Rooftop Solar PV Could Supply Two-Thirds of World's Energy Needs, and Lower Global Temperatures
upstart writes:
Rooftop solar PV could supply two-thirds of world's energy needs, and lower global temperatures:
Covering rooftops across the planet with solar panels could deliver 65 per cent of current global power consumption and almost completely replace fossil fuel-based electricity, and it could also lower global temperatures by 0.13 degrees.
These are the findings from a new study from researchers at the University of Sussex that found rooftop solar PV could generate 19,500 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year. (Australia consumes around 250 TWh of electricity a year).
By using nine advanced Earth system models, geospatial data mining, and artificial intelligence techniques, the researchers were able to estimate the global rooftop area at a resolution of 1 kilometres to evaluate the technological potential of rooftop solar PV.
The researchers outlined their full methodology in an article published in the journal Nature, involving a lot of artificial intelligence machine learning that helped to determine that rooftops currently cover 286,393 kilometres-squared (km2) of the globe.
Of this 286,393km2, 30 per cent is unsurprisingly located in East Asia and 12 per cent by North America. China and the United States similarly comprised the largest collection of rooftops, with 74,426km2 and 30,928km2 respectively.
They were then able to extrapolate the generation potential of rooftop solar PV if every suitable rooftop was used, which resulted in annual electricity generation potential of 19,483TWh.
[...] The researchers were also able to use their findings to calculate the impact a global coverage of rooftop solar would have on global warming. While figures differed depending on the models and scenarios used, complete rooftop solar coverage based on current building stocks could mitigate global warming by 0.13-0.05 C.
Importantly, the researchers also warned that solar power offers taxpayers better value for money than nuclear and urged policymakers around the globe to prioritise rooftop solar.
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