The fight against smog in Beijing or the benefits of switching to solar energy

The air in Beijing, China is very often very polluted. Gray smog descends on the streets from exhaust gases, industry, coal smoke. Oxygen contains a huge amount of harmful particles, soot, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides.

A dirty atmospheric layer causes irreparable harm to human health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), polluted air is believed to be the cause of about 1.6 million premature deaths per year in China alone, and about 7 million worldwide. Poor environmental situation leads to strokes, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases.

Recently, the Chinese government has introduced new active measures to combat such pollution. Among the various methods, it is necessary to note the allocation of significant funds for the deployment of solar energy stations and in the near future plans to further expand the arrangement of photovoltaic systems of grid power plants.

Energy Benefits from Clean Air

The solar industry would benefit enormously from pure oxygen in China. Such studies were carried out by the group of climate policy scientists ETH Zurich, the results of which were published in the international interdisciplinary journal PLOS ONE.

According to the researchers, with active work on O2 purification, by 2040 China will be able to provide itself from 85 to 158 terawatt hours per year of additional electricity using modern solar power plants, which can be built by that time. However, this will become possible subject to the complete elimination of harmful emissions into the atmosphere from all sectors – energy, transport, industrial, and domestic industries.

According to the developed model, it is believed that the ongoing abatement measures will lead to the fact that the amount of sunlight falling on the surface will increase by 11% throughout the country. Such an increase will not be the same throughout the territory and, for example, in Beijing it will be only 8%, and in the central parts of the country – about 26%.

Positive dynamics

A group of scientists has calculated the cost of introducing new standards for the reduction and control of harmful emissions into the atmosphere in all sectors of the economy. It has been found that the revenues generated from increased electricity production from solar energy can offset about 13-17% of the cost of stringent pollution control measures that are necessary to meet the zero emissions target.

This is good news for investors, as the faster the oxygen is purified, the faster the investment will pay off and the money will be available to further expand the solar industry. Reducing air pollution in densely populated areas of the country will benefit not only health care, but also significantly accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources, and therefore will have a huge positive impact on stopping the process of global warming and climate change across the planet.