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Wind and solar farms are known to have local effects on heat, humidity and other factors that may be beneficial -- or detrimental -- to the regions in which they are situated. A new climate-modeling study finds that a massive wind and solar installation in the Sahara Desert and neighboring Sahel would increase local temperature, precipitation and vegetation. Overall, the researchers report, the effects would likely benefit the region.
The study, reported in the journal Science, 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, said lead author Yan Li, a postdoctoral researcher in natural resources and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois.
"Previous modeling studies have shown that large-scale wind and solar farms can produce significant climate change at continental scales," Li said. "But the lack of vegetation feedbacks could make the modeled climate impacts very different from their actual behavior.
Also at BBC.
Journal Reference:
Yan Li, Eugenia Kalnay, Safa Motesharrei, Jorge Rivas, Fred Kucharski, Daniel Kirk-Davidoff, Eviatar Bach, Ning Zeng. Climate model shows large-scale wind and solar farms in the Sahara increase rain and vegetation. Science, 2018; 361 (6406): 1019 DOI: 10.1126/science.aar5629
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday September 07 2018, @04:57AM (15 children)
I question the rain claim.
Its been my observation that it takes elevation ( mountain ranges ) to effect the pressure and temperature changes needed to wring the water which was obtained from the ocean out of the air. The air has to come in with sufficient kinetic energy then hit a mountain range, which will cause cooling by reducing air pressure, which drops the dew point low enough to promote precipitation.
Or, if it air flows far enough North or South, the absence of insolation will do the trick. But equatorial desert?
Now, if you have a lot of water in the system already, a rain forest will also provide the temperature differentials to drop the water from the air. Such as in the Amazon, and SouthEast Asia.
Now, putting in thousands of acres of black solar panels... ummm, yeah... you gonna heat the place up a bit too!
Cherish our forests... they are the best thing we have going for this planet.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 07 2018, @05:30AM (1 child)
Some are more concerned about the acoustic properties of the earth. These are ruined by solar panels, wind mills, coal/oil/etc mines. All of these suggestions are destructive technologies to them.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday September 08 2018, @01:19AM
So you're suggesting we go back to the '80's? When vaccines actually helped rather than hurt people?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by suburbanitemediocrity on Friday September 07 2018, @06:34AM
After the dude fire in AZ that burnt 12000 hectares of trees in northern AZ, the weather changed there significantly.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Arik on Friday September 07 2018, @06:42AM (2 children)
So yes, if human intervention results in higher temperatures in the area it's perfectly possible the same dominos will fall, the monsoon season will get even wetter and the rain will spread even further, and the Sahara will bloom again.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday September 07 2018, @07:27AM (1 child)
Interesting... I would have thought more heat in the Sahara would just keep more of the water in the air.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by Arik on Friday September 07 2018, @07:43AM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Friday September 07 2018, @09:05AM (2 children)
I say we test it out. Best case scenario, it works and "greens" the Sahara. Worst case scenario, we kill off some dung beetles and provide a large chunk of the world's electricity needs.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Friday September 07 2018, @10:56AM (1 child)
The arab states have money and, I think, realise that the oil money will not last forever (because precisely the wind and solar is becoming cheaper and peak oil). It makes a lot of sense to invest now...
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Friday September 07 2018, @11:33AM
The Saudis appear to realize that and are dumping (or planning to dump) money into renewable energy and other big ideas:
Saudi Arabia Planning $500 Billion Megacity and Business Zone [soylentnews.org]
Of course, it's possible that the vision is just a PR stunt or will end up half-baked:
Masdar City: The UAE's "Zero-Carbon" Ghost Town [soylentnews.org]
There's also the prototype Mars city [popsci.com] being built by the UAE. Which is a good idea because if you subtract the oil from some of these places, they might as well be Mars (although Mars gets less solar energy).
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by rigrig on Friday September 07 2018, @10:24AM (1 child)
Good thing people actually researched this then:
Or with proper anecdotal evidence: (instead of all this sciency stuff in the actual report)
I live in the Netherlands, famous for its flatness, and it rains here all the time. In fact, it rained on me this very morning!
No one remembers the singer.
(Score: 3, Funny) by coolgopher on Friday September 07 2018, @10:52AM
Bah, anecdotal evidence. Besides, you're below sea level anyway so it was probably just spray from a breaker! ;)
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday September 08 2018, @02:28AM (3 children)
That doesn't explain rainfall in the central US, for example.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday September 08 2018, @03:59AM (2 children)
Yeh... I am in Southern California and note how much water gets dropped out on mountaintops. If you can get the air saturated with water, then send a stream of cold air down, you are gonna drop water, and I believe the arctic air coming down from Canada to the Central America does just that, and stirs up a lot of tornadoes as well. I believe the trick is to get the air saturated with water first.. and that probably involves forests or the ocean... sometimes hundreds of miles away.
I don't believe there's all that much water in the desert, so it's gotta come from somewhere else. In the midwest, I think we are getting a lot of water from airborne Canadian ice sublimation, whereas the Sahara has the Mediterranean Sea nearby... maybe the air currents will blow that moisture laden air over the Sahara, but something has to drop the temperature to wring the water out.
Anything around there that can cause quick pressure drops that will drop the air temp, which will drop the water?
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 08 2018, @06:26AM (1 child)
Something that will drop the air temp?
Hmm, how about night-time? Usually that's cold in a desert.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday September 08 2018, @06:56AM
Good point... maybe not rain.... Dew!
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 4, Funny) by krishnoid on Friday September 07 2018, @05:29AM (3 children)
All of this sounds good ... until the sandworms start showing up.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 07 2018, @07:32AM
You paid little attention to Maud Dib. All you need is a good hook.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday September 07 2018, @01:17PM (1 child)
You say that like it's a bad thing. I could use some spice. Being able to predict the future would come in handy right now.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Saturday September 08 2018, @06:28AM
For most of the people round here, the anti-aging effects would probably be more use.
No problem is insoluble, but at Ksp = 2.943×10−25 Mercury Sulphide comes close.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 07 2018, @06:16PM (1 child)
the photovoltaics transform one form of energy into another, so from "heat rays" into "electricity".
also they shade the floor, were most of the water falling from the sky goes ...
plants do something similar: "heat rays" and water gets transformed into "woody mass".
i am still trying to teach the monthly gardener help that mowing the lawn in the middle of the day is BAD. the cut grass blade is DAMAGED and "bleeds" out water. cut it in the late afternoon.
also not to cut when there's no rain in sight for weeks; the unsightly long grass covers the floor and provides shade so that the ground doesn't lose water soo much... but NOOO, the grass must be cut because it is not "pretty" ...
anyways, cover/shade the ground so it loses less water and use the magic of photovoltaics to transform some of the "heat rays" into something else.
also, all life prefers cold water, preferably less then 23 deg. C.
life grows better in "coolish" water then hot water (see boiling pot).
thus if you have water, let it flow and keep it cool/shaded.
for the metal-robot-physics-minded, you can start calculating how much cooler a regular shaded area -vs- a (electricity producing) photovoltics shaded area is. were did the heat go?
next: place a heat-exchanger (air-con) in the area ... calculate and measure?
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday September 08 2018, @04:12AM
Unfortunately you cannot make heat "go away", you can only move it somewhere else, and you always end up with more heat overall than before, no matter what you do.
( The laws of thermodynamics are a bitch here... No free lunch... everything I get here, I gotta pay somewhere else. )
Maybe if excess heat could be routed to the black PV arrays at night, the heat could be beamed off into deep space ( blackbody radiation ). While that does nothing for the total heat picture of the Universe, it does get some off the Earth, just as an air conditioner will make your house more comfortable, but heats up your neighborhood a little bit to do it.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]