China’s MASSIVE Desert Project Is About To Change The World with Solar and Wind

This is the biggest solar plant in  the United States, located in Kern,   California. The Solar Star Plant is over 8  square miles and has a generation capacity   of 579 megawatts, powering around  255,000 homes. This is impressive,   but about 6,500 miles away, in this remote  desert, there's a solar facility that could   dwarf it … and just about every other  solar plant on earth. And it’s not alone. Like many deserts, China’s Kubuqi desert enjoys  persistent but predictable winds and around 280   days of scorching sunshine every year. This makes  it a challenging place to live, farm or do just   about anything else, but it makes it perfect  for solar and wind generation. That’s exactly   what China is doing. This is the Kubuqi Renewables  Base. It’s roughly the size of 20 Central Parks,   and when fully operational, it will supply  16 gigawatts to well over a million homes. Kubuqi is impressive, but it’s just  the centerpiece in a vast network of   around 225 bases being built across China’s  western and northern deserts. Kubuqi and its   sister projects are well on track to have a  generational capacity of 455 gigawatts(GW),   60% of which will be solar and the other  40% will be wind. That’s staggering — to   put it into perspective, that's more clean energy  generation capacity than is currently available   in any nation outside China. A system that large  could almost cover India’s current energy needs by   itself. 455 GW is equal to the combined green  energy generation of the the United Kingdom,   Australia and Indonesia, plus the  total power capacity of Brazil. These bases are all due to come online  within the next year or two. That means   China could dwarf the world’s current  renewable generation capabilities,   but that raises the question, how has the world’s current biggest polluter  turned into green energy’s biggest champion? I’m Matt Ferrell … welcome to Undecided.  This video is brought to you by  Incogni, but more on that later. Remember this? We’re back in the desert.  You probably already know that deserts   are great for renewable energy generation.  Can’t have a solar farm without sun … and   deserts have a lot of sun. Likewise  wind farms need wind, and the broad,   warm, flat expanses of desert make for reliable  wind currents and predictable power generation. That all makes sense, but I’ve been a little  deceptive. I haven’t shown you a single shot   of the Kubuqi desert just now. These are from  the Ulan Buh, Tengger, and Badain Jaran deserts,   which are all also in China. It just so happens  that over a fifth of China’s landmass is desert,   and it’s one of the largest countries in the  world. What I’m trying to say is China has a lot   of room to work with, and as we mentioned earlier,  deserts aren’t exactly valuable territory. So,   the nation has leveraged the cheap real estate  and surplus of sand to acquire huge tracts of   land that it's actively turning into these  massive renewable bases. This helps drive   down the price of solar and wind power. China  has the resources and space to build a lot of   cheap solar and wind energy, but there’s  a more obvious factor at play here too. Back in the 90’s, China saw a financial  opportunity in serving Germany’s growing   demand for solar panels. Thanks to nearby raw  materials and the structure of its supply chain,   China was able to produce a ton of affordable  solar panels. Other solar companies around the   world didn’t like the government subsidies and  incentives the Chinese government was leveraging.   In response, many countries imposed tariffs on  Chinese-made solar panels in the 2000s. However,   China was able to pivot and grow its own  domestic renewables program. This drove   domestic demand for solar panels and turbines.  As Chinese economic and industrial power grew,   demand for renewables grew right alongside it. So how did China build their renewable energy  bases? Cheap access to a lot of green technology,   lots of manufacturing power, and lots of  land ideal for solar and wind generation.   But _how_ China is these bases isn’t as   interesting as _why_ China is  rapidly building these bases. This is a big reason why China is going so  big on renewables. This is Beijing in 2021,   one of the biggest cities in one of the most  powerful countries on Earth … and it’s facing   a crippling blackout. And this wasn’t the only  blackout. What was that? That year the world faced a coal   shortage due in part to the ongoing pandemic.  More than half of China’s energy comes from coal,   which meant that the shortage forced parts  of China to go dark. Droughts also meant   hydroelectric plants were struggling to  keep up with demand. As you can imagine,   that was bad for both Chinese citizens  and the country’s economy at large. Then there’s this. Here, again, is Beijing  and it’s not out of power this time. It’s just   covered in a thick, toxic cloud. Industry isn’t  clean. It needs a lot of power and the fastest   and easiest way to get power is the Dark Side  (I mean fossil fuels). And if China’s massive   industrial sector wasn’t power-hungry enough,  they also have a massive population that needs   electricity too. Most of which, again,  comes from fossil fuels, which results in   pollution like this. Not the kind of imagery  an ascendant global power wants to project. While we’re on the subject of fossil fuels,  China is the world’s second-largest consumer   of oil. They burned through over 13 million  barrels per day in 2023, while only producing   around 4 million. Including strategic reserves,  this had led China to import around 11.4 million   barrels of oil per day in 2023, which comes with  a hefty price tag. Sure would be great if they   weren’t reliant on others for their energy needs.  I think you can see where I’m going with this. So why is China adding 455 GW of renewable  energy? Lots of economic reasons,   protecting the health of their  citizens, energy independence,   and international prestige to name a few.  Gosh, it’s almost like there’s just a lot   of benefits to going green. And if it’s  possible for this massive polluter to turn around,   can other countries do it too? Are there  lessons we can learn from China? And what   does such a massive jump in green energy  generation mean for the rest of the world? But before talking about how this may impact the  rest of the world, there’s something else that   can impact you directly ... and that's protecting  your online privacy with today’s sponsor, Incogni.   I’ve mentioned this before, but I signed up for a  newsletter from a small online retailer and after   I did I saw a major increase in the number of  promotional emails I was receiving from companies   I’ve never heard of. That happened because that  company sold my information to a databroker ...   sometimes they sell your info to some pretty shady  people. Or they can fall victim to data breaches   that leak your data to scammers. I’m sure you’ve  experienced it too. Incogi can help with this.   We have the right to request that data brokers  delete our information, but it takes a lot of time   and effort. I signed up for Icogni, gave them the  legal right to work on my behalf, and then … just   sat back and relaxed. You’ll see updates on your  account for which data brokers they’ve sent legal   requests too and which ones have complied. It  couldn’t be easier. I’ve been letting Incogi   stay on top of this for me for quite a while now  and I'm very happy with the results. If you want   to take back some of the control around who has  access to your personal information, give Icogni a   try. The first 100 people to use code UNDECIDED at  the link below will get 60% off of Incogni. Thanks   to Incogni and to all of you for supporting the  channel. So back to what we can learn from China. The installation of bases like  the one in Kubuqi has analysts,   like those from the Centre for Research on Energy  and Clean Air (CREA), all but guaranteeing that   Chinese emissions and fossil fuel use will  not only fall next year, but enter “into an   extended period of structural decline.” This  is due not just to these bases coming online,   but the growth of other greentech industries  in China, like renewable batteries and electric   vehicles. China is now hitting their 2030  reduced emissions goal five years ahead of   schedule. This gives me hope that they’ll be able  to hit their zero-emissions goal in 2060 as well.   If one of the largest consumers of fossil fuels  can do it, then the rest of us can too, right? More immediately, all these plants coming online  should mean less polluted air not just for China,   but its neighboring countries … and maybe more.  If China continues to build these facilities,   and the technology continues to improve, there  are opportunities for these neighbors to buy   surplus clean energy from China. Countries  like Mongolia that are currently China’s   major coal sources are acutely aware of China’s  greenification. They’re trying to find alternative   ways to generate energy and income as coal  demand collapses. Mongolia shares the Gobi   desert with China and their side of the Gobi  is just as capable of generating that amazing   solar and wind energy. There's an opportunity  here for China to export not just the energy,   but the energy generation expertise  and material to these neighbors. It’s   flipping the script … but these opportunities  aren’t just limited to China’s neighbors. Since 2013, China has been making economic and  literal inroads to much of the world (especially   the global south) with its Belt & Road Initiative  (BRI). It’s like China’s attempt to make a sort   of neo-Silk Road.’ Basically, China builds up  these countries’ infrastructure in exchange for   favorable access to their natural resources. Under  the BRI, China can potentially build up the green   infrastructure of these countries too. Though I  have to point out that the BRI is controversial.   Proponents and the World Bank have noted that BRI  involvement can raise a country’s GDP by upwards   of 4%. It can also boost the world’s economy and  gives these countries access to infrastructure   development that, in many cases, wouldn’t normally  be available to them. Detractors have called it a   form of neocolonialism, and have cited instances  where the program negatively impacted the local   environment, involved displacing native peoples,  and even some really bad human rights abuses. Again,   not a geopolitics channel, so I’m not gonna get  into it ... BUT … it brings up a good point. China is a global power on the ascent, and I’m  not suggesting they’ll bestow this energy or   technology on their neighbors or allies simply out  of the goodness of their heart. Surely there will   be some serious economic and political strings  attached. Is that trade worth it for improved   infrastructure and access to green technology?  It's a complicated issue, and it’s not really for   me to decide. I guess you could say I’m living  up to the name of the channel on that point. All of this assumes that what China is  doing at home is replicable elsewhere,   which is certainly not always going to be the  case. Heck, even China is facing some serious   problems. Check this out. Notice an issue? How  about now? Most of the renewable bases are in   those far less populated regions in the  west while some of China’s biggest cities are   on the east coast. It’s difficult to get all  that power from point A to a very distant point   B without losing a lot in the process. China is  actively tackling this issue by developing ultra   high voltage power lines. However, for the  time being they’re actually generating more   renewable energy than they can use, which is  leading to curtailment. All the clean energy   generation in the world doesn’t mean much  if it's not actually replacing fossil fuels. Still, there’s lessons to learn here. My home  country of the United States recently passed the   Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which directs $500  billion in federal spending and tax breaks toward,   unsurprisingly, reducing inflation. Over  half of that allotment is intended to go   toward clean energy with another nearly $50  billion going toward manufacturing. Though   no one can really match China’s manufacturing  power, we are not too far behind here in the   US. Our western and northern regions are home  to deserts and grasslands ripe for solar and   wind energy. We have our own installations  in many of these places already, and I’m   glad the IRA seems to have learned from China’s  economic incentives, but I hope we go further,   and create our own fully fledged clean energy  bases. Having everything from mining resources   to manufacturing solar panels, wind turbines,  and batteries here in the US could drop costs   and accelerate our adoption … and give us  a tremendous amount of energy security. No bones about it, this is an amazing step  in the right direction. And unlike a lot of   stuff in the greentech space, the Kubuqi clean  energy base isn’t a work of futurology or the   pitch of an exciting startup. It’s real,  it's working right now, and it's getting   bigger. It has a bunch of sibling bases all  coming online in the next few years. China’s   basically doubling the world’s renewable  generation overnight? What’s not to like? Well, it’s not an unalloyed good or success.  China’s emissions levels have continued to rise,   and they’re still building coal plants to  supplement the intermittent power of their   renewable bases. After a post COVID rebound  in CO2 output during 2023, some estimates are   showing that China may have hit peak carbon.  2024 and beyond shows declining numbers … but   building and permitting more coal plants in 2023  and beyond feels like two steps forward and one   step back. As we’ve seen in places like Germany,  even methodical, well-planned attempts to entirely   phase out coal by 2030 have been scrapped in  light of unforeseen geopolitics and energy crises. China already accounts for half the world’s  coal consumption, so it's worrying to see   their government constructing even more  coal plants. As some analysts have warned,   there’s a fight brewing in China  between renewables stakeholders,   and fossil fuels stakeholders. It’s a familiar  fight we’re seeing everywhere around the world.   I can only hope that renewables will  win — and do what I can back home. But what do you think about the rapid build  out of giant solar power plants like this?   Jump into the comments and let me know. And  be sure to check out my follow up podcast   Still TBD where we'll be discussing some of  your feedback. Thanks to all of my patrons,   who get ad free versions of every video.  Your support really helps us to keep   delivering you these videos every week. If  you’d like to support the channel and get in   on early videos, check out the link in the  description. I’ll see you in the next one.