Fact brief - Does clearing trees for solar panels release more CO2 than the solar panels would prevent?

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Does clearing trees for solar panels release more CO₂ than the solar panels would prevent?

Clearing trees to build solar farms does not negate their climate change benefits, because one acre of solar panels prevents far more CO₂ emissions than an acre of forest absorbs.

In the U.S., replacing equivalent natural gas power with one acre of solar prevents about 175 to 198 metric tons of CO₂ emissions per year.

In contrast, an average acre of forest sequesters less than 1 metric ton of CO₂ per year. An acre of solar cuts roughly 200 times more CO₂ than an acre of trees.

Cutting forest does release stored carbon, but even if all 304 metric tons of CO₂ in a forested acre were emitted during construction, a typical solar farm would offset that within two years of operation.

Only about 4% of U.S. solar projects have been built on forested land.

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This fact brief is responsive to quotes such as this one.

Sources

Alliance for Climate Transition Cutting down forests just to put up solar panels will make climate change worse

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Land Requirements for Utility-Scale PV: An Empirical Update on Power and Energy Density

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Electricity Generation: Update

EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator - Calculations and References

EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator - Revision History

Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer "yes/no" answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact — a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all of our published fact briefs here.

Posted by Sue Bin Park on Tuesday, 13 January, 2026

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