China got to move faster to achieve carbon neutrality

China’s carbon emissions have started to fall and according to Finnish think-tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air it has to fall 3 per cent every year for the next 35 years for China to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Fortunately, China is producing more electricity from solar, wind and nuclear than its consumption of electricity. Lauri Myllyvirta of the Finnish think-tank says, “China has to get to that 3 % territory as soon as possible.”

China’s use of coal remains a matter of concern still. Looking at the recent data published by United Kingdom’s Carbon Brief website, Myllyvirta says, “We’re talking really for the first time about a structural declining trend in China’s emissions.” Li Shuo, director of China Climate Hub at Asia Society Policy Institute in Washington DC, said, “This is a moment of global significance, offering a rare glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak climate landscape.”

The speed at which the solar farms are being created, especially in the sparsely populated Tibetan plateau, is impressive. Soon China will have the biggest solar farm spread over 610 square kilometres (235 square miles) in the Tibetan plateau.

China as a whole has generated 212 gigawatts of solar power in the first six months of the year, which is more than the 178 gigawatts of total solar power generated in the United States by the end of 2024. The speed at which China is increasing its power generation from renewable sources is more than impressive. This will be helped greatly if there is a simultaneous decline in the carbon emissions.

China is the largest carbon emitter. But it seems to be reaching a state where it can generate all the power it needs for its economic development from the renewable sources. This is no more an idle dream. And this will prove the point that there is no need to sacrifice development for the sake of achieving green goals and to curb greenhouse gas emissions. It is possible to win the battle against climate change as well as maintain the economic growth momentum.

There remains the logistic problem of transmitting the energy generated through the large solar farms to the crowded industrial centres in the south and the east of the country. The transmission lines have to be set up across China, from the far west to the far east of the country. And transmitting solar and wind power has its own problems because of the intermittent nature of the transmission of solar and wind power. Managing the grid system is a big challenge for China, says the experts.

When completed, the biggest solar farm in the Tibetan plateau will have seven million solar panels, and it will supply power to five million households. The solar panels of the large solar farms serve as windbreakers, reducing sand and dust, protecting water from evaporating from the soil, and allowing shrubs to grow in the desert area. This enables sheep to graze as they go in the midst of the thousands of solar panels, earning the label of “photovoltaic sheep”.

Wang Anwei, energy administrative chief of Hainan prefecture, says of the large solar farms spread out in the Tibetan plateau, “In terms of production, enterprises generate electricity at the top level, and in terms of ecology, grass grows at the bottom under the solar panels, and villagers can herd sheep in between.” China will now have to make the power grid in the country capable of transmitting power where it is generated but where it is not needed to a place where there is need for power but which does not generate power.