Solar, wind energy boom powers China's carbon-neutral drive
Xinjiang has been a pioneer in China's new energy drive by turning its natural endowments into power for a greener future.
In the vast Gobi desert in the east of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, over 10,000 pentagon-shaped mirror-like devices form layers of circles, resembling a radiating sun. At the very center of the "sun" stands a 220-meter-high tower.
It is not a mysterious ritual from the old days, nor artwork. The project is a modern attempt by the region to capitalize on its abundant solar energy and turn it into heat and power.
Photo taken on Dec. 19, 2019 shows a photothermal power station built in Gobi desert in Hami, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Feng Yang/Xinhua)
The photothermal power station is the first of its kind in Xinjiang. It can generate power equivalent to that of burning some 60,000 tonnes of standard coal each year, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by over 150,000 tonnes, lending steam to the country's goal to strive for carbon emission peak in 2030 and carbon neutrality in 2060.
With the largest land area among provincial level regions in China, Xinjiang is home to vast expanses of Gobi deserts with limited rainfall but strong wind and sunshine.
The far west Chinese region has been a pioneer in the country's new energy drive by turning its natural endowments into power for a greener future. A mountainous district in its capital city Urumqi is known as the cradle of China's wind power industry.
