BUSINESS
US needs to cover land 50 times the size of Austin with solar PV to meet 2050 net-zero target
March 16, 2021
OSLO — US President Joe Biden clinched the top role last November on the back of a campaign promise to launch the Clean Energy Revolution in the country, with a chief aim of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
Rystad Energy estimates that the significant utility solar PV installed capacity required to meet the target would occupy around 13,412 square miles of land, equivalent to 0.43% of the total land area in the lower 48 states, or roughly 50 times the size of Austin, Texas.
Land scarcity is often cited as a key barrier to ramping up solar and wind energy capacity in the US, thus undermining the country’s revitalized decarbonization ambitions for the next 30 years.