Exploration of a novel geoengineering solution: lighting up tropical forests at night

Abstract

Plants primarily conduct photosynthesis in the daytime, offering an opportunity to increase photosynthesis and carbon sink by providing light at night. We used a fully coupled Earth system model to quantify the carbon sequestration and climate effects of a novel carbon removal proposal: lighting up tropical forests at night via lamp networks above the forest canopy. Simulation results show that additional light increased the tropical forest carbon sink by 10.4±0.05 Pg of carbon per year during a 16-year lighting experiment, resulting in a decrease in atmospheric CO2 and suppression of global warming. In addition, local temperature and precipitation increased. The energy requirement for capturing 1 t of carbon is lower than that of direct air carbon capture. When the lighting experiment was terminated, tropical forests started to release carbon slowly. This study suggests that lighting up tropical forests at night could be an emergency solution to climate change, and carbon removal actions focused on enhancing ecosystem productivity by altering environmental factors in the short term could induce post-action CO2 outgassing.