Twelfth International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts & Responses

Abstract

Rapid decarbonization is an essential component of addressing climate change. However, electricity poverty is widespread in the developing world and associated with increased mortality, reduced educational levels, and economic and social disadvantages, especially among women. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has emphasized securing access to reliable and sustainable energy for all (Goal 7). For climatological and health reasons, particular attention has been focused on expanding the use of low-carbon generation sources (Goal 13), including renewables for electricity production. Photovoltaics, coupled with energy storage, is an attractive option for dispatchable electricity production, but the degree to which they can be used to address global electricity poverty is poorly understood. Here we present a global geospatial analysis to identify areas suitable for the production of dispatchable electricity using photovoltaics and energy storage. We consider land use restrictions, 25 years of hourly solar irradiance, population, nighttime light (as a measure of electrification), as well as the feasibility of above and below ground energy storage. We show that 77% of the global population resides in regions with contiguous land area capable of sitting photovoltaics and storage sufficient to provide 3,000kWhe of dispatchable electricity per capita per year with a capacity factor of 0.85. These same systems could provide this level of dispatchable electricity for 98% of the population living in areas with no measurable nighttime light.