China, a country with some of the world's largest deserts, goes solar in a big way

Renewable energy production is surging forward in China under a government plan to use clean sources for 15% of the country's energy by 2020. Wind power has benefited most, doubling every year since 2004. In the area of solar water heaters, China has become a world leader.

SHOOT: Good to see.

clipped from www.guardian.co.uk "Solar is most important for the future of China," said Professor Can Li, head of the recently established National Laboratory for Clean Energy. "We have a lot of land that is not suitable for farming. Gansu and Xinjiang are all desert. We estimate that if we covered a third-to-half of the area in solar cells and caught only a tenth of the energy, then we would be able to meet the current energy requirements of the whole country." The closest this vision has come to being realised is the solar farm completed last year outside Wuwei city in Gansu, behind a zoo and breeding centre for endangered animals. We were allowed, however, to visit the zoo. At the back, between dozing Bactrian camels and half a dozen Przewalski's horses, the solar panels were visible along with advanced wind-lens turbines that are three times more efficient than conventional ones.