China has shown its seriousness in counteracting pollution by shutting down an unprecedented number of factories. It recently installed the world’s biggest air purifier to fight pollution and a panda-shaped solar farm built over 250 acres is one of the few steps taken by China to purify the environment and to move away from coal. Another step towards this end is the world’s largest floating solar farm that is sitting on a lake which used to be a coal mine.
According to the South China Morning Post, the floating solar farm has 166,000 panels and a total capacity of 40 megawatts which is enough to power 15,000 homes. China still uses a lot of oil, coal and natural gas but is rapidly moving towards renewable energy sources and has experienced a huge boom in solar production. Solar PV accounted for 126 gigawatts in November 2017 which was a 67 % increase as compared to the same time in 2016.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) found that China is entering a new phase of its economic development in the yearly overview of the world’s energy markets. They found that China is moving away from heavy manufacturing and carbon-intensive industries. They are making ambitious investments in clean energy projects like the one in question.
Building solar farms over water has another advantage. It does not interfere with terrestrial ecosystems, preserving wildlife and local vegetation. Placing the panels on water also keeps the panels cool improving efficiency by preventing the cells from overheating.
China is the world’s biggest polluter owing to the huge population of 1.4 billion. Moving completely away from coal is no small feat for the nation and it will still take a number of years before China is finally on the level it is hoping to achieve. However, going at the rate at it currently is, investing heavily in renewable energy projects it will definitely reach its goal one day.
You can watch it in the video below:
