Greenhouse gases etc.

Buildings contribute to climate change

A new building

(Bild: ©GM Photography - stock.adobe.com)

The world's population is growing and more and more buildings are being erected. A research team has now calculated that the global roof area (currently 0.25 million square kilometers) will grow by up to 52 percent by 2080. This offers potential for solar energy.

The team led by Siddharth Joshi from the Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg near Vienna has developed a new type of machine method that uses data from around 700 million building footprints, global land cover and information on roads and population. The scientists used this to investigate how roof areas will increase under five different future scenarios up to 2080.

One result: the global roof area worldwide is 0.25 million square kilometers, while the built-up area is 1.46 million square kilometers. Asia had the largest share, followed by Europe, North America and Africa. There could be an increase of up to 52 percent by 2025. The team forecast the greatest growth for the continent of Africa.

"Solar energy potential for emerging countries"
These figures were also used to examine the potential for solar energy. "Rooftop solar energy holds considerable potential for emerging countries. Our data set can contribute to a more realistic planning of decentralized solar energy systems and thus demand sustainable energy solutions," says Joshi.

In 2019, buildings consumed around a fifth (18 percent) of the electricity generated annually worldwide and contributed slightly more (21 percent) to the greenhouse gases released. As the population grows and more new homes are built, the demand for electricity and building materials will increase, it says.

The study was published in the journal "Scientific Data".