LONGi showcases its extensive expertise in fighting against global land desertification through solar photovoltaic technology at UNCCD COP15 – EQ Mag Pro
XI’AN, China : The 15th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) kicked off on May 9, 2022 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The UNCCD COP15 brings together leaders from governments, the private sector, civil society and other key stakeholders from around the world to promote sustainable land management in the future.
On Li Zhenguo, Founder & President of LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (LONGi), took part in the side event “Solar empowers land and People — from scarcity to prosperity” organized by The School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, via video link. Speaking at the event, he shared the company’s rich experience and insights in fighting against land desertification and implementing ecological restoration through solar photovoltaic technology.
Land desertification is a global issue with serious implications for ecological security, poverty eradication, social and economic stability and sustainable development. To address the current development dilemma facing global drylands, an integrated solution combining solar photovoltaic energy and sustainable land management could be a viable option.
Over the past few years, LONGi and many other photovoltaic practitioners have been working tirelessly on solar photovoltaics research for desertification governance and ecological restoration. In China’s Kubuqi desert, LONGi has built a “PV+ Desertification Governance” pilot project and carried out an exploration of the green ecological development mode of “photovoltaic power generation, plantation under the solar system, and animal breeding in the interspace” in desertification areas.
Numerous practical instances demonstrate that photovoltaic power generation and desertification governance have innate resource synergies. Abundant deserts and sufficient sunshine conditions provide the required land and light resources for photovoltaic power generation, and the benefits brought by photovoltaic power generation can effectively increase the value of land. In addition, large-scale photovoltaic installations can also block the ground sunlight radiation and reduce water evaporation, effectively promoting the growth and recovery of vegetation, which is conducive to the development of the planting and breeding industry.
With the continuous decline in the cost of global photovoltaic power generation, this “PV+ Desertification Governance” model has not only become a solution for repairing land ecology in China, but also provided a reference for “from scarcity to prosperity” for global land desertification governance, and fully explained the sustainable development vision of “Solar empowers land and people,” said Li Zhenguo, Founder & President of LONGi. In China, the first batch of more than 100GW wind power and solar photovoltaic projects are operating in full swing in the western Gobi Desert, which has kicked started the large-scale desertification governance work by using new energy.
“If 1% of the global desert area can be used for photovoltaic power generation, it could meet the energy needs of all human beings, and when 70% of the global desert area is turned into oases, all the carbon emissions generated by human activities can be absorbed. At this point, all social and environmental problems caused by carbon emissions can be easily solved. And that is exactly what LONGi’s ‘Solar for Solar’ sustainable concept hopes to achieve,” Li Zhenguo said.
Moving forward, LONGi hopes that more solar photovoltaic companies will join hands in technology innovation, explore more global practice cases of “PV+ Ecological Restoration”, and take concrete actions to support the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), so as to achieve sustainable development for all humankind.
