Table 1 Requirements on the installed capacities of photovoltaic (PV) and wind power, power transmission, energy storage, land occupation, mineral supply, and investments when advancing the time to achieve energy supply systems with net-zero CO2 emissions from 2070 to 2040

From: Global spatiotemporal optimization of photovoltaic and wind power to achieve the Paris Agreement targets

Year to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions

Period of the energy transition

Installed PV power capacity (TW)

Installed wind power capacity (TW)

Capacity of power transmission (TW)

Capacity of energy storage (TW)

Lands required for placing PV panels (Mha)

Lands required for installing onshore-wind turbines (Mha)

Total demand for mineral (taking copper as an example) (Mt y−1)

Consumption of copper as a percentage to annual production (%)

Annual costs of PV and wind power (trillion 2020$ y−1)

Annual costs of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and other types of low-carbon energy (trillion 2020$ y−1)

Annual revenue of replacing fossil fuels (trillion 2020$ y−1)

Present value of costs of deploying PV, wind, CCS, and other types of low-carbon energy (trillion 2020$)

Present value of revenue of replacing fossil fuels (trillion 2020$)

Present value of net costs under a discount rate of 3% in the optimal case (trillion 2020$)

Present value of net costs under a discount rate of 3% in the baseline case (trillion 2020$)

2040

2021–2025

2.27

1.36

1.55

0.58

1.67

0.67

2.22

10.57

0.18

0.05

− 0.23

1.01

-0.98

0.04

0.77

2026–2030

3.02

1.53

2.81

0.60

2.27

0.76

2.76

13.17

0.56

0.18

− 0.68

2.90

-2.66

0.24

2.22

2031–2035

10.23

1.99

15.06

5.20

7.67

0.97

7.22

34.41

1.25

0.36

− 1.32

5.43

-4.48

0.95

5.24

2036–2040

7.51

3.61

16.65

6.11

5.57

1.79

6.73

32.09

2.26

0.57

− 2.17

8.33

-6.38

1.95

8.77

2021–2040

23.03

8.49

36.08

12.49

17.18

4.19

4.73

22.56

1.06

0.29

− 1.10

17.66

−14.50

3.17

17.00

2041–2070

9.47

7.96

6.34

3.81

6.96

4.00

1.74

8.31

3.31

1.12

− 3.77

47.54

-39.80

7.73

54.51

2021–2070

32.50

16.45

42.41

16.29

24.13

8.19

2.94

14.01

2.41

0.79

− 2.70

65.20

-54.30

10.90

71.51

2070

2021–2025

1.80

1.07

1.40

0.52

1.31

0.53

1.74

8.30

0.15

0.03

− 0.17

0.76

-0.73

0.03

0.63

2026–2030

1.13

0.93

1.21

0.37

0.83

0.47

1.26

6.02

0.38

0.10

− 0.45

1.89

−1.78

0.11

1.44

2031–2035

1.38

0.84

1.29

0.24

1.04

0.42

1.30

6.22

0.57

0.18

− 0.70

2.57

-2.38

0.19

2.00

2036–2040

1.99

1.16

2.17

0.82

1.49

0.57

1.96

9.33

0.80

0.29

− 0.98

3.19

-2.88

0.31

2.67

2021–2040

6.30

4.00

6.07

1.96

4.66

1.99

1.57

7.46

0.47

0.15

− 0.57

8.41

-7.77

0.64

6.74

2041–2070

25.12

12.39

34.45

13.83

18.70

6.18

3.74

17.81

2.33

0.80

− 2.68

31.01

-26.73

4.28

34.62

2021–2070

31.43

16.39

40.51

15.78

23.36

8.17

2.87

13.67

1.59

0.54

− 1.84

39.42

-34.50

4.92

41.36

  1. The results are derived from our optimal case except for the present value of net costs (the last column shows the estimate in the baseline case).
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