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Can a solar-wind system meet future energy demands?

Accelerating energy transition towards renewables is central to net-zero emissions. However, building a global power system dominated by solar and wind energy presents immense challenges. Here, we demonstrate the potential of a globally interconnected solar-wind system to meet future electricity demands.

Where do grid-boxes contain solar and wind resources?

In densely populated regions such as western Europe, India, eastern China, and western United States, most grid-boxes contain solar and wind resources apt for interconnection (Supplementary Fig. S1). Nevertheless, these regions exhibit modest power generation potential, typically not exceeding 1.0 TWh/year (Fig. 1a).

Are solar and wind resources interconnected?

Theoretically, the potential of solar and wind resources on Earth vastly surpasses human demand 33, 34. In our pursuit of a globally interconnected solar-wind system, we have focused solely on the potentials that are exploitable, accessible, and interconnectable (see “Methods”).

Is solar-wind deployment suitable?

We evaluate the suitability of solar-wind deployment focusing on three aspects: solar/wind exploitability, accessibility, and interconnectability, as elaborated in Supplementary Table S3. ‘Exploitability’ pertains to the restrictions dictated by land use and terrain slope for installing PV systems and wind turbines.