Submitted 3 weeks ago by schizoidman@lemmy.zip to energy@slrpnk.net
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/06/23/china-hits-1-tw-solar-milestone/
By the end of May 2025, solar capacity had reached 1.08 TW (1,080 GW), up 56.9% year on year.
Still building new coal plants at an increasing rate. Still increasing co2 emissions year on year. Still not commiting to reduced emissions. Nice green washing though.
Thats just co2 emissions, their other environmental damage stats are as bad if not worse.
China hit peak coal already.
I don’t know where you heard that but its wrong.
Being the country with the most solar power generation by far is not “green washing”. For being the world’s factory, they’re doing quite well and it’s obvious from trajectory that they’re going to be among the greenest countries overall, including those countries that have externalized their pollution to China by using them as their factory.
Why do they get to continue to pollute while everyone else has to ramp down?
Carbon reduction goals only work when everyone is working towards them. Otherwise we are just making our manufacturing more expensive while China out competes us with their 0 environmental regulations
Why wouldn’t it just stay a linear graph?
Look at the left side of the first graph. It’s set on an exponential scale.
I don’t understand. What do you mean?
They need it to run all those garish lights all over every building in the cities.
Ah but at least those garish lights are all LEDs these days with energy usage a fraction of what it would’ve been in times gone by
Fair point, but there’s so many more of them.
Solaris 🎉🎉
It’s a vibe seeing solar panels cover those iconic Southern China valleys
The hill in the photo looks ugly, tbh. Still, much better (and livelier) than the landscape after oilsands or brown coal extraction.
Preferably, most grid-connected solar panels would be on buildings, deserts, and postindustrial land. But in the face of the climate catastrophe, the South China hills are also fine.
I don’t think it looks ugly at all…
I was just thinking about how much of a nightmare it would be to keep them all clean.
I mean - one thing ugly, and the other thing is that this land could be arable or a nature reserve.
Seriously. Is that a real photo? I’ve never seen a solar farm covering hills like that.
When I look closely it seems real, there’s all the construction tracks, but the solar panels themselves look fake in this resolution. It would help if they had added a few close-ups in the article.
pennomi@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’m not surprised! PV cells are cheaper than plywood these days.