Global Warming Potential of the Change in Land Use from Citrus Fields to Solar Parks

The current trend towards decarbonization has increased the pressure towards land use change through the installation of solar parks on agricultural fields. The usefulness of RothC to model the evolution of soil carbon after the installation of the solar park has been validated in a field with historic data. The model has been applied to evaluate the impact of a large-scale modification of land use in Valencia (Spain), a mediterranean region with an ambitious plan for the installation of renewable energy. The removal of the orange trees for the installation of a solar park would generate a carbon release in CO 2 eq to 72 Mg ha −1 . If the soil is left vacant of vegetation, another 28 Mg ha −1 would be emitted in 30 years. By contrast, if the soil is covered by scrubland, an overall CO 2 capture of −226 Mg ha −1 could be achieved, including the impact of the initial plant removal. If we consider the Valencia region, the installation of 12.000 hectares of solar parks could generate up to 1.2 × 10 6 Mg of CO 2 emissions or capture 2.7 × 10 6 Mg of CO 2 . Also, a sensitivity analysis to evaluate the effect of the main labels has been performed, revealing that the original carbon content is the most relevant label, followed by plant input and the % of soil covered by the solar panels. The limited availability in experimental data means that this study should be considered an exploratory evaluation of the impact of including plantations in solar parks.