China is using technology and innovation to turn the Gobi Desert into a "green power plant"
2024-08-14
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Photo taken on May 16th, the Ulan Buh Desert Photovoltaic Base in Dengkou County, Bayannur City, Inner Mongolia (drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li YunpingXinhua News Agency, Hohhot, August 13 (Reporters Wei Jingyu, Zhang Xiaolong, Wang Xuebing) On the edge of the Ulan Buh Desert in western Inner Mongolia, rows of photovoltaic panels are rippling in the sun, and green buds of sand plants are sprouting in the yellow sand under the panels. From a distance, a blue and green painting is interwoven in the desert. The "photovoltaic + ecological governance" project is changing the old appearance of the Ulan Buh Desert.
The Ulan Buh Desert is one of the eight major deserts in China. It is extremely short of water and it is difficult for plants to grow.
"The continuous photovoltaic modules can absorb a large amount of sunlight, reduce the evaporation of the sand under the panels, and provide a suitable growth space for sand-dwelling plants such as Haloxylon ammodendron, thereby reducing the flow of wind and sand." Zheng Qian, head of an ecological company that is carrying out the "Photovoltaic + Ecological Governance" project in Dengkou County, Bayannur City, said that the needs of ecological restoration were also taken into consideration when laying photovoltaic panels. The spacing and height of the panels were expanded to leave enough space for the growth of vegetation under the panels.
It is understood that after the 850,000-kilowatt "photovoltaic + ecological governance" project in Dengkou County is connected to the grid and put into operation at full capacity, the annual grid-connected power generation can reach 1.65 billion kilowatt-hours, the annual output value can reach 467 million yuan, the annual carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by 1.721 million tons, and 672,700 tons of standard coal can be saved. The ecological governance area of about 26,000 acres can be completed, and more than 4,000 people can be employed during the construction period.
In recent years, many provinces and regions in northern China have been carrying out ecological governance with the innovative model of "photovoltaic + ecological governance", combining the two major functions of ecological restoration and photovoltaic power generation to achieve a win-win situation of ecological and economic benefits.
What kind of plants are suitable for planting under photovoltaic panels? Zhang Jingbo, deputy director of the Desert Forestry Experimental Center of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, led a team to conduct research in Dengkou County for many years. After screening and breeding many desert plant species, they selected plant species such as Haloxylon ammodendron, Caragana korshinskii, and Atriplex quadrangularis. Zhang Jingbo said that the selection criteria are first low water consumption and second low cost, because ecological governance is a long-term process, and it must also be sustainable and profitable.
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were only more than 50,000 small trees in Dengkou County, and the desert area was as high as 77%. Over the past 70 years, the local area has adopted various methods to control sand, and now 2.1 million mu of desert is covered with green, and innovative models such as "photovoltaic + Haloxylon ammodendron" and "photovoltaic + Caragana korshinskii" have opened up a new situation for sand control in Dengkou County.
Inner Mongolia is the largest and most diverse ecological functional zone in northern China. It is responsible for 60% of the desertification control in the sixth phase of the country's "Three Norths" project. It is China's main battlefield for desertification control and the main line of defense against sandstorms.
In the work of desertification prevention and control, Inner Mongolia has promoted the integrated development of sand control and new energy development, accelerated the construction of centralized photovoltaic projects and power grid main grid projects in the "Shagohuang" area, and actively explored the three-dimensional development model of "power generation on panels, planting under panels, and breeding between panels", striving to achieve a win-win situation of increasing greening, energy and income.
This year, Inner Mongolia's sand prevention and control and wind power photovoltaic integration project will complete the treatment of 2.3 million mu of desertified land and provide supporting new energy installed capacity of 27.27 million kilowatts.
Not only in Inner Mongolia, due to the implementation of the "photovoltaic + ecological governance" project, "green power plants" built according to local conditions have appeared in the Gobi Desert in northwest China.
A photovoltaic sand control project in Shaya County, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, photographed on March 23. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang XiaolongIn Shaya County, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, on the northern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, a photovoltaic company is trying to use photovoltaic power generation to extract water, which can not only clean the photovoltaic panels, but also cultivate alkali-resistant and drought-resistant desert plants.
The Taklimakan Desert is the second largest mobile desert in the world and the largest desert in China. As a neighbor of the desert, Shaya County is often attacked by wind and sand. Therefore, Shaya County is responding to the national call and launching the "Taklimakan Desert Edge Blocking Battle".
Unlike other areas, the photovoltaic power plants in Shaya County must first solve their own survival problems before they can be connected to the grid. The person in charge of a photovoltaic enterprise told reporters that when setting up photovoltaic panels in the desert, it is necessary to regularly clean the floating dust several centimeters thick on the photovoltaic panels, which requires water. Planting vegetation on the sand under the photovoltaic panels also requires water. "The desert in southern Xinjiang is one of the most arid and water-scarce areas. Where can we find water?"
According to the investigation of scientific researchers, there are a large amount of groundwater resources buried under the Taklimakan Desert, but most of this water is slightly brackish.
"Although the salt content is high, it can be used to irrigate some sand-dwelling and halophytic plants." The photovoltaic company therefore decided to use photovoltaic power generation to dig wells for water. "A photovoltaic generator well can irrigate 2,000 mu of land, and the construction cost is 215,000 yuan. Compared with power motor wells, for the same 2,000 mu of land, photovoltaic generator wells can save 133,000 yuan in the first year, and 160,000 yuan per year from the second year onwards."
The reporter saw at the scene that the species selected for afforestation with brackish water for photovoltaic power generation are mainly Haloxylon ammodendron and Tamarix tamarisk. Many companies are seeking to cooperate with photovoltaic companies to inoculate Cistanche deserticola on the roots of these Haloxylon ammodendrons, plant Chinese medicinal materials, and process them into health products and liquor. According to the plan of Aksu Prefecture in Xinjiang, this year the entire region will not only try to use brackish water for photovoltaic power generation to afforestation with Haloxylon ammodendron, but will also expand the scale of Cistanche deserticola inoculation by 20,000 mu and build a Cistanche deserticola seed production base.
In the process of desertification prevention and control, China has been constantly exploring the combination of "sand control" and "sand use". The photovoltaic sand control model and supporting technology research has been listed as one of the ten key technologies for the "Three Norths" project of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. The scientific research team is conducting research on the main modes of photovoltaic sand control, plant species selection and configuration technology. With the support of science and technology and innovation, photovoltaic sand control is illuminating a new path for desertification prevention and control.