Green China: Nation's push for clean energy commended
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E-mail China Daily, November 27, 2012
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The Three Gorges Dam is the biggest hydropower producer in the world. [File photo/Xinhua] |
Seemingly unnoticed by the rest of the world are the extraordinary strides China has made to create and use various forms of alternative energy, particularly clean sources like hydropower, solar and nuclear power.
Constantly we read of pollution caused by China's use of coal for power, but the fact is that a considerable portion of the energy China uses every day comes not from fossil fuels but these three alternative sources.
China is the world's largest producer of hydroelectricity, which supplies at least 17 percent of the country's domestic power demands, or more than 720 terawatts.
The biggest hydropower producer in the world is the Three Gorges Dam project blocking the mighty Yangtze River at Yichang, Hubei province.
One measure of its size and strength is the fact that in times of heavy rain and upland flooding, this remarkable facility contains a reservoir of water stretching up to 600 kilometers upriver.
When floodwaters gushing into the dam approach its tolerance levels, the sluice gates are opened to relieve the pressure on the dam's huge wall, and with an immense roar, water gushes out at the rate of 70,000 cubic meters per second.
Besides hydropower, China is also a global leader in solar energy. More than 400 Chinese photovoltaic companies produce energy-gulping solar panels that are sold across the globe, making a huge contribution to reducing the use of air-polluting fossil fuel.
Equally important, solar power now contributes a significant 3.5 gigawatts of power across China, a figure set to expand exponentially by 2020.
The Golmud Solar Farm in Qinghai province is the world's largest solar power facility, absorbing a yearly average of 3,300 hours of sunshine that bombards the Golmud Desert. This year it won an award for China's Best-Quality Power Project. Altogether there are solar panels capable of producing 870 megawatts here, and its capacity is expected to reach 1,070 MW by year's end.
Many other solar power facilities are located across much of China, including such areas as Tianjin, Tibet, Shandong and Guangdong, with new ones being opened regularly.
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