Dust Pollution Mitigation by Solar Farm Deployment in Northern China

Abstract Dust storms pose a growing threat to air quality and public health across northern China. As part of the carbon‐neutrality and clean‐air strategy, China is rapidly expanding solar farms, particularly in desert regions, yet their potential to mitigate dust pollution and improve downwind air quality remains poorly understood. Here, we develop an integrated modeling framework to quantify the effects of solar farms on dust emissions, atmospheric transport, and particulate matter pollution in northern China. We find that existing solar farms reduce particulate matter pollution by up to ∼5.7 μg/m 3 , with reductions reaching approximately 15.9 μg/m 3 (13.8%) under future expansion aligned with China's 2060 carbon‐neutrality target. These findings reveal an underappreciated air quality co‐benefit of renewable energy infrastructure, underscoring solar farms as a promising dual‐purpose strategy for both dust mitigation and decarbonization.