U.S. satellites reveal China's solar dominance-

当前位置：首页 > synthesize > U.S. satellites reveal China's solar dominance 正文

U.S. satellites reveal China's solar dominance

时间：2025-06-27 14:31:06 来源：

The sun's energy is plentiful. And China is capitalizing.

Images captured by two Earth-observing satellites, operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, revealed a rapid expansion of solar farms in a remote northern Chinese region, the Kubuqi Desert.

"The construction is part of China’s multiyear plan to build a 'solar great wall' designed to generate enough energy to power Beijing," writes NASA's Earth Observatory. (For reference, although all this energy won't directly power the Chinese capital, around 22 million people live in Beijing; that's over two and a half times the population of New York City.)

You May Also Like

SEE ALSO: The Carbon Footprint Sham

The two Landsat satellite images below show a section of the major solar expansion between 2017 and 2024. Use the slider tool to reveal the changes. (For a size and scale reference, the images below are about 10 kilometers, or 6.2 miles, across.)

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Left:December 20, 2017 Credit: USGS / NASA Right:December 8, 2024 Credit: USGS / NASA

And the solar complex is still growing. It will be 250 miles long and 3 miles wide by 2030, according to NASA.

Though China's energy mix is still dominated by fossil fuels — coal, oil, and gas comprised 87 percent of its energy supply as of 2022 — the nation clearly sees value in expanding renewable energy.

"As of June 2024, China led the world in operating solar farm capacity with 386,875 megawatts, representing about 51 percent of the global total, according to Global Energy Monitor’s Global Solar Power Tracker," NASA explained. "The United States ranks second with 79,364 megawatts (11 percent), followed by India with 53,114 megawatts (7 percent)."