https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/08/china-air-pollution-blocks-solar-panels-green-energy/
[links and images in online article]
China’s pollution is so bad it’s blocking sunlight from solar panels
05 Aug 2019
Johnny Wood
As the world’s largest consumer of solar power, China’s energy industry
is attempting to move on from its coal-burning past towards a more
sustainable future. But sometimes the past isn’t easily forgotten.
New research published in the journal Nature Energy suggests the
country’s densely polluted atmosphere is blocking the sun’s rays,
preventing solar panels from harvesting energy efficiently.
China’s rapid economic expansion was largely fuelled by coal, which
lifted millions of people out of poverty but also drove up levels of air
pollution.
Led by Bart Sweerts of the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science
in Zurich, the study mapped the effect of China’s air pollution on
potential solar output from the 1960s up to 2015.
The results showed that average solar generation declined by between
11-15% over the period. Researchers forecast that a return to the
air-quality levels of the 1960s could result in an increase in solar
electricity harvests of more than 12%.
Costs of pollution
Economic loss is just one cost of pollution. In terms of human health,
long-term exposure to toxic air increases the likelihood of strokes,
lung disease, lung cancer and heart attacks.
Air pollution is the fourth-highest cause of death in the world, after
smoking, high blood pressure and poor diet. According to the World
Health Organization, 90% of the global population breathes air
containing high levels of pollutants.
Every year, the problem contributes to more than 7 million deaths, with
exposure highest in developing countries.
China has the world’s second highest number of pollution-related deaths,
after India. But, as the chart above shows, Afghanistan has a higher
rate of deaths per 100,000 inhabitants than any other country.
Although it is easy to imagine pollution consisting only of traffic
jams, factories and smog-filled cities, many deaths are linked to the
fuel used in simple countryside stoves and generators. This is the case
in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nigeria and China, where
such fatalities are high.
But China is taking steps to tackle its pollution problems.
A breath of fresh air
As far back as the 2008 Beijing Olympics, measures were put in place to
improve the capital’s air quality. Heavy environmental regulation saw a
30% improvement in just one year, which resulted in a corresponding drop
in cardio and respiratory disease among Beijing residents.
In 2013, China set about cleaning up the air quality of its cities. The
sources of air pollution and toxic rain were identified, which included
traffic and factory emissions as well as the practice of straw burning
on farms.
Strong enforcement and better regulation led to factories relocating
away from populated areas, while some heavy-polluting plants were
closed. To prevent farmers burning straw, they were given government
subsidies to encourage them to recycle it instead.
But China relies heavily on manufacturing, and the cost of suspending
production and relocating or shutting down companies can be high. A
similar problem exists in many developing countries faced with balancing
income, growth and the population’s health.
China’s solution is to channel new infrastructure investment into
renewable energy technologies. While International Energy Agency data
shows that coal accounted for approximately 60% of China’s energy mix in
2016, compared to just 5% for solar power, things are changing.
The future lies in diversifying China's energy landscape into clean
energy-generating sources like solar power, wind farms, hydro and
bio-energy. The country is already a world leader in solar power
capacity, a market that is predicted to grow to double that of the US by
2024.
While coal continues to play a key role in the country’s energy
landscape, it is set to fall from two-thirds of the total power mix
today to just 40% by 2040.
A recent McKinsey report predicts that fossil fuels such as oil and gas
will continue to dominate the world’s energy use through to 2050. While
renewable technologies are set to grow by four to five times faster than
other power sources.
A cleaner energy mix bodes well for China’s long-term air quality, as it
will allow the burgeoning solar sector to harness sunshine more
efficiently. The country has achieved a lot in its fight against
pollution, but there is still a long way to go.
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