Solar farms to power half the world ‘could turn Sahara desert green’

SAHARA: The desert Sahara could help generate a limitless source of energy using panels in solar farms and wind farms and is most likely to power half the world by 2050.

But recently a new study has come to light that shows that not only these solar farms and panels will be able to generate limitless energy but they could actually turn the Sahara Desert Green!

A project where entirety of the Sahara was covered in solar and wind plants (3,500,000 square miles) would generate 79 terawatts of power. That’s four times the 18 terawatts used by the entire world in 2017.

The solar plants will have a huge effect on the landscape as use of solar wind turbines would pull warmer air towards the surface which in result could increase rainfall.

According to some researchers this process would double rainfall and increase vegetation by 20%.

A researcher, Eugenia Kalnay stated; ‘We found that the large-scale installation of solar and wind farms can bring more rainfall and promote vegetation growth in these regions.The rainfall increase is a consequence of complex land-atmosphere interactions that occur because solar panels and wind turbines create rougher and darker land surfaces.

She further added; ‘The increase in rainfall and vegetation, combined with clean electricity as a result of solar and wind energy, could help agriculture, economic development and social well-being in the Sahara, Sahel, Middle East and other nearby regions.’