China Turns On the World’s Largest Floating Solar Farm - Sensationalist Headlines

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/ZLQqTIV.png[/IMG] [QUOTE]Last week, workers switched on a solar energy plant capable of producing 40 megawatts of power, which floats on a manmade lake in China’s Anhui province near the city of Huainan, reports Sarah Zheng at the South China Morning Post. The array is the largest floating solar project in the world, though at the brisk pace China is building new renewable projects it’s unlikely to hold that title very long. Built by the company Sungrow Power Supply, the power plant will produce enough energy to power 15,000 homes, Zheng reports. While the company has not revealed the exact size of the operation, it produces twice as much energy as the previous holder of the largest-floating-solar-plant title, which is located in the same area and was launched by the company Xinyi Solar in 2016. Anhui province is a coal-rich region, and the Sungrow plant is located on a lake that was once the site of intensive mining. Heavy rains filled the area with water. As Zhen reports, the depth of the lake varies from 12 feet to 30 feet.[/QUOTE] [URL="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/china-launches-largest-floating-solar-farm-180963587/"]Source[/URL].

I mean even if it is intended as a big propaganda project you have to be a little concerned when China of all countries is doing more to combat climate change and encourage renewable energy than you are.

Good to see China stepping up the green power.

Was about to ask why they'd build it on water but then I read this part of the article [QUOTE]So why build solar plants on top of lakes and reservoirs? Fiona Harvey at The Guardian explains that building on bodies of water, especially manmade lakes that are not ecologically sensitive, helps protect agricultural land and terrestrial ecosystems from being developed for energy use. The water also cools the electronics in the solar panels, helping them to work more efficiently, reports Alistair Boyle for The Telegraph.[/QUOTE] Neat.

[QUOTE=RearAdmiral;52327641]I mean even if it is intended as a big propaganda project you have to be a little concerned when China of all countries is doing more to combat climate change and encourage renewable energy than you are.[/QUOTE] The Chinese are quite pragmatic people. They understand they need to change to ensure the health of their fellow Chinese.

[QUOTE=RearAdmiral;52327641]I mean even if it is intended as a big propaganda project you have to be a little concerned when China of all countries is doing more to combat climate change and encourage renewable energy than you are.[/QUOTE] It's not just propaganda - renewable energy is one of the world's fastest growing markets and the technology is slowly getting to the point where renewables will completely overtake fossil fuels in both efficiency as well as cost. Investing now is the perfect time as the cost just hit a breaking point new low. China is simply making a business decision that just happens to be saving the planet. If they keep investing at the rate they currently are, they're going to completely undercut their projected emissions moving forward, which is insane to think about. [editline]8th June 2017[/editline] Thanks to the Republicans and their fossil fuel dialog, the United States is not only harming the environment far more than it should, it's also less competitive as a result.

I am super glad to see China continue their ridiculous expansion of renewables. I hope to see more advancements out of them, keep showing to the world that green energy is the way forward China. Your investments are really showing other countries a different path forward to provide energy in a less costly and efficient way.

[QUOTE=Xyrec;52327746]Was about to ask why they'd build it on water but then I read this part of the article Neat.[/QUOTE] I suppose in the case of reservoirs it would also alleviate evaporation to a degree. Quite ingenius. There are other reservoirs that have resorted to dumping in black plastic balls to do the same.

[QUOTE=FezianEmperor;52328042]I am super glad to see China continue their ridiculous expansion of renewables. I hope to see more advancements out of them, keep showing to the world that green energy is the way forward China. Your investments are really showing other countries a different path forward to provide energy in a less costly and efficient way.[/QUOTE] Don't think too deeply about it -- the fact that it's saving the world is merely a byproduct, although it is a good one. Renewables are the future, and the global economy is gearing itself towards a renewable system , which by default means it's going to make the most money. Fossil fuels are being phased out, and the United States is the only first world country that's actively aiming for a backwards solution.

Jokes on them, next week america is opening the world's largest floating coal mine over a nature preserve. Instead of wasting all the effort of transporting the waste to a nearby river and having it transport it to the ocean, it deposits its waste directly into the ocean. How's that for green you fuckin commies?

[QUOTE=aznz888;52328334]Don't think too deeply about it -- the fact that it's saving the world is merely a byproduct, although it is a good one. Renewables are the future, and the global economy is gearing itself towards a renewable system , which by default means it's going to make the most money. Fossil fuels are being phased out, and the United States is the only first world country that's actively aiming for a backwards solution.[/QUOTE] [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_electricity_production_from_renewable_sources[/url] We're still in second place regarding renewable energy, and that's not counting nuclear (not renewable I know). 11.1% of all energy in the U.S. is renewable, and 20% is from nuclear power. Still a long way to go to. China produces 20% from renewable but only 2-3% from nuclear.

Renewable energy in a global (and often volatile) fossil fuel market only makes sense, especially if you rely on importing most of it. Being able to generate your own energy at home from an easily accessible source should make more than enough sense for the nay-sayers, and yet it doesn't.

[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;52327959]It's not just propaganda - renewable energy is one of the world's fastest growing markets and the technology is slowly getting to the point where renewables will completely overtake fossil fuels in both efficiency as well as cost. Investing now is the perfect time as the cost just hit a breaking point new low. China is simply making a business decision that just happens to be saving the planet. If they keep investing at the rate they currently are, they're going to completely undercut their projected emissions moving forward, which is insane to think about. [editline]8th June 2017[/editline] Thanks to the Republicans and their fossil fuel dialog, the United States is not only harming the environment far more than it should, it's also less competitive as a result.[/QUOTE] Good points, I was under the impression that this was the case as well. It just seemed a little surprising given my understanding was that China's not got the best record in terms of environmentalism.

[QUOTE=SpaceGhost;52329656][url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_electricity_production_from_renewable_sources[/url] We're still in second place regarding renewable energy, and that's not counting nuclear (not renewable I know). 11.1% of all energy in the U.S. is renewable, and 20% is from nuclear power. Still a long way to go to. China produces 20% from renewable but only 2-3% from nuclear.[/QUOTE] It's quite different if you look at stats that take into account the population of the country. I mean, of course the US will be high up on the list just by the brute force of having such a huge population, but 11% renewable power is not close to world-leading.

[QUOTE=RearAdmiral;52327641]I mean even if it is intended as a big propaganda project you have to be a little concerned when China of all countries is doing more to combat climate change and encourage renewable energy than you are.[/QUOTE] My favorite part about this is that the quintessential conservative response to climate change is "well why bother when China and India are just going to keep on polluting!!". Meanwhile..

[QUOTE=srobins;52331782]My favorite part about this is that the quintessential conservative response to climate change is "well why bother when China and India are just going to keep on polluting!!". Meanwhile..[/QUOTE] To be honest, I've never really understood that argument because it's ridiculously patronizing, even as a brush off. Yes, China has kept terms in the agreement that give them a free pass on CO2 for a certain amount of time as they transition. However, there is an automatic assumption that both nations are going to treat this as some sort of "Let's do as much as coal as we can and really fuck up the joint" rather than see it as keeping a door open for them to maneuver into cleaner energy. It's almost as if people don't understand that India and China, holders of almost a third of the world's population, don't understand the implications of fucking up the climate that they're to be treated like naughty, errant children, while also making a metric fuck ton of shit for western countries (more so in China's case than India - India's just got a fuck ton of people).