wind and solar technology’s effect on the region’s climate would have minimal effect on global temperatures.
The calculations used in the study would result in generation of more than four and a half times the world’s current energy needs.
The findings were made by scientists at the University Of Illinois at Urbana-champaign.
Installations covering vast areas could supply the energy needs of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as increasing rainfall, and ultimately plant growth. Wind farms would create a feedback loop whereby more evaporation, precipitation and plant growth occurs. Solar panels reduce surface albedo, or the reflection of light, which would trigger a positive ‘albedo– precipitation– vegetation’ feedback. The study is among the first to model the climate effects of wind and solar installations while taking into account how vegetation responds to changes in heat and precipitation.
Lead author Dr Yan Li, of the University of Illinois, said: ‘Previous modelling studies have shown that large-scale wind and solar farms can produce significant climate change at continental scales. ‘But the lack of vegetation feedbacks could make the modelled climate impacts very different from their actual behaviour.
‘We chose it because it is the largest desert in the world; it is sparsely inhabited; it is highly sensitive to land changes; and it is in Africa and close to Europe and the Middle East, all of which have large and growing energy demands.’
The wind and solar farms simulated in the study would cover more than 3.5 million square miles (nine million square kilometres) and generate, on average, about three terawatts and 79 terawatts of electrical power, respectively.
Dr Li said: ‘In 2017, the global energy demand was only 18 terawatts, so this is obviously much more energy than is currently needed worldwide.’
DAILY MAIL,6 SEPTEMBER 2018
The study is among the first to model the climate effects of wind and solar installations while taking into account how vegetation responds to changes in heat and precipitation