Chinas grüne Solar-Vorzeigestadt

Das Seed-Magazin berichtet über das große China-Experiment in Richtung "grüne" Energiegewinnung:

Linxia is not the sort of place that figures large in accounts of China's economic miracle. A town of 140,000 people in the mountains of western Gansu, China's second poorest province, its dusty streets teem with people hawking vegetables, grains, and live animals for slaughter from the backs of carts. ... What Linxia has in abundance, however, is sunlight—and, in ways that might seem incongruous with the area's economic conditions, people are putting it to good use. At Yuansheng Green Solar Power, a small store on a street otherwise devoted to hardware and tools, peasants living in remote areas where electricity is expensive stop to pick up solar water heaters and talk technology with owner Ding Yanlin. A few blocks away is the two-story Solar Supermarket, and spread out around the commercial district are three other independent solar-equipment dealers. In the rolling hills outside of town, Golden Yak-brand solar generator kits—small 20-watt photovoltaic panels providing enough energy for two high-efficiency bulbs—light the tents of nomads who are not hooked up to the grid. Solar generators, heaters, and cookers have become so popular in parts of rural Gansu that families have started giving them as dowry. It's a sign that, along with a quickly growing need for energy, an environmental consciousness is building here. Locals who installed solar heaters cite a desire to curb pollution as a reason for going green. At a time when China is grappling with major issues of energy security, environmental degradation, and growing consumption, can it capitalize on its growing adoption of renewable energy and engender a wide-ranging green revolution?

Dank an Matthias für den Hinweis.