net-zero.vision
Receive every month a list of newly covered startups in our newsletter
Discover NEW cleantech startups every month
Discover NEW cleantech startups every month
China is revolutionizing the use of renewable energy. A massive solar park is being built in the Kubuqi Desert, which also enriches the environment. Here are the details.
Large-scale solar farms are not exactly a sight to behold, and for some, the thought may quickly arise that the land they occupy could be better used for agriculture, if possible, as many – though not all – installations are on contaminated land.
However, aside from that, a second look can reveal that these installations are more of a benefit to flora and fauna. Where the installations are located, there is no fertilization or pesticide spraying. Various herbs can grow wild and serve as insect pastures.
Occasionally, sheep graze under the installations, which increases biodiversity, or the operators mow to prevent shading. Sometimes young trees and bushes need to be removed for the same reason, unless the sheep take on the job.
A recently published study from the USA on the IOPScience platform confirms this positive effect on biodiversity and the benefits neighboring fields derive from it. Especially bees are much more common in the vicinity of open-field installations than along fields next to roads. The effect was observed in less than four years.
Solar panels can also help agriculture in other ways. Where solar radiation is too intense for plants, shading can promote growth. China now plans to take advantage of this on a large scale.
In the Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous province within the People's Republic of China, a solar park of superlatives was opened in December, which is also intended for greening, as reported by the Chinese newspaper Global Times.
On 6,666 hectares (100,000 Chinese mu), there are installations capable of delivering two gigawatts of electrical power. According to the Global Times, it is estimated that the solar park, which is also equipped with a large storage system, can generate 4.1 billion kilowatt-hours per year.