If there is one animal that is associated with China more than any other, it is the Giant Panda. These are amazing majestic creatures who are loved for their gentle nature and their adorable appearance. It is fitting then that when a new solar-power plant was being placed in Datong, China, the engineers decided to make it in the shape of a cartoon Panda. Seen from the sky, this installation is absolutely amazing and very appropriate as the company who installed the plant are known as 'The Panda Green Energy'.
The plant is now officially called the 'Panda Power Plant' and will go someway to providing the green energy required to fuel China's still booming economy. Once up and running, the 248-acre plant will be able to produce 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours of solar energy over the next 25 years. This is equivalent to the amount of energy produced by a million tons of coal and will reduce expected carbon emissions by 2.74 million tons.
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Solar panels work by allowing photons from the rays of the sun to knock electrons free from atoms and therefore produce an electric charge. This process does not produce CO2 and other gases that cause global warming, as is the case with coal. Solar energy also has no nasty by-products as is the case with other low CO2 energy production systems, such as nuclear power.
The different white and black panels used were produced by the company using both darker monocrystalline silicon and lighter thin-film cells, and then arranged appropriately to create the cartoon panda. Not only does the solar-plant provide a great visual addition to the landscape, it has also generated millions of dollars in free advertising for the company as the story and the images of the plant are picked up by news agencies and social-media channels across the world.
Construction of the panda solar farm in Datong, China.#renewables #solar #electricity #ClimateChange @PDChina @CopernicusEU @UNEnvironment @COP24 @COP24Katowice pic.twitter.com/KFFeCgQi27
— Sentinel Hub (@sentinel_hub) December 10, 2018
A press release from the Panda Green Energy Group to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said:
"To propel the global application and development of green energy, UNDP launched a partnership with Panda Green Energy Group to promote clean technology and enhance engagement with the next generation of young leaders to take action on climate change. The campaign hopes to engage and inspire the youth in China and elsewhere in the world to promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provide a platform to solicit ideas on helping to tackle some of the toughest development challenges."
At the United Nations General Assembly in October Chinese leader, President Xi Jinping, stated that it was China's ambition to become carbon-neutral by 2060. This carbon-neutral stance means that China will only produce by 2060 a quantity of CO2 equal to the amount that it is withdrawing from the atmosphere.
Nothing to see here, just a panda-shaped solar farm 🐼 pic.twitter.com/BEIOrH7uIc
— DW News (@dwnews) July 25, 2017
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