Expansion of solar farms and deforestation in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

The installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar farms is increasing in Brazil, leading to environmental impacts, especially deforestation. The aim was to analyze the deforestation caused by the installation of PV solar farms in northern Minas Gerais state, Brazil, to guide the expansion of this technology while protecting forests. Applications and environmental licensing certificates for flora interventions, submitted for the installation of solar farms in northern Minas Gerais up to 2022, were obtained from government databases, downloaded, and analyzed. The extracted data included power plant capacity, area, vegetation suppression, preservation area interventions, and the number of trees removed. The expansion of solar farms in northern Minas Gerais could cover 94,735 ha and generate 42,018 MW. Around 35.3% of the 150 licensing applications required native vegetation suppression, 78% involved cutting isolated trees in anthropized areas, and 42% targeted immune or protected species. Suppression requests for installing solar farms included a total of 9759.0 ha of native vegetation, comprising 8687.3 ha of Cerrado and 1071.7 ha of tropical dry deciduous forest. Eighty-three thousand trees, including protected or restricted species, were requested for removal. The transition to solar energy must be sustainable, requiring strategic assessments and continuous monitoring to mitigate negative impacts on flora.