Shiny sea of solar energy while China is spreading desert installation
An ocean of blue solar panels wrinkles over the ocher -colored dunes of the Kubuqi desert of Inner Mongolia, a shimmering example of China’s almost unthinkable gigantic transition.
Even because other countries have taken the brakes on Woestijnzonne projects for economic or technical reasons, China – the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases – plays ahead.
Desert Solar installations are an important part of China’s plans to reach CO2 neutrality by 2060. The worldwide efforts of the country dwarmer the world capacity and is so substantial that it can even influence local weather patterns.
“There used to be nothing here … It was abandoned,” Kubuqi Local Chang Yongfei told AFP as he gestured to fields of glittering panels.
The installations are so huge, they are visible from the room.
AFP analysis of satellite images In the past decade, more than 100 square kilometers of panels is installed in Kubuqi, an area about the size of Paris.
On Thursday, China promised to extend the wind and solar capacity to more than six times are 2020 levels, because it tries to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 7-10 percent compared to peak levels.
The “determining factor” for building in the desert is the availability of unused country, according to analyst David Fishman.
But the remote, sun -drenched terrain is formidable challenges.
Sandstorms can break down panel fans, while blister temperatures reduce the efficiency of solar cells. Sand accumulation can demand scarce water for cleaning.
The solar panels of Kubuqi are designed to prevent those obstacles, with self -cleaning fans and double -sided cells with which they can capture the light off the ground, according to the Chinese state media.
– Infrastructure key –
The distance to energy-hungry urban areas, and the network inquiry that is needed to transport electricity has stalled desert projects from North Africa to the United States.
The energy generated in Kubuqi is intended for densely populated Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, hundreds of kilometers away.
And the growth of solar capacity – exceeding a goal of a government almost six years earlier – has not been matched by the development of the power network.
This ensures that some energy is lost, together with congestion on high -voltage lines.
Overcoming this requires infrastructure “to effectively assign power throughout the country and to send it without having bottlenecks take place,” Fishman said.
Some places, including Inner Mongolia and the neighboring Ningxia and Gansu, limit “new project goods inspections unless they can explicitly demonstrate” The energy will not be wasted, he added.
Nevertheless, China installed more solar energy in the first half of the year than the entire solar capacity in the United States from the end of 2024.
– coal –
The enormous scale of some desert zonne fields can create their own climatic effect, according to the Zhengyao LU from the University of Lund.
Heat tabsorption in large areas can change atmospheric streams and have “negative secondary effects”, such as rainfall reduction elsewhere, he said.
However, the risks of solar energy “remain small compared to the dangers of continuous emissions of greenhouse gases,” he added.
The expansion of the sun does not mean that fossil fuels have been abandoned, especially in the inner Mongolia, a traditional mining area.
Around Kubuqi, soot trucks and chimney stacks Berching Smoke show the perseverance of the industry.
In the first half of this year, China brought more coal force online than all times since 2016, said a report in August.
The polluting fuel “forms a really structural obstacle for the expansion of wind and solar energy,” said NGO Greenpeace this summer.
– ‘good transition’ – –
Chang, the local resident, said AFP that he used to work in the coal industry.
Now he runs a hotel consisting of huts nestled in the Zandduinen, not far from the solar fields.
View of the glittering solar cells have become online viral, because Kubuqi has become a popular domestic holiday destination.
“The transition has been very good for the region,” said 46-year-old Chang.
Quadbike Tours, Camel Rides and Dune Surfing have become a new source of income for the locals.
Chang is concerned about the expansion of solar energy can swallow the entire desert, and with it this new income flow.
“But I am confident that the government will leave us a bit,” he said.
“It should be enough.”
Ace/Lal/Reb/Je/Sah/Fox
