Photovoltaic panels in northwest China's Qinghai Province not only produce clean power, but also improve the local grassland and environment, while earning more money for herdsmen.
Claiming high intensity of solar radiation, long hours of sunshine, Qinghai is abundant in solar energy. And its dry climate makes it ideal to develop new energy industry.
These advantages have drawn a great number of photovoltaic panel manufacturing companies to set their plants in the province.
"We in Qinghai have around 100,000 square kilometers of land which could be put into the development of new energy. The total amount of solar radiation here probably could rank second in the country. These are unique advantages for us to develop new energy," said Wang Yiyang, Qinghai regional manager of Trinasolar, a global leader in in photovoltaic products, systems and smart energy.
Wang said by shielding barren lands from further attacks from wind and sand, solar panels help nurture the growth of grass to improve local environment. Yet as grass grows higher to reach the panels, electricity they generate might risk to ignite the grass to fire.
"The solar panels could shield the wind and sand. You can see that the grass under the solar panels is lusher than the grass elsewhere. Since the solar power industrial park was established, the vegetation coverage in Talatan (gobi) has reached 80 percent. Now you see the grass is almost as high as up to the solar panels," said Wang.
"So we asked the herdsmen to graze their animals at the photovoltaic power station. One thing is the herdsmen can help us petrol the power station. And the other thing is, they can guarantee that the grass will not grow too high to interfere with power generation. Now the local herdsmen are raising over 20,000 sheep in the park and we produce about 11.8 tons of pasture a year. This has completely solved some herdsmen’s problem of employment," said Wang.
Photovoltaic panels in Qinghai produce more than power
A 25 percent import tariff on all foreign-built vehicles entering the United States has raised serious concerns for manufacturers in South Africa.
Automotive giants like Mercedes and BMW have long used South Africa as a base for global exports -- but those plans may be shifting into reverse gear after the U.S. announced the punitive measures.
"If you take, for example, BMW, 97 percent of the X3 that we are producing in Rosslyn is exported out of the country. We only sell 3 percent in South Africa, and there's a huge number of those vehicles that also go into the U.S. So there are companies in South Africa that are purely here not because they are selling vehicles in South Africa; they are here to produce vehicles for the global market, and it's important for them to remain globally competitive," said Mike Mabasa, CEO of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa.
U.S. automaker Ford, which has deep roots in South Africa, is also in the crosshairs.
The company recently invested over 300 million U.S. dollars to upgrade its Silverton plant in Pretoria, South Africa, for the production of the world's only plug-in hybrid Ranger, which has just entered production but could face delays or restrictions.
"If an American citizen wants to buy specifically a Ford Ranger that is a plug-in hybrid, they can only place an order in South Africa, nowhere else in the world. So, that means, obviously, the capacity of Ford to be able to produce those vehicles in big volumes is going to be constrained, because Americans are going be looking at another Ford that is produced in another country, or even in the United States," said Mabasa.
South Africa has long enjoyed duty-free automotive exports to the U.S. under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, but that relationship now hangs in the balance.
A sharp shift in U.S. foreign policy threatens to derail an industry that employs thousands and contributes around 5 percent to the country's economy.
"We produce less than 1 percent of global automotive vehicles, so to say. So, in reality, the impact on us is likely to be more disproportionate than those of our peers that produce at the same level. And the risk is actually created -- a concentration risk -- in countries that have greater capacity and are building more; in those countries will be able to absorb some of this," said Parks Tau, South Africa's minister of trade and industry.
Amid growing concerns about overreliance on the U.S. market, Amith Singh, national manager for manufacturing at Nedbank Commercial Bank, emphasized the importance of tapping into regional trade opportunities.
"I think we need to make better use of some of our local agreements, our African continental agreements. How do we leverage that? How do we partner with the government and private sector to start benefiting the countries and the economies aside from the United States? So, those could be the catalyst to drive our localization projects; it could be what we need to drive the African economy as opposed to being completely reliant on the States (United States)," he said.
South Africa is for now standing firm in its decision not to retaliate against steep U.S. import tariffs, set to take effect in just a few days.
Officials in Pretoria acknowledge the challenges posed by the current U.S. administration but are pursuing a diplomatic approach in hopes of maintaining stable relations and preserving the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
US tariffs rock South Africa’s auto industry
