The biggest mistake in history and the 173 TWh we lost

Environmentalists, as you already know, are at odds with two different positions: some defend the large-scale deployment of renewable energy sources, while others condemn the use of natural ecosystems for this purpose. Perhaps both are right, as one of humanity’s greatest mistakes has shown us. The idea was to cover the Sahara solar panelsbut in the end we lost 173 TWh and now all we are left with is an empty, dark desert.

Why don’t we cover the Sahara with solar panels? It’s not as easy as it seems

It was quite encouraging to use the Sahara to generate renewable energy for the world by installing solar panels. But now we can be sure that if the planned project were to be realized, it would have devastating consequences for the climate of our planet.

Building solar panels in the world’s largest desert, better known as the Sahara, was originally proposed in the early 21st century. The premise was simple: The Sahara also benefits from high levels of radiation and therefore can facilitate the construction of solar farms on an industrial scale.

It has been estimated that it would take a huge amount of money to provide adequate coverage for just one percent of the population. It only takes 2% of the Sahara to produce enough electricity to supplement the world’s current energy consumption rates for solar panels.

Experts have made it clear: the biggest mistake in history must be stopped

The findings showed negative implications for the progress of the Sahara solar project, which had been steadily increasing in the years preceding the study. Other plans by international consortiums, such as the Desertec Industrial Initiative, existed and led to the proposal large solar farms in the Sahara will export electricity to Europe and other places.

However, the conclusions drawn in the study concerned aspects that emphasized the central role of the global climate system as interconnected. Thus, the article showed that even if promoting the use of renewable energy sources is a purely noble cause, it is important to understand the social implications of such actions and make necessary adjustments in strategy and approach.

What the experts found: Why covering the Sahara with solar panels is not a good idea

An astonishing project to build a solar power plant in the Sahara Desert caused shock when, in 2019, a team of scientists from the University of Illinois and the University of Maryland published cold facts about the project in the journal Nature Climate Change. This project would have a significant impact on regional and global climate conditions.

The main findings were as follows:

• Albedo decreased: Solar panels are black and as such are darker than desert sand: they heat up more and lower the surface albedo. This would increase the average temperature in the Sahara by 3°C, and in some stations the temperature would increase by up to 10°C.
• Changed rainfall patterns: If warming were to increase even more, it would affect the circulation of currents in the atmosphere, resulting in less rainfall further into the Sahel region south of the Sahara. This could pose a challenge, especially for the local population, as both countries are major food sources, especially in Third World countries.
• Global temperature rise: The chain of climate effects of the Sahara photovoltaic project would affect the atmospheric system worldwide, raising the average global temperature by about 0.16 °C.

Overall, researchers claimed that due to the project’s harmful climate impact, the production of 1,153 TWh of renewable energy per year was projected to be offset by a net loss of 173 TWh per year. This would neutralize any gains that could be expected from solar energy generation.

A project like this was not supposed to be without controversy (we also saw it on ethnic reservations in Texas), but we never imagined that it could become the greatest failure of humanity. These 173 TWh are not the only losses, because we must add the $2 billion that were invested and remained at a standstill. So where to place solar panels? Meanwhile, we leave them at home and by that, as you know, we mean self-consumption.