Taming Shapotou’s Tengger Desert
Yang showed China Today his plans for a circular ecological park. Wheat and clover are grown to feed both people and cattle, and form natural grass panes to fix the shifting sand in place. Stubble after harvest can become natural fertilizer. Yang explained, “Crops are cultivated on virgin land nourished by natural animal and plant fertilizer free of pollution, pesticides or chemical fertilizer. They are hence totally organic.”
New Technology Prospects
Gazing through Yang’s fruit forest, masses of solar panels can be seen extending into the endless desert, the location of Zhongwei Desert Photovoltaic Industrial Park. Owing to high exposure to the sun and strong wind power, the desert is an optimum area for building photovoltaic electricity power stations, an effective solution to surging power demands.
The Desert Photovoltaic Industrial Park covers around 4,333 hectares. It is divided into four areas: solar manufacturing, a photovoltaic electricity power station, photovoltaic electricity-powered agriculture greenhouses, and sightseeing areas, with a total investment of RMB 20 billion. According to the construction scheme, photovoltaic power generation is set up with an installed power generating capacity of about 1,500 MW. Today, 26 enterprises have been established in the industrial park.
Ma Tingli, secretary of CPC Zhongwei Municipal Committee, said that sound geographical conditions resulted in the setting up there of a cloud base data center. Using new advanced data technology, the cost of building the same size base in Zhongwei City was one third and the running capital half of that in major cities. Based on energy conversion, the data center could also use wind energy instead of electricity to cool the machines and buildings, thus saving on energy expenditure.
The four major industries in Shapotou – the fruit and vegetable industry, facility agriculture, new energy and desert tourism – are transforming Zhongwei City from an isolated and arid desert into a healthy and wealthy locale.
The desert, the Yellow River, mountains and oases form the distinctive landscape of Ningxia Shapotou, blending the grandeur of deserts in western China with the beauty of river towns in southern provinces.
In 2010, the Yellow River wetland restoration and control program in Zhongwei City was awarded the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment, jointly established by UN-Habitat and the Dubai municipal government of the United Arab Emirates in 1995. Its aim is to encourage outstanding contributions to human habitat improvement and sustainable development.
