Singapore more than halfway to its 2030 solar power deployment target: Grace Fu

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SINGAPORE: Singapore is more than halfway to its solar power deployment target of at least 2,000 megawatt-peak by 2030, said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu on Wednesday (Jan 10).

The country has doubled its solar power deployment since 2021 to over 1,000 megawatt-peak currently, she added.

The minister gave the updated figures in parliament in response to questions on Singapore’s progress in transitioning towards renewable energy. 

During the UN Climate Change Conference 2023 (COP28), Singapore co-facilitated negotiations on mitigation and the first global stocktake that contributed to the successful adoption of the UAE Consensus, which calls on countries to transition away from fossil fuels, said Ms Fu.  

The UAE Consensus also calls on countries to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency globally by 2030. 

At the conference, Singapore signed the Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency pledge. 

“Singapore supports the UAE Consensus. As part of our long-term low-emissions development strategy, Singapore has committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, despite being a small, alternative energy disadvantaged city-state with many natural limitations on our climate action measures,” said the minister. 

The country has been accelerating its energy transition, with solar energy as one of its key pushes. 

Solar energy is one of the four “switches” that Singapore is deploying to achieve its net-zero target by 2050. The other three are natural gas, regional power grids and low-carbon alternatives. 

Solar energy will eventually allow Singapore to meet about 10 per cent of its projected electricity demand in 2050, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) said in November last year. 

The country is on track to meet the 1,500 megawatt-peak goal of solar deployment by 2025. 

According to EMA’s Singapore Energy Statistics 2023 report, the private sector has been the driving force behind the growth in solar deployment, accounting for 63.5 per cent of the total installed capacity.

Apart from solar energy, Singapore is working towards importing low-carbon electricity from the region. 

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Bus firm to ditch NGV vehicles

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PUBLISHED: 3 January 2024 at 4:00 p.m.

As part of Thai Smile Bus ( TSB ) company’s policy to promote clean air and environmental sustainability, the entire fleet of 350 natural gas-fueled vehicles ( NGV ) buses will be decommissioned by the end of the month.

More than 95 % of the NGV buses have already been taken out of service, according to Kulpornpath Wongmajarapinya, TSB chief executive officer, with the most recent batch of 58 buses being removed from service on Monday.

She added that the action is a part of the company’s program to help net zero emissions and that 334 NGV cars have been decommissioned thus far, with the remaining 16 being put out of service by the end of this month.

According to Ms. Kulpornpath, TSB intends to purchase an additional 1,000 electronic buses this year, increasing its EV fleet to 3,100. In Bangkok and the surrounding provinces, the organization already deploys 2, 100 electric cars along 123 roads, serving between 250, 000 and 280,000 people per day.

In the first third of this year, she added, Thai Smile Boat Company will also relaunch the” Metro Line,” a flight passenger boat service that travels between Sathon and Rama VII piers on the Chao Phraya River.

She stated that there are now 35 electric vessels operating on the Chao Phraya River, which can accommodate more than 5,000 people per day. She added that the company plans to acquire nine more energy vessels this year, bringing the total to 44.

According to Ms. Kulpornpath, the business is getting ready to offer tourists boat services all year long.

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Bad air, caves and elephants

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Radioactive tube goes missing

left A photo of the Caesium-137 cylinder that went missing from a power plant in Prachin Buri this year. Green Network Facebook Page

In March, residents of Prachin Buri woke up to a government warning that a tube containing radioactive Caesium-137 went missing from the National Power Plant 5A Company’s facility in the province.

Authorities scrambled to find the missing hazardous material among scrap metal shops and even offered a cash reward for information leading to the recovery of the missing tube. The missing Caesium-137 caused anxiety among villagers. The area within a 10-kilometre radius of the plant included a crowded community, a large school, a plantation and a river.

After more than a week of frantic searching, the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP) secretary-general, Permsuk Sutchaphiwat, declared that a foundry in the same province had melted the scrap metal and contamination was contained in the furnace dust. Provincial governor Narong Nakhonchinda said there were 10 big bags of contaminated furnace dust, each weighing about 1 tonne.

Caretaker Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said residents would be safe from any impacts of the Caesium-137. The OAP said there was no trace of contamination found within a 5-kilometre radius of the foundry, all 70 employees were cleared of any radioactive traces and the site was closed for decontamination.

However, this has not eased locals’ fears that they may still be inhaling the dangerous dust from the furnace. The news has also undermined fruit sales in the area, with many orders cancelled.

Chiang Mai’s ‘airpocalypse’

Haze caused by high levels of hazardous ultra-fine PM2.5 covers the city of Chiang Mai on Feb 3. Chiang Mai was listed as having the worst air quality in the world at the beginning of this year by the pollution monitoring website IQAir. Northern Development Foundation

Chiang Mai suffered the infamy of being branded as having the world’s most polluted air, reaching its most hazardous concentrations of PM2.5 in March and April. The province’s prolonged airpocalypse sent residents, expats and tourists on an exodus out of the province. Cancelled holidays, closed shops and empty flights sent the local economy into a tailspin.

On April 10, about 1,700 residents filed a lawsuit at the Administrative Court against Caretaker Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and two state agencies over their failure to resolve the recurring haze in the North, which they claim is shortening their lives by five years. They wanted a local disaster declared.

The plaintiffs also accused the National Environmental Board of failing to effectively implement the national plan to tackle particulate matter pollution introduced in 2019. In addition, they said, the Securities and Exchange Commission should be held responsible for failing to examine the sources of ultrafine dust pollution within the supply chains of major listed companies.

The court dismissed the case on the grounds the situation did not warrant such a declaration and that state agencies had already taken measures to mitigate the problem. Chiang Mai governor Nirat Pongsitthaworn said forest fires in the North as well as in neighbouring countries were the major cause.

Nearly 1.5 million Thais have suffered from air pollution-related ailments since the beginning of the year, said the Public Health Ministry.

The PM2.5 issue further escalated when Krittai Tanasombatkul, a 29-year-old doctor in Chiang Mai, died on Dec 5 from lung cancer — said to be caused by exposure to polluted air.

Jumbo back from Sri Lanka

Elephant Sak Surin plays in the sand at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang. The Thai Elephant Conservation Centre Lampang

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment brought the ailing Thai jumbo Sak Surin back to its motherland on July 2 after having lived in Sri Lanka for over 22 years as a goodwill ambassador for the country.

Kanchana Silpa-archa, a former adviser to the Environment Ministry, made a major effort to repatriate the animal after learning the 30-year-old male elephant was in leg chains and had injuries to many parts of his body.

Sak Surin was among three Thai elephants gifted to Sri Lanka to strengthen diplomatic relations. The elephant’s job in its early days in Sri Lanka was to carry the Lord Buddha’s relics during religious parades.

It stayed at a temple from then. A Sri-Lanka-based animal protection organisation witnessed its predicament and campaigned for better living conditions for the animal. After six months of negotiations, the Sri Lankan government agreed to let it return home.

The vet team was sent for a medical check-up and health assessment, and a team of mahouts prepared it for the flight back.

Sak Surin landed at Chiang Mai International Airport and was sent into animal quarantine at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in nearby Lampang province.

A check found five tumours with a 10cm radius on Sak Surin’s thighs and a mass with a 1cm radius on its right cornea. The elephant also had damaged toenails and could not stretch or bend his front left leg.

The vets said further medical treatment was required. It is still under the conservation centre’s supervision and has started to recover.

The government spent 19.5 million baht on the mission to bring the jumbo home.

Dept of Climate Change set up

above The Department of Climate Change and Environment was created to show the country’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and managing climate impacts. Department of Climate Change and Environment

In August, the Department of Climate Change and Environment (CCE) started work, signalling the country’s more proactive approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing measures to manage climate impacts.

Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Environment of Natural Resources and Environment at the time, declared “the department is vital as Thailand now has a body that is directly responsible for tackling issues related to climate change”.

Thailand is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate impacts, with global implications in commodity supplies and manufacturing supply chains.

It is one of the biggest producers of rice, rubber, sugar, fruit and seafood for the world market. It also makes a significant amount of semiconductors and vehicles for export. Its tourism industry is one of the world’s largest. These sectors have been disrupted by extreme weather events in the past.

The department’s mandate includes working with public and private sectors as well as international agencies to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065, in line with the 1.5C goal of the Paris Agreement.

The government also revised the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution from 20% to 40% by 2030.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said climate change has become an urgent problem and the government has been doing everything necessary to fight the climate crisis.

Tham Luang Cave opens

Park rangers check the safety of the Tham Luang cave complex in Chiang Rai before the reopening of Chambers 2 and 3.  Public Relations Office

On Dec 15, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation for the first time opened Chambers 2 and 3 of the Tham Luang cave complex for adventure lovers.

The cave is well-known among the global community as the location where 12 Wild Boar footballers and their coach were rescued after being trapped in the flooded cave for 18 days in 2018 during the rainy season.

The cave is part of Tham Luang-Khun Nam Nang Non National Park in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district.

The department began tours to Chamber 3 over a distance of 800 metres.

The route will give tourists a better idea about what happened in the mission to rescue the boys who were trapped in Chamber 9, around 2.4km from the cave entrance.

The DNP has not yet opened the area beyond Chamber 3 for public visits due to safety concerns, although its team has surveyed 10km of the cave.

Visitors must be fit and healthy, as the floor of the cave can be slippery. There is also a steep path and sharp rocks along the route. Visitors are also required to climb upwards by holding on to a rope in some parts.

When in Chamber 3, visitors will see traces of the rescue bid, including rope lines that helped transport the boys who were put to sleep before their journey. There is also an oxygen-transmitting line and communication line.

Visitors can learn more about the cave landscape, which has a narrow route and vertical rock that is difficult to climb up.

The department believes the programme will draw interest from tourists, especially foreign tourists.

The programme is open for two groups per day, of no more than 10 people. A tour must be booked at least seven days in advance via the Tham Luang-Khun Nam Nang Non National Park’s webpage.

The reservation is to allow officials time to prepare the necessary equipment. Accompanying each tour group will be park officials and two local guides.

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Taiwan poised for economic bounceback in 2024

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The Taiwanese economy will end the year with underwhelming economic growth of around 1.2%. One of the key problems has been weak exports due to the high cost of funding globally and excess inventory in the semiconductor and electronic sectors.

The good news is that the worst should be over in 2024 as the US Federal Reserve starts easing in the second quarter of 2024. Beyond the cheaper cost of funding globally, demand for electronics and semiconductors should also improve as inventories have been reduced in 2023.  All in all, Taiwan’s growth should more than double in 2024 to 2.9%. 

Given better global financial conditions and the expectation of a better export cycle, Taiwanese companies should increase their capex in 2024. As regards foreign direct investment, China remains attractive both for green energy, especially offshore wind, but also for artificial intelligence-related projects.

However, geopolitics are becoming increasingly relevant for foreign investors when deciding whether to bet on Taiwan. In particular, the risk of military conflict in the Taiwan Strait is often discussed in the board rooms of major foreign companies considering Taiwan as an investment destination.

As regards consumption, the policy of raising wage growth to 4% for military, civil servants and public school teachers should offer some support against the background of intense outbound tourism, which takes away part of household consumption

As for inflation, it should continue to decelerate from 2.5% in 2023 to 1.6% in 2024, following global disinflationary trends. However, there are still ongoing uncertainties regarding price volatility in agricultural products and extreme weather, which may bring price spikes.

Still, such a movement should not be a hurdle for the Central Bank of the Republic of China (CBC), Taiwan’s central bank, to start cutting once the Fed does but clearly at a much slower pace since the CBC did not follow the Fed fully on its tightening.

In fact, it seems hard for the CBC to cut rates beyond 1.675% from 1.875% today. This should be positive for Taiwan’s housing market.

Given the faster cuts by the Fed than the CBC, the Taiwan dollar has the potential to appreciate against the US greenback, especially if the tech cycle rebound attracts capital into Taiwan’s stock market. 

The spoiler of this rather positive outlook for Taiwan is the geopolitical risk. The first obvious one is the presidential elections in January, but this is not the main issue.

Investors mostly worry about China’s reaction to the potential victory of the incumbent party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but the key problem is much more structural than the result of the elections and boils down to the future of Taiwan, at least from foreign investors’ point of view.

Going back to the elections, they are unlikely to result in a significant shift in economic policies in terms of the fiscal and monetary stance while derisking policies to diversify the economy away from China might not continue if the Kuomintang (KMT) were to win.

So far Taiwan’s exports to mainland China (including Hong Kong) have declined from 40% on average between 2015-2019 to 35% in 2023. Meanwhile, the US is the biggest source of Taiwan’s export orders and the share has surged from 28% to 32% for the same period. What has not yet happened sufficiently is a diversification of Taiwanese investment and trade toward Southeast Asia.

Moving forward, another key challenge for Taiwan is energy transition. Taiwan’s net zero targets by 2050 seem very hard to achieve in the current circumstances, which may also have consequences for Taiwan’s exports, especially those with large carbon emissions as the European Union pushes ahead with its carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM).

All in all, the Taiwanese economy should be better in 2024, both growth and inflation-wise, supported by better funding conditions. The elephant in the room, though, is geopolitical risk, especially in this election year but also structurally. A second major challenge is how to navigate Taiwan’s energy transition given its very bold targets.

Alicia Garcia Herrero is chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis.

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Western Digital partners with Tenaga Nasional to integrate renewable energy within its Malaysia operations

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Company aims to achieve 100% renewal energy globally by 2030
Collaboration with TNB will help fulfil 25% of its domestic energy requirements

Western Digital has signed a collaboration with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) through its wholly-owned subsidiary, TNB Renewables Sdn. Bhd. to drive renewable energy implementation in its operations in Malaysia with the…Continue Reading

Commentary: COP28 raises questions about the future of Singapore’s fossil fuel-reliant industries

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DATA CENTRES, MARITIME AND AVIATION

Another area to keep an eye on is the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. Currently, the ICT industry is responsible for a relatively modest 8 per cent of electricity consumption in Singapore. However, ICT power use has quadrupled over the last 10 years.

According to consultancy Cushman and Wakefield, Singapore is now the largest data-centre market on a city basis in the Asia-Pacific outside China, with more than 40 data centres. Given the growth potential of this industry, it is important for data centres to adopt the latest smart cooling technologies. 

A further concern is maritime transport and aviation, business activities which Singapore is a hub for. The emissions associated with these sectors are generally not included in national estimates, because the fuels used are categorised as “international bunkers” and are not included in the Paris Agreement. This loophole has limited the pressure to address these sectors’ emissions until recently.

If the aviation industry fails to abate its emissions, it could consume more than a quarter of the world’s carbon budget for 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming by 2050. Although the aviation industry has recently agreed to reach net zero emissions by 2050, this is a voluntary agreement which risks being reneged upon if procuring enough sustainable aviation fuel or commercialising electric planes proves too challenging.  

A rigorous carbon accounting model would include all emissions attributable to Singaporeans’ air travel. It would also include the emissions due to shipping of goods they buy. Ideally, it would additionally account for the emissions due to the production of goods imported into the country.

While these indirect emissions are more challenging to estimate, they are crucial in getting the full picture of Singapore’s carbon footprint. It is time for individuals, companies and countries to take responsibility for their own actions and the environmental impacts they cause.

The transition away from fossil fuels is now official. The urgency of the climate crisis behoves all countries to take stock of and apportion responsibility for their emissions. The conclusion of COP28 is a chance for Singapore to review its climate strategy and decide where it should strengthen its efforts.

Roger Fouquet is Senior Research Fellow at Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore.

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Dubai a fitting host for the climate circus

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In January 2023, nearly a year before the latest United Nations climate conference began, there was deep concern and alarm over the head of one of the world’s largest oil companies being appointed president of the COP28 summit.

The climate talks taking place this month were hosted by the United Arab Emirates and overseen by Sultan Al Jaber, a man who happens to be in charge of the UAE’s national oil firm, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. It’s a fitting illustration of an old idiom that the fox is in charge of the henhouse.

Al Jaber’s appointment was such a clear conflict of interest that a group of US lawmakers, including House Representatives Barbara Lee, Rashida Tlaib and Jamaal Bowman, and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, sent a scathing letter on January 26 denouncing it.

“Having a fossil-fuel champion in charge of the world’s most important climate negotiations would be like having the CEO of a cigarette conglomerate in charge of global tobacco policy,” the lawmakers wrote.

Their warning fell on deaf ears, and yet their fears proved to be correct months later when The Guardian newspaper published Al Jaber’s revealing remarks made at a November online climate meeting.

Mary Robinson, a climate-justice leader and former president of Ireland, rightly pointed out that the climate crisis was hurting women and children, and that Al Jaber had the power to do something about it.

The oil-company head angrily retorted that her comments were “alarmist,” and asserted, “There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C.”

He went on to say, “Show me the roadmap for a phase-out of fossil fuel that will allow for sustainable socioeconomic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves.” Sounding defensive and cornered, Al Jaber added, “Show me the solutions. Stop the pointing of fingers. Stop it.”

Adding (fossil) fuel to the fire, the British Broadcasting Corporation published an exposé days before COP28 began revealing that “the United Arab Emirates planned to use its role as the host of UN climate talks as an opportunity to strike oil and gas deals.” UAE authorities did not deny the reports and instead responded with shocking hubris that “private meetings are private.”

Playing with words

Such shenanigans reveal the futility of relying on the UN’s annual COP meetings to phase out fossil fuels in order to stave off catastrophic climate change. Whereas earlier COP meetings fixated on the goal of “net zero emissions” – a phrase that climate activists rightly denounced as greenwashing and propaganda – the favorite phrase at this year’s COP28 appeared to be a “phase down” of fossil fuels.

The idea is that oil and gas producers may consider, someday in the far future, starting producing fewer fossil fuels than they do now. “Phase down” is a clever dilution of “phase out.” It is a sleight of hand intended to assuage concern over the warming climate all while remaining on a path to climate destruction.

The first draft of the COP28 agreement spelled out the two terms as interchangeable, referring to a “phase down/out.” Al Jaber reflected this equalization of two different words even as he sought to maintain his credentials as head of COP28, saying that he has maintained “over and over that the phase-down and the phase-out of fossil fuel is inevitable.”

That Al Jaber would engage in trickery to protect fossil fuels is hardly surprising given his role as head of the Abu Dhabi-based oil firm. In his leaked remarks to Robinson, he proclaimed that phasing out oil and gas was not feasible, “unless you want to take the world back into caves.”

But it is precisely the continued use of fossil fuels that may take us back to the stone age. We may all be living in caves someday, seeking high ground from the rising waters of the warming oceans, all while Al Jaber and his ilk are ensconced in the luxury bunkers of the wealthy.

It is an image that reflects the reality of Dubai, a gleaming, futuristic city where the Emirates pays lip service to climate progress as host of COP28, while simultaneously conspiring to secure oil and gas deals on the side. It’s a city that is defined by yet another idiom: trying to have your cake and eat it too.

Hypocrisy abounds

I know, because I was born and raised in Dubai, a child of Indians who immigrated in 1970 to a land known as the Trucial Sheikhdoms – one year before they formally emerged as a single sovereign nation called the United Arab Emirates.

My parents’ tenure in the UAE was older than the nation itself and while they toiled for more than 50 years as part of an immigrant workforce that outnumbers Emiratis 9 to 1, they were never afforded citizenship, as were none of their three children born there.

The Emirates, with the blessing of its former colonial master Britain, and its newer imperial partners, the US and Israel, has presided over an oil-funded project fueled by exploited immigrant labor to emerge as one of the most important trading hubs in the world: a seductive tourist trap dotted by massive shopping malls and billboards beneath which teeming labor camps invisibly keep the wheels of capitalism turning.

It touts a liberalism that allows women to work, drive, and even hold limited leadership, all while suppressing the rights of low-wage female domestic workers. It pledges sustainability while marketing itself to global investors.

It is hypocrisy manifested; a pretty façade of a promising future built on an age-old model of serfdom, a nation that celebrates the freedom to consume, but clamps down on the freedom to speak. In other words, it is a capitalist’s wet dream. What better place for fossil-fuel promoters to pretend they care about the future of the planet?

The COP meetings have been a disastrous distraction from the urgent need to end fossil-fuel production and consumption. Even Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, who is considered the architect of the 2015 Paris climate accord, is so disgusted by the state of proceedings that she called the COP “a circus.”

Having Dubai host the largest annual international climate gathering is a desperate bid by a dying industry to maintain relevance. Energy forecasting predictions point to a grim future for petrostates like the UAE.

It’s no wonder Al Jaber has publicly tied himself into knots of contradictions. His nation’s future depends on the continued flow of oil and gas, while our world’s future depends on an immediate termination of the poisonous fuels.

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute, which provided it to Asia Times.

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China’s clean energy boom offers climate action hope

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With an energy-hungry economy, an historic reliance on coal and vast manufacturing enterprises, China is the world’s single largest emitter, accounting for 27% of the world’s carbon dioxide and a third of all greenhouse gas emissions.

But China is also the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels and wind turbines. Domestically, it is installing green power at a rate the world has never seen.

This year alone, China built enough solar, wind, hydro and nuclear capacity to cover the entire electricity consumption of France. Next year, we may see something even more remarkable – the population giant’s first-ever drop in emissions from the power sector.

The COP28 climate talks began well, buoyed by November’s Sunnyland Statement between China and the United States, the second largest emitter. At previous climate talks, US-China cooperation has been lacking. But this time, they’re largely on the same page.

The statement outlined joint support for global tripling of renewable energy by 2030, tackling methane and plastic pollution, and a transition away from fossil fuels.

coal barge in middle of shanghai
Coal has fuelled China’s rapid rise. Photo: Shutterstock via The Conversation

The urgency of now

China has been looking for better coordination with the US on climate since US President Joe Biden took office. Climate is an area where these competing major powers can cooperate.

The COP28 talks in Dubai – meant to finish tomorrow (December 12) – offer a window for joint action. Next year, the US could elect a different president with very different views on climate. China’s well-regarded veteran special climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, is about to retire.

In these talks, China – the world’s top oil importer – is looking for a compromise solution on the tense debate over fossil fuels. The world’s cartel of oil-producing countries, OPEC, has called for focusing on emissions reduction rather than fossil-fuel phase out in the declaration. Xie and his team are trying to find a middle ground to ensure a final deal.

China has long been criticized for its continuing coal-fired power plant expansion. It has the world’s largest coal power fleet, and approved another 106 gigawatts worth of new coal plants just last year – the equivalent of two a week. But the five major state-owned power companies are already burdened by heavy financial losses.

Why build dirty and clean? It’s a longstanding national policy: build sufficient baseload supply first while expanding renewable capacities. But at COP28, Xie said something new:

[China will] strive to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy in a gradual manner.

A country of engineers

In developed countries, much clean energy work is driven by energy economists, who use incentives to change behavior.

China is a country of engineers, who see these challenges as technical rather than economic.

In 2007, China released a national action plan on climate, calling for technological solutions to the climate problem. Private and state-owned companies responded strongly.

Fifteen years later, China is in the lead in every low-carbon category. Its total installed renewable capacity is staggering, accounting for a third of the world’s total, and it is leading in electric vehicle production and sales.

In the first three quarters of 2023, over 53% of China’s electricity came from low-carbon sources: hydro, wind, solar, bioenergy and nuclear.

ship building wind turbines in the sea
China has approached its record-breaking renewable roll-out methodically. Photo: Shutterstock via The Conversation

How did China boost clean energy so fast?

China’s huge domestic market and large-scale deployment of wind and solar contribute greatly to plummeting renewable costs. Steadily lowering costs means green energy becomes viable for developing countries.

In 2012, a large team from China Power Investment Corporation arrived in the high desert in Qinghai province and began building 15.7 GW worth of solar across 345 square kilometres.

It was here that China first figured out how to make intermittent power reliable. Excess power was sent to a hydropower station 40 kilometers away and used to pump water uphill. At night, the water would flow back down through the turbines.

Technologies developed here are now being used in other large-scale hybrid projects, such as hydro-solar, wind-solar and wind-solar-hydro projects.

china desert solar farm
Huge solar farms carpet the desert in Qinghai – and new work opens the door to revegetating in the shade of the panels. Photo: Shutterstock via The Conversation

In 2022, the government announced plans to install 500 GW worth of solar, onshore and offshore wind projects in the Gobi Desert across Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Gansu provinces.

These are intended to not only supercharge China’s clean energy supply, but to tackle desert expansion. Solar panels stabilize the movement of sand and absorb sunlight, reducing the evaporation of scarce water and giving plants a better chance at survival. This knowledge, too, came from the Qinghai solar farms, where plants began growing in the shade.

map of china showing gobi and Taklamakan deserts
Plenty of room for solar: China’s two major deserts, the Gobi and Taklamakan, are home to more and more solar. TheDrive/Wikimedia, CC BY-ND

China’s focus on technology has given it combined solar and salt farms, floating solar power plants and energy storage ranging from batteries to compressed air to kinetic flywheels and hydrogen.

While the US and China cooperate at COP28, competition is not far away. China already dominates many clean energy technologies, but the US is trying to catch up through the massive green spend in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act.

According to the International Energy Agency, half of all emissions cuts needed to achieve net zero by 2050 will come from technologies currently at the demonstration or prototype phase. These include cheap green hydrogen, next-generation nuclear, next-generation solar and wind, and functioning carbon capture and storage for remaining fossil fuel use.

What has China achieved at COP28?

China is backing global calls to triple renewable capacity by 2030 and has agreed to tackle methane emissions, a particularly potent greenhouse gas.

China is far behind in energy efficiency – it uses about 50% more per unit of GDP than in the US, and double that of Japan. It has not invested in energy efficiency as it has in other low-carbon areas.

This could change. US and China agreed in November to restart joint energy efficiency work on industry, buildings, transportation, and equipment, seen as harder areas to cut emissions.

At COP28, we will likely see states agree to double the rate of energy efficiency improvement from 2% to 4% a year by 2030. It remains to be seen whether China will join them.

Xu Yi-chong is Professor of Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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