China is proving to have significant influence on this one country’s renewable energy developments. As the world continues to grapple with preventing the impending irreversible effects of climate change, governments around the world are implementing a variety of renewable energy strategies in order to ensure that carbon-neutrality can be achieved and our reliance on fossil fuels are greatly reduced. From popular solar power efforts, to hydrogen and nuclear power, the world is drawing upon multiple resources for a greener future.
The road to sustainability is not a one-size-fits-all
In order to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel technology, multiple alternative sources of energy are being investigated by developers, stakeholders, governments, and innovators across a variety of sectors. Currently, solar power and hydropower continues to dominate the global renewable energy scene, however, wind power and hydrogen continue to be on the rise.
As of 2024, over 1,400GW of solar power has been installed globally and contributes between 6%-7% of the world’s electricity. The industry is the fastest growing in terms of renewable energy additions. While hydropower contributes to 16% of the world’s electricity, its growth is significantly slower than solar initiatives. fast on the heels of solar power, wind power on- and off-shore also continues to grow.
With the continuous rapid growth in solar power technology, the industry is seeing significant breakthroughs in increasing the efficiency of harnessing this power. Recently, researchers from Germany have increased the efficiency of solar panels as much as 1,000 times over according to reports thanks to making significant design changes and tweaks.
Instead of relying on silicone, which most solar panel technology is produced with, the researchers switched up the materials of this technology which allows for increased absorption of the sun’s rays. If adopted more widely, we may see solar power reach heights it has never seen before thanks to the design upgrade.
This country takes influence from China for their sustainability goals
Recently, Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has announced that they will be taking a different approach to their road towards sustainability. The country has unveiled plans for the development of their small nuclear reactors (SMR), which are set to play a significant role in helping the country achieve carbon neutrality.
“SMR is designed to be smaller in size, with the fuel system and steam generation system integrated into a single module,” TEgat governor Thepparat Thepparat explained in September 2024. “This design reduces system complexity, thus increasing safety.”
While nuclear energy has the advantage of also being a renewable energy source, many countries are hesitant to take on the technology as part of their renewable energy strategy due to the highly reactive and volatile nature of the energy. However, Thailand reportedly has advanced the technology to be safer and more manageable in the SMRs than compared to massive nuclear reactor plants.
The country has studied over 80 different types of SMR across 18 different countries in order to maximize safety and renewable energy outputs, including analyzing China’s Linglong One, which made history as the first onshore commercial SMR.
The transportation industry embraces alternative vehicles
While governments continue to grapple with energy plans which are both renewable in nature and can power entire nations, the automobile industry has emerged with a variety of alternative engine solutions which will see the eventual phase-out of the internal combustion engine.
Japanese automobile developers in particular are emerging as leaders in alternative engine developments, with new vehicle releases continuing to showcase increasingly advanced technology. Japanese automobile developers have been noted for leading the advancement of hydrogen fuel-cell technology which, while not as popular as the electrical vehicle, is set to fill the gaps in the transportation industry where electrical initiatives fall short such as in the aviation and long-haul trucking world.
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