Significant regional climatic impacts of the wind farm redistribute air pollution in China

Abstract Non-technical summary We provide numerical evidence for the significant regional impacts of national-scale wind farms in China on climate and the resultant air pollution redistribution using dynamic numerical weather predictions and a multiscale air quality model. Wind farms in China influence the mesoscale atmospheric circulation in summer with a strong unstable atmosphere, leading to significant regional air pollutant responses. Although they do not produce additional emissions, wind farms redistribute air pollutants due to the change in atmospheric processes. It is urgent for the government and wind power industry to establish better policies and effectiveness measurements for the sustainable development of wind power. Technical summary As wind farms have developed rapidly worldwide, the interactions between wind farms and the environment have attracted increasing attention. However, how wind farms influence the climate and the resultant air pollution responses remains unclear. Here, we first show that wind farms in China have significant impacts on both climate and air pollutants by using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system. In particular, wind farms influence the mesoscale circulation under unstable conditions in summer, leading to significant regional climatic impacts with a remarkable wind loss of 3.2 m · s −1 in northern China, while a wind gain of 4.24 m · s −1 in southeastern China. Although wind farms do not produce additional emissions, they redistribute air pollutants due to the change in atmospheric processes. As a result, PM 2.5 increased in northeastern China with an average of 4.39 μg · m −3 but decreased in southeastern China with a mean of 3.27 μg · m −3 during 2015–2018. More significant impacts can be expected in the future, and urgent attention from the government and industry is required to establish better policies and effectiveness measurements for the sustainable development of wind power. Social media summary Wind farm clusters in China significantly affect the local and regional climate and then redistribute air pollution.