“For example a parking lot would have a lot greater effect on the weather than an equivalent sized solar PV farm.”
Good point and agreed. A “dark” parking lot would have a greater impact. I do think you understand my main point though. Anything we do to redirect energy or to generate it will affect the environment. As I said, there is no free lunch.
Ah... but there is a lot of lunch that is just thrown away. We need to learn to use that wasted energy better. There are new and untapped energy sources that we are on the verge of making practical.