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Abstract

Amassing the available solar energy over the Sahara desert, through the installation of a large scale solar farm, would satisfy current electricity needs. However, such land use changes may affect the global carbon cycle, possibly offsetting mitigation efforts. Here a fully coupled EC-Earth Earth System model (ESM) version 3.3.1 was used to investigate the impact of a Saharan solar farm on the global carbon cycle, simulated with prescribed reduced surface albedo approximating the albedo of Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. The resulting changes to the carbon cycle were an enhancement of the carbon sink across Northern Africa, particularly around the Sahel but a simultaneous weakening of the carbon sink in the Amazon basin. This is observed through changes to the values of net biospheric production (NBP) and therefore increases and decreases to net primary production (NPP) and heterotrophic respiration rates (RH). These changes to carbon sink potential correspond to a wetter and warmer climate occurring in Northern Africa and a drier and warmer climate in the Amazon. Due to theses coupled responses and complex teleconnections, thorough investigation of remote impacts of solar farms are needed to avoid unintended consequences on the global carbon cycle.