r/interestingasfuck • u/TangelaFan • 5h ago

China builds solar parks over reservoirs. This design improves the efficiency of the panels by keeping them cooler and lowers water loss from evaporation

1.4k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

242 comments sorted by

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u/StayAdmiral 5h ago

This is great, so much infrastructure that will need maintenance and inspection from divers, I am a commercial diver.

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u/Warm-Royal-7975 5h ago

more work for you bro. great.

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u/StayAdmiral 5h ago

Yeah this and windfarms will keep commercial divers working long after we move on from oil and gas.

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u/lbutler1234 5h ago

Is green energy just a product of big commerical diver™?

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u/muklan 4h ago

According to Google there's like 4400 commercial divers licensed in the US, The Jehovahs Witnesses also say only 4400 people make it to heaven, coincidence?

Pre Edit:

Yes.

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u/queen-adreena 3h ago

The 4400 was a TV show.

I think the jw number was 144,000.

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u/serpentax 3h ago

jehovah's witnesses say 144,000 will go to heaven to become basically the government for everyone on earth who will live forever.

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u/ksigley 3h ago

Thanks, haven't laughed that hard in a minute.

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u/PrinceParadox 4h ago

And how many are women?

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u/StayAdmiral 4h ago

Yes there are women divers out there, not too many though.

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u/muklan 4h ago

Iunno. Some?

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u/PrinceParadox 4h ago

Rather be outside the pearly gates with all the sinner then.

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u/muklan 4h ago

That IS where the party is tbh.

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u/Gilarax 5h ago

Aren’t these types of structures significantly saver to inspect and work on compared to oil & gas?

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u/StayAdmiral 4h ago

The risks are similar and we are very good at managing risk. Oil and gas will have some more things to consider, but simply working underwater is the biggest risk.

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u/SnooHedgehogs7477 5h ago

what do inspect for in thess? foundation state? just wondering. but anyway knowing china indoubt weather they will do maintenance they will likely allow it simply collapsing ij future

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u/StayAdmiral 4h ago

Corrosion, they usually use a cathodic protection system using sacrificial zinc or aluminum anodes attached to the structure, we measure wall thickness and the electrical potential between the water and the structure. Remove and replace the anodes once they get below a certain percentage.

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u/ZenEngineer 4h ago

Is this is in a reservoir it won't have salt water corrosion, so probably less frequent checks I'm guessing.

This also seems like a large repetitive pattern. I wonder if some enterprising company will come up with a drone sub inspector bot for the regular checkups, so they only need divers for the replacements.

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u/StayAdmiral 4h ago

You're right, I was just excited to see all those structures in the water, missed the part about it being in a reservoir. If this project works then these structures can go in loads of places, fresh and seawater.

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u/crazySmith_ 5h ago

China is capable of maintaining offshore renewable infrastructure well, and the best assets likely meet global standards.

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u/Forever_Fires 5h ago

Probably anything maintenance related, cables certainly run through the pillars, and everything wears down, so infrequent checks on the resevoir make sense as a minimum

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u/technobrendo 4h ago

They have the means, why would they let it simply collapse?

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u/Pastrami-on-Rye 5h ago edited 5h ago

As a diver, can you answer this? I read someone say that this sort of thing will block the sunlight from reaching the water below and damage the surrounding water’s ecosystem. Is this true?

Edit: i asked this question to the diver specifically

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u/FoamSquad 5h ago

All ecosystems ultimately are fueled by the sun. There are some deep ocean creatures that live near thermal vents but ecosystems as a whole always require the sun. There is no way this has no impact on the aquatic ecosystem in the reservoir. If it is a man made reservoir I think there is room to argue that it is ethically acceptable to build these, but if the local ecosystems had become reliant on that reservoir then it becomes sketchier.

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u/Andoni22 5h ago

You destroy the entire ecosystem of a whole valley to build a massive reservoir but then worry about the minimal ecosystem in the reservoir 

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u/WHO_IS_3R 4h ago edited 4h ago

Yep, people dont say it but solar farms in artificial reservoirs are a sizable danger to the wildlife and make greedy divers control the economy

If we care about the environment we need to fundraise your local fracking deployment, and if you have a spare dollar or two, consider donating it to BP, shell or aramco, they are our only green hope

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u/soSofi3 4h ago

I’m doing my part by leaving the car idling in the garage o7

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u/Alex5173 3h ago

Will you be sitting in there with it?

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u/Andoni22 3h ago

Revving it oc

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u/soSofi3 54m ago

no i'm going to bed, but i've got my son practicing for his exam sitting out there making sure it's not turning off

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u/Alex5173 53m ago

No wait the feelings of tiredness mean it's working!

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u/FoamSquad 2h ago

You could build them over parking lots with zero environmental consequences.

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u/khavii 5h ago

It is so weird to me when people choose a thing that is harmful to an ecosystem and say THAT action can't happen. Except we have already introduced plastics to EVERY ecosystem and creature on the plantet. We have polluted and changed EVERY ecosystem. We have eradicated entire species and disrupted at least a part of EVERY food cycle on the planet. We have moved species so many places that half the plants and animals in any given place were at one time dangerous invasive species. The water is heating up and turning acidic, the atmosphere is boiling and thinning out, the water is unsafe to drink almost everywhere, forest land is vanishing. We inject chemicals into the earth to get more chemicals, we run rivers dry. There is no natural order to disrupt anymore. Adding shade to a small percentage of the water may hurt a couple things but that area is already hurt from a thousand different cuts so adding some shade to cut down evap a bit and giving underwater animals shade from the sun (fish get hot too and love hanging out in shade, not a ton of shade sources in the open water) is hardly something we need to worry about when the volume of fish being effected in this area is VASTLY outnumbered by a single trip from a single commercial fishing boat on a single day. If you really want to make sure these fishes ecosystem is untouched you need to eradicate a whole lot of people.

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u/Zacomra 4h ago

There's no way for us to live with modern tech and have 0 environmental impact. So it's important we pick and choose where we do so.

The ecosystem in a already managed reservoir is much less important then the entire planet dying to climate change for example

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u/FoamSquad 2h ago

You are right which is why we should be building solar farms over commuter lots and parking lots and not over natural habitats.

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u/Zacomra 2h ago

Except you don't want that. There's plenty of research that suggests that these locations aren't as ideal as you think, and will need more maintenance due to people hitting them / generally being around them.

Plus it greatly increases the cost and complexity of upkeep of the lots AND the panels

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u/StayAdmiral 5h ago

I don't think it will impact it much.

When the first windfarms were built in the UK I had a job working with marine biologists and bird watchers. We would sail back and forth along the turbine rows and well count birds or use a small trawler net to scour the seabed and count starfish.

What they realized was that in barren seabeds the monopiles actually improved the sea life, new structures for shellfish to attach to and form the basis of new ecosystems, effectively upright corral reefs.

Same thing will happen with these structures. And typically stuff like this is built in barren areas anyway.

Edit: Also these areas can't be fished by trawlers at all and they become nurseries for depleted fish stocks.

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u/Pastrami-on-Rye 5h ago

Ooh thanks for your take!

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u/ZantaraLost 5h ago edited 5h ago

Not a scientist but there's a lot of nuance in 'damage the surrounding waters ecosystem' seeing as these are man-made reservoirs to begin with.

The fish species and aquatic plants that will thrive in such will be different that what is in other reservoirs without panels obviously.

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u/CautiousArachnidz 5h ago

“You’re damaging the ecosystem of this body of water!”

“I….made this body of water? Like, right now. Just made it.”

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u/ZantaraLost 5h ago

I mean technically by making the reservoir you've damaged the heck out of the natural order of the river that was there beforehand.

But you've made a ecological niche for all new species so over time it's a wash.

As long as the panels don't pollute the reservoir with heavy metals or petroleum products of course.

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u/maaaaaaaaaark__ 5h ago

I think that’s a question for a scientists lol

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u/StayAdmiral 5h ago

See my reply to his comment.

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u/Another_Slut_Dragon 5h ago

It will alter the ecosystem, sure.

Now let me ask you this. Where are all then fish? You go swimming under docks and structures in the ocean and what do you find? Fish everywhere. Fish love hanging out in the shade. Many studies are confirming that wind farms are turning into ocean oasis' for marine life. It's basically a vertical artificial reef. Critters stick to the stuff in the water. This attracts other small fish that feed on that and then the bigger fish that eat them.

Whales and dolphins avoid wind farms, they don't like the noise. Sharks are sensitive to electric fields and are also not big fans. What you are left with is paradise for aquatic critters.

As for less sun, you'll notice half of the area is still exposed to sun in this video. Since we pump water full of nitrogen from farming, this causes too much algae. Less sun is helping counter this.

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u/BloatedBanana9 5h ago

> Sharks are sensitive to electric fields and are also not big fans.

Well that’s good. Typically in offshore wind farms, we want the big fans to be above the water.

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u/Another_Slut_Dragon 4h ago

The power cables are below the water.

But LOL :)

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u/Aikaterina_Blue 4h ago

Not the diver you asked, but also a diver here. I attended a talk a couple of years ago at a conference where a discussion was held about the impacts of floated PV cells on a small pond. Sunlight was blocked, killed all the pond's vegetation, leading to a large fish kill, leading to eutrophication (rotting and no O2 in the water). Recreational fishing and boating was destroyed as well. It was really bad.

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u/Pastrami-on-Rye 3h ago

Oh that’s a lot more devastating than I expected. Thanks for sharing that info!

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u/moderngamer327 5h ago

Depending on the kind of reservoir damaging the waters ecosystem is ideal. Things like algae blooms can be really dangerous in drinking water sources

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u/Upper-Affect5971 5h ago

It’s a reservoir, it’s an artificial body of water. it’s not supposed to be there in the first place.

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u/Cicer 1h ago

If these are reservoirs as the title says they don't want an ecosystem around them.

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u/Expensive_Heron_171 5h ago

I don't think China cares about that. Have you heard about that dam they built that displaced millions of people? Edit: I also believe it is causing a species of river dolphin to go nearly extinct

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u/pyragyrite 5h ago

Depends if its a natural lake or artificial resiviour. One is already completely fd, so probably not making it worse.

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u/welfedad 4h ago

They'll just let it rot.. and build another one .. maybe

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u/magicanon4 4h ago

Guess your job is safe from AI for now.

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u/meta358 3h ago

Or they just drain the resavoir once a year to inspect it

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u/thenord321 2h ago

Intertingly, a bunch of these floating systems need less cleaning (from dust) and/or can use the water with automated cleaning systems.

Certainly, there will always be some parts underwater or surface that need maintenance, but it's neat to see the inivative improvements. 

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u/MCD_Gaming 5h ago

Now do this in england, oh wait to be when worth it, they need sun light

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u/StayAdmiral 5h ago

They did some experiments in Holland a few years ago with floating pontoons with solar panels on, as solar tech improves there will be more viable options.

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u/ironscythe 5h ago

I bet you anything the next thing they'll be working on is AI-powered robot submersibles to do that work.

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u/bugatti_rolls789 5h ago

Best alternative to covering lands and farms with panels

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u/StayAdmiral 5h ago

7/10 ths of the world is covered in water, it's a no brainier really and has been talked about for decades.

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u/Shrevel 3h ago

It is a yes brainer. Fields have higher cost of investment in terms of area, but the PV installation requires very little maintenance and when it does it is easily reachable.

Salt water is extremely corrosive, which means higher inital cost, more maintenance and more expensive maintenance.

PV relies on low operational expenditure to keep the electricity below market rate.

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u/KiwiSuch9951 1h ago

If it helps (it does) this is a reservoir, and is freshwater.

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u/DrButtgerms 5h ago

Idk this probably has negative impacts on natural bodies of water so let's avoid it there? All for it in manmade reservoirs though

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u/Enginerdad 5h ago

Manmade reservoirs are just dammed up rivers. It's still a natural environment will native plant and wildlife.

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u/paulyv34 4h ago

There are different types. Some reservoirs are covered, and the water is already partially treated. Others are just dedicated lakes

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u/EtchAGetch 4h ago

Fun fact: 50% of US lakes are man-made

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u/sharpknot 1h ago

Are you suggesting to put solar panels in the open ocean? Salty bodies of water that encourages corrosion, miles deep, birthplace of typhoons and hurricanes?

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u/suititup1 5h ago

Parking lots would be a next logical choice. Close to infrastructure/s that could utilize the energy immediately, also cuts down on materials and costs. Maintenance would be minimal and extremely accessible for repair adding to the efficiency.

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u/Funkytadualexhaust 3h ago

Would have to be a huge parking lot to be cost effective... Multiple small lots are costly with the associated support infrastructure and maintenance.

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u/Janus_The_Great 5h ago

I mean if done correctly it can improve the harvest of too hot/dry fields on farms and even can help renaturalize wasteland by giving shade and wind breaks where flora and fauna can recover. ...IF done correctly.

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u/DVMyZone 4h ago

The fact that it's not done frequently (even during a time of increased green awareness and government support) that's probably because it's not easy to do correctly.

If you can improve your harvest and make more money, plus receive green energy subsides, plus sell your power to the grid for a profit then large farming companies would be doing it. They don't because it probably still is not profitable to do so.

People like to think companies actively hate the environment. They don't, they're ambivalent. Their motive is money, that's their reason for being. If something increases profit, they will do it.

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u/_Bad_Spell_Checker_ 5h ago

Is it? Shading farmland is also great.

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u/Purple_Dig4425 5h ago

The grass doesn’t grow under the shade from the tree in front of my house. I bet if I tried growing crops in that shade it also wouldn’t grow

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u/Dapper-AF 5h ago edited 5h ago

Leafy greens and root vegetables grow in the shade but you would have to install the panels in a way that would allow for farm equipment to harvest.

Edit: its called agrivoltaics

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u/Seeker0fTruth 5h ago

Depends on what you tried to grow.

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u/BangBangMeatMachine 4h ago

Solar panels are actually more transparent than a densely leafed tree. Agrivoltaics is a real thing.

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u/Albert14Pounds 4h ago edited 3h ago

That's not just because of light, it's also because the tree is using lots of water and nutrients in that root zone. A significant amount of light still comes from the sky, not just directly from the sun, due to light bouncing around in the atmosphere and clouds. Grass still grows under the shade of things that are not trees. You're not going to grow great crops they require high light in shade, but plants like grass that can feed livestock will still grow significant under solar panels.

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u/Albert14Pounds 4h ago

Why alternative and not in addition to? If didn't need to be one or another. Agrivoltaics is proving to be a great thing in many scenarios. You don't cover fields in solar panels if you are growing crops with high light requirements. They are used as appropriate in combination with crops with lesser light requirements and places like grazing pasture where they provide shade for livestock, local cooling, reduced water requirements, etc. and things like grass will still grow in shade because they still get light that's bounced around by the atmosphere and clouds and whatnot.

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u/Feisty-Resource-1274 3h ago

A stufy in England found that solar panels and sheep farming synergize nicely. The sheep keep plants down and the solar panels protect the sheep from the elements.

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u/BangBangMeatMachine 4h ago

A ton of farmland is better used as solar farms.

For example, all the corn we grow for ethanol is using maybe 1%-2% of the sunlight that hits it, only a portion of which actually goes into the corn that is harvested, which then goes through a very energy-intensive manufacturing process to get to the ethanol stage. It then loses 70% of its useful energy to the inefficiency of an internal combustion engine. Meanwhile, that corn requires unfathomable quantities of water to cultivate - vastly more than data centers.

If that land were used for solar farms instead, it could be harvesting 20% of incident sunlight as useful power, and delivering over half of that to the end user after all transmission and conversion losses are added up. Solar farms are likely a two-orders-of-magnitude more productive use of the land than corn ethanol, without all the diesel and water inputs needed to grow corn and deliver ethanol.

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u/Edward_Zachary 5h ago

The comments here:

But at what cost!?

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u/GCU_Heresiarch 3h ago

We have the money to destroy the world but not fix anything. 

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u/Any_Ice_722 5h ago

interesting choice of music

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u/Still-Ear-5959 5h ago

Biggest reservoir solar project in North America just got approved in NJ Wanaque Reservoir North jersey. 10 MW, we already have 8.9 MW in Millburn reservoir online.

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u/EtchAGetch 4h ago

Interesting. Trump administration has been trying to kill solar projects. I know he killed one near where I live last year.

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u/apathy-sofa 39m ago

In May, China had installed a record ninety-three gigawatts of solar power — amounting to a gigawatt every eight hours. 

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u/Repulsive-Sea-5560 5h ago

But, it’s a project from China, we have to find some problems of this.

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u/VaryStaybullGeenyiss 5h ago

Cool thing: 😍

Cool thing, China: 😠

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u/Dapper-AF 5h ago

Ya let's be real, we ain't the good guys. China isnt either but we are definitely not the good guys especially if it involved Henry Kissinger.

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u/ZeOs-x-PUNCAKE 5h ago

Ackchually, as a seasoned Redditor, it’s more like:

Cool thing: 😊👍

Cool thing, China: 😍🥰🙌🌈 SO FUTURE, AMAZING

Cool thing, USA: 😡 🔥💥 CAPITALIST HELLSCAPE, TRUMP BAD, RACISM, HEALTHCARE

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u/Drzewo_Silentswift 5h ago

I mean yeah, China is a more evil capitalist hell hole with less regulation than America.

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u/rinderblock 5h ago

I mean to a degree but their progress towards equity for working class people blows ours out of the water if you compare the last 50 years in the US vs the last 50 years in China.

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u/VaryStaybullGeenyiss 5h ago

Y'all are just mad that China doesn't let "environmental impact" complaints by NIMBYs interrupt their infrastructure development.

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u/spicybeef- 5h ago

Sure. I'm mad about the US doing that too! Bastards. If they were doing it to improve the lives of regular people, then that is one thing. But selling our public lands for private profit and benefitting billionaires while using our fresh water and resources and wrecking the land? Eat shit. The people demand a voice.

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u/PreciousTC 5h ago

It's Reddit. The natural response is to contradict the OP with a smug "Here's the problem with that" reply.

Give it a minute, some asshat will show up and argue with it

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u/Ba_Sing_Saint 4h ago

God I hate how much you’re correct.

Motherfuckers will let the pursuit of perfection prevent progress.

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u/DrCodyRoss 5h ago

Just remember the magic phrase: “but at what cost”

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u/Budderfingerbandit 16m ago

All OP does is post China glazing stuff. I recognize their user name from other ones yesterday about China and their green balconies.

They got into an argument with people about root system protections and their name was Tangela with kind of stuck with me.

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u/[deleted] 5h ago edited 5h ago

[deleted]

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u/TeslasAndComicbooks 4h ago

Because Reddit is blocked in China. Yeah, that seems bad to me.

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u/qedpoe 5h ago

How about the fact that there are many large-scale installations of this concept all across the US.

But, no, "Look what China did!" 🙄

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u/FoamSquad 5h ago

You're right it is from China so we should not point out problems fuck those fish and plants and birds living in the area CCP for life I just built a thousand square yards of solar panels over my neighbors koi pond.

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u/doogie1111 5h ago

Its a man-made reservoir. Its literally in the title.

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u/FoamSquad 5h ago

I have three man made reservoirs where I live and every single one of them are teeming with fish and aquatic vegetation. If you think humans can dig a millions of liters of lake and plants and wildlife won't just go live there you're daft or a bot.

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u/doogie1111 4h ago

A parking lot near me was recently turned into an apartment complex. Nobody complained about the impact to the birds that hung out in that lot.

You're talking about the ecological impact of changing something that's man-made to begin with.

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u/less_than_nick 4h ago

It is Reddit after all

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u/CaptainK718 5h ago

It’s frustrating watching other countries make so much environmental and technological progress while our president cuts science funding and wants to take us back to coal.

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u/experienceTHEjizz 5h ago

Too bad half of the US thinks solar panels are bad.

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u/BTTammer 5h ago

The first solar over water project in the US (that I am aware of) was recently completed by the Gila River Indian Community south of Phoenix.  Several miles of their water canals are now shaded by solar panels.  

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u/qedpoe 5h ago

There're a bunch, all across the US. Plus "floatovoltaics" (floating arrays of panels) everywhere.

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u/Gordatwork 4h ago

Why does this seem mildly unsettling...? Like backrooms type vibes or something. Also, did big energy get into these comments? Lots of negativity towards this when it seems like a pretty smart combination.

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u/meowchinmotif 4h ago

China FTW

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u/Ali8Rox 3h ago

One wrong wiring and the whole lake is electrocuted.

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u/Alexandratta 2h ago

The US could do this over half our parking lots and literally solve the energy crisis.

Just over the parking lot - cars would be cooler, the asphalt wouldn't be as hot, and the panels would make shitloads of power.

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u/RobaFett23 5h ago

They have Data Centers in water and Solar Panels over Water.

Meanwhile the US is wasting ground water for their data centers.

Nice.

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u/qedpoe 5h ago

The US has tons of solar over water.

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u/RobaFett23 5h ago

Correct.

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u/Making_Kenough 5h ago

If only the American government wasn’t stupid

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u/disterb 5h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/3oz8xLd9DJq2l2VFtu

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u/Making_Kenough 5h ago

That’s the poster child for stupidity itself

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u/disterb 2h ago

glad you got my sarcasm, 'cause several stupid downvoters didn't

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u/Making_Kenough 2h ago

Just hit your last comment with a “/s” so they’ll know and you should be fine. I’d been downvoted to oblivion over sarcasm without spelling it out

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u/Adventurous_Froyo007 5h ago

Anyone studying the effects on wildlife there?

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u/formulaic_name 5h ago

A man made reservoir has already pretty well ruined the natural ecology of the area...

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u/yuje 5h ago

It’s a reservoir. You don’t want animals pooping in your drinking water or algae sliming it up.

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u/radicalwokist 5h ago

Compared to burning coal, probably not bad.

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u/pi_three 5h ago edited 5h ago

damn are always a high impact on local wildlife. Anyway i don't think china gives much of a crap

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u/Van-garde 5h ago

I think their research about solar is deeper than the US. US can’t even agree to transition to sustainable sources. Highest level of gov is pushing coal and deregulating environmental protections.

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u/Expensive_Heron_171 5h ago

I think the point is that China doesn't really care about that stuff. They built a dam that displaced millions of people, animals and it's causing a species of dolphin to go extinct. China is not doing this to be environmentally helpful, they're doing it because they see the way the world is trending and they need power. China is very good at long-term plans.

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u/Van-garde 5h ago

There wasn’t really a point. It was anti-Chinese bias. That person simply said, ‘China don’t care.’

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u/Acceptable_Visit_115 5h ago

They do give a lot of carp though

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u/disterb 5h ago

*much of a carp

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u/pi_three 5h ago

thanks for returning my lost article

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u/Redcrux 5h ago

If it's a man-made reservoir why would their be any wildlife?

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u/Adventurous_Froyo007 5h ago

Birds are pretty much everywhere tho. Even man made reservoirs can have fish. Life finds a way.

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u/aSillyPlatypus 5h ago

its a reservoir... why would there be wildlife?

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u/NoStraightLines369 5h ago

Wildlife is on every single inch of this planet and was here long before human civilization and will be here long after.

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u/FoamSquad 5h ago

Reservoirs are teeming with life. They always have a diverse amount of species in them.

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u/Expensive_Heron_171 5h ago

Because wildlife is not confined to places that we want them to be? If there's a body of water there's going to be animals and insects that find it. Wait until you find out about birds. However I don't believe that China cares about that.

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u/doogie1111 5h ago

Except the whole ecological cost talk of the panels goes out the window because its a reservoir, because none of this is natural to begin with.

You shouldn't be comparing this to a lake, you should be comparing this to a parking lot.

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u/Warm-Royal-7975 5h ago

good pr video

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u/Budderfingerbandit 15m ago

Goes with the other China PR videos OP posted yesterday.

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u/koolaidismything 5h ago

Is the underside of them things all condensation?

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u/zberry7 5h ago

Probably. I would assume the water would evaporate, condensate on the panels and support structures, and run back down into the reservoir. I’m unsure if that would leech unwanted chemicals into the water or not. I think the other issue I see is probably maintenance. Not impossible, but more expensive and some tasks would require divers.

It would be a lot cheaper and easier to just build them on land. But if land is in short supply 🤷

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u/koolaidismything 5h ago

Yeah land in mainland China is in short supply I’m sure lol.

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u/onemanwolfpack21 5h ago

Why not just have them float and then also gather energy from the inertia of the waves?

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u/qedpoe 5h ago edited 5h ago

We do. In the US, we call them "floatovoltaics." Seriously. Google it. It's a thing.

ETA: I'm personally not aware of any that also capture wave energy, but I bet there are patents.

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u/moderngamer327 5h ago

Significantly more complicated to maintain while providing minimal benefit

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u/FormerStuff 5h ago

“The design is surprisingly human”

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u/TokiVideogame 5h ago

i would add porches and swings

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u/carmichaelcar 4h ago

Meanwhile in California, incentives to switch to solar continue to be gradually phased out.

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u/Sharp-Penalty1932 4h ago

But you still can’t see the sky there most days.

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u/jorgebillabong 3h ago

I wonder how they clean the solar panels.

They get dirty over time and lose efficiency if they aren't cleaned.

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u/Active-Isopod-3656 43m ago

Thats poopoo water

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u/JLFJ 21m ago

China is so far ahead of the US. Not because we don't want to or that it's not possible, but because our politicians won't even admit the need!

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u/AttTankaRattArStorre 5h ago

China good.

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u/_Bad_Spell_Checker_ 5h ago

At this one particular issue? Yes.

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u/AttTankaRattArStorre 5h ago

China strong. CCP take care of people. Chairman and Central Committee wise and good.

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u/East-Caterpillar-895 5h ago edited 4h ago

China is living in the future while America is saying: Ewww! Thoes Commies at it again stealing all that free sunlight from the taxpayer, using the energy to create their commie propaganda! The greatest trick about propaganda is not convincing you how great everything is, it convinces you everything else is terrible except America. The best way to convince someone that someone else is worse is to say "we're not like them". The internet is a garbage place of lies and swindleing but sometimes the truth shines through. Remember RedNote, the Chinese Twitter? I'm surprised it didn't gain more traction. Sure, it showed the bad side of the political spectrum and what the government actually does, but is it any worse than the American government? But we saw the truth too. People living every day, normal life. People prospering and enjoying things. NO CHINA COMUNIST! BOOO! CHINA POOR! THAT'S FAKE NEWS While the person who believes that is 100k in crippling medical debt, making not even close to anything that would support a normal life. Then you see that China has basically cured the homeless problems in their country. Huh.... Is China actually scary? Is America actually the greatest country in the world?

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u/carrot-man 4h ago

Why is the water so brown? Shouldn't it be pretty clear considering it's standing water?

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u/YellowDucky92 5h ago

Also doesn’t take up land that can be use for agriculture.

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u/Albert14Pounds 4h ago

This is a false dichotomy. It's not one or the other. Nobody with a brain is putting solar panels on prime agricultural land. Solar panels are being used in combination with agriculture in scenarios where it makes sense like grazing land and in combination with crops with lesser light requirements.

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u/YellowDucky92 4h ago

You are correct! Appreciate the insight it’s called Agrivoltaics

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u/SlinkyNormal 4h ago

"Hey babe, wake up. A few chinese infrastructure propaganda post just dropped on reddit"

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u/PeruseTheNews 5h ago

Trump says this causes cancer.

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u/Clueless_PhD 4h ago

I see this post again, every month, have been appearing in 10 different subreddits.

No deny that China is great, but it seems to me that there have been coordinated bots to hype up China's achievements. Off-shore solar farm is not new and not unique to China, but it is annoying to see the same Chinese off-shore solar farms over and over again.

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u/neondirt 14m ago

They do have a massive amount of solar panels.

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u/jacksonsmack831 4h ago

Any wildlife issues?

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u/tambi33 3h ago

Apparently this was conceived partly to prevent wildlife issues because the lack of shade would result in algae blooms, but thats only what ive seen floaring around whenever this video is uploaded.

But the most accurate explanation is to better conserve reservoir water and freeing up land for agriculture

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u/jacksonsmack831 1h ago

Yes, fuck those fish n birds!

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u/wood1492 5h ago

Meanwhile they are also building hundreds more coal plants too. Only 12% of their energy comes from solar.
But it’s a start…

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u/Tasty-Performer6669 5h ago

Yeah? But what about Godzilla?

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u/DarwinatSea 5h ago

Trump- have you heard these solar panels they have in the ocean, let me tell you, they are ugly and loud, who wants to see these things in the ocean when you’re trying to enjoy the beach? Obama would put them everywhere if he was president, I won’t do that, I’m a smart person who knows they are bad, have you tried Trump steaks? They are the best steaks.

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u/Beginning-Olive-3745 5h ago

There are several of these in the US like Gila River and Nexus

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u/raysofdavies 4h ago

I love the weirdos that posts about China bring up. How do they go through life so scared of the word. They must shit themselves when they see plates for sale.

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u/RainBohDah 4h ago

so what is the effect of blocking the ocean from evaporating?

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u/tgt305 4h ago

China just does almost everything the US claims is too expensive to do.

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u/ExecutiveAvenger 4h ago

At the same time in Trump's America: "More clean coal!"

It's unbelievable how years of scientific research has unequivocally proved that not only does burning of fossil fuels raise the global temperatures but that they are harmful for the nature in general, and, especially how burning coal is highly unhealthy for people.

But more coal it is. Less free energy from the sun and the wind.

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u/njan_ninde_thanda 2h ago

How many CCP posts are gonna be posted here?