Is There A Dark Side To Solar-Powered Irrigation Pumps?

Ripan Deb, a 37 year old farmer putting water to his field through a solar-powered water pump which ... [+] was installed in his field with the help of the Government of Tripuras subsidised policy in Gokulnagar, Agartala. Tripura, India. (Photo by: Abhisek Saha/Majority World/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Thousands of farmers in Africa and Asia have been using solar power to pump irrigation water — but researchers warn they could also cause an increase in aquifer depletion and carbon emissions.

In India, carbon emissions from irrigation pumps for are estimated at 2 percent to 7 percent of annual national total emissions, so replacing electric or diesel pumps with solar ones was thought to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In a 2024 policy forum paper, published in the international journal Science, Soumya Balasubramanya, senior economist at the World Bank and her co-authors argued that installing a solar pump is not guaranteed to lower emissions, as farmers may combine solar and fossil fuel sources.

"The paper argues that while solar irrigation has potential for reducing poverty and improving livelihoods and incomes in low and middle income countries (global south), greenhouse gas emissions reductions are not likely to meet expectations, and the groundwater use will increase," she says, adding that's limited incentives for farmers to reduce groundwater use, which could put further stress on these resources.

Globally, groundwater-level declines have accelerated over the past four decades in 30% of the world’s regional aquifers, especially in arid agricultural areas.

Balasubramanya explains that investments in solar pumps should go hand in hand with investments in measuring and managing the risks of groundwater depletion.

"We are advocating for improvements in integrated natural resource accounting, and regulation across multiple scales, to accompany expansions in solar irrigation to manage risks; and to carefully consider the complexity and costs involved in designing and implementing carbon credit programs, against a realistic assessment of emissions reductions," she says.

SOLAWATA, INDIA - MARCH 25: Indian farmer Hari Ram, 62, cleans solar panels on his land, used to ... [+] power a water pump and irrigation system for crops, on March 25, 2023 in Solawata, India. Ram purchased solar panels to generate power to pump water and run an irrigation system to help grow wheat, lower electricity bills and ensure a steady power supply, and is one of several farmers in the area adopting solar energy to help water crops. (Photo by Rebecca Conway/Getty Images)

Balasubramanya grew up in New Delhi, India and from a young age was interested in understanding the world around her.

"In the India that I grew up in, no one around me could help me understand how one became an archaeologist, or a volcanologist – India has NO volcanoes!" she says, "both areas of study meant meagre job prospects. And being a middle-class Indian kid, that was not an option."

She would go on to study at the Delhi School of Economics where she enjoyed taking courses in environmental economics, resource economics and development economics.

"What I wanted to do was work on issues of the environment as they affect the poor, which still seemed unclear, but fortuitously, I had an opportunity to be involved in a primary data collection activity for a World Bank project that was evaluating the effects of community forest management programs on deforestation and livelihood generation in one of the poorest parts of India," she says.

Balasubramanya would go on to spend several weeks in remote areas of India including Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, collecting data that would enable the investigators to answer questions about how deforestation could be reduced while also preserving the livelihoods of the poorest who depend on extractive activities to feed their families.

"After graduating, I pursued opportunities with the CGIAR, which is probably the only set of research institutes in the world that bridge the gap between rigorous scientific research and supporting policy decisions," she said.

This picture taken on October 20, 2022 shows a view of solar panels used to power water pumps for ... [+] irrigation at a farm in the locality of Kantaret Bizerte, near the northernmost point of Tunis and the African continent. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP) (Photo by FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images)

In Burkina Faso, in Africa's Sahel region, a group of drone operators are using surveying technology to improve irrigation and crop use.

More than 40 percent of the population of Burkina Faso lives below the national poverty line and according to the World Bank, it faces degraded soils, chronic drought, flash floods, windstorms, and disease outbreaks from impacts of climate change.

Claudel Guiella, training coordinator at Burkina Faso Flying Labs explains that for these reasons, agriculture based on a water management system is crucial to the socio-economic development of communities there.

"In 2023, we sought to exploit drone technology in the agricultural development sector, by working with the Projet de Développement Agricole de Soum, which has developed an irrigation scheme covering more than 1,000 ha in the village of Soum, benefiting more than 5,000 rural households," he says, adding that with conventional surveying techniques, engineers have to cover great distances, often dozens of miles on foot to survey points.

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