Wind and solar power in China on track to help avoid global warming - Interesting Engineering

Wind and solar power in China on track to help avoid global warming
Wind and solar power in China on track to help avoid global warmingThe nation is increasing its deployment of clean energy, a move that may help thwart climate change.Loukia Papadopoulos| Jul 02, 2023 09:45 AM ESTCreated: Jul 02, 2023 09:45 AM ESTinnovationSolar panels in China.WangAnQi/iStock Stay ahead of your peers in technology and engineering - The BlueprintBy subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Policies You may unsubscribe at any time.A new report by Global Energy Monitor, an independent research group whose work is often used by the World Bank, is revealing that wind and solar power growth in China may help curb global carbon emissions far faster than expected and possibly avoid the catastrophic effects of global warming.Solar panel installations alone in the energy-greedy nation are growing at a pace that would increase global capacity by 85 percent by 2025, stated the report.In fact, the nation’s green energy targets for 2030 currently are on track to be exceeded five years ahead of schedule, a move that would prove very beneficial to thwarting climate change. See Also Related China's first desert-based solar and wind energy farm goes online Chinese projects to trap 1.5 million tonnes of carbon are now online West’s growing cleantech is denting Chinese dominance over green energy Not all is rosy, however. Coal plants are also on the rise, partly as backup for all the new wind and solar farms.It has been reported that China is the world's biggest consumer of coal and use of the carbon-intensive power source is responsible for around 69 percent of China's emissions of carbon dioxide.The authors of the report offer a comprehensive look at China's current installed green energy capacity, but also make projections on what's been announced and in construction over the next two years.The finds are impressive with China having more solar panels installed in large-scale projects than the rest of the world combined. On wind energy alone, the country has increased its capacity since 2017 by more than double.Doubling capacity by 2025The report also predicted that the nation will also more than double its capacity for wind and solar by the end of 2025.To achieve this, China would increase its global wind turbine fleet by 50 percent and its solar installations by 85 percent."We believe that the surge in building renewables certainly provides a basis for peaking [China's] carbon emissions earlier than 2030," told the BBC Martin Weil, one of the report's authors.Now, all the nation has to do is curb its coal use. That, however, remains a challenge.In 2022, China was reported to have built two new coal fired power stations every week most notably to provide back up power for solar and wind intermittency and to ensure continuity of energy supply when clean energy sources are not working."The big issue going forward is how will these coal plants actually be deployed," Weil added."One hopes that they're deployed in a way that that puts the ratio of renewables to coal as high as possible."Just five days ago, we reported how China is installing the world's largest wind turbine enough to power 25,000 households. HomeInnovationAdd Interesting Engineering to your Google News feed.Add Interesting Engineering to your Google News feed.SHOW COMMENT (1) For You Astronomers are organizing against the 'unsustainable' Starlink problemWorld's fastest jetliner 'Overture' closer to reality thanks to its 'Symphony' enginesHow scientists engineered a material that can 'think' and 'sense'Researchers discover new method to collect water from humidity using organic crystalsMissing sub: 'Catastrophic implosion' killed all five on board the TitanDoes being a veggie make you depressed?Rescue expert confirms: Debris is missing sub's landing frame and fairingTitanic director James Cameron knew about the sub's fate since Monday'Debris field' just discovered in search area for missing Titan SubThe age when scientists are most productive pinpointed by a new study Job Board