https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-transition/china-turns-on-world-record-solar-farm-big-enough-to-power-luxembourg/2-1-1654405
‘Wow’ was the reaction of Tesla owner Elon Musk to the news
Always wondered why a country like Luxemburg doesn't just go full renewable energy. I mean the metropolitan area of the city I live in has a population twice the size of Luxemburg.
At least their public transport is free.
I'll reply to both of you here. Luxembourg isn't quite a microstate by most definitions but is indeed small.
On the public transit, the free is very nice, the mediocre service is less nice. Other less nice things is that they are focusing on building more roads and less on better public transit networks(tram extension is nice though), so I rank it as moderately good in that sense when compared to other countries and their public transit networks and mobility plans.
As for why it isn't going full renewable there are a few reasons and could probably go into much more depth but only 1/4 of workers in Luxembourg have nationality there, the others are a mix of cross border workers(France, Belgium, and Germany), EU citizens who moved there, and 3rd country nationals. Only citizens of Luxembourg can vote for the government(EU citizens can vote for EU parliament and all can vote for municipal elections) and they tend to be a bit more conservative. Additionally land is super expensive so that is a barrier to renewables. What I will say though is there is an increase in it with a goal to hit 35% renewable by 2030 and there are quite a few wind turbines but, I would doubt it will get hit with the CSV being the primary party in government at the moment.
The second last paragraph in the article is lowkey saying China is stealing Uyghur's Sun! They just can't resist the urge to editorialize.
There's absolutely a lawyer somewhere in the US who was tasked with finding a way to claim celestial bodies in the name of a corporation. As soon as they find a way to make it Nestle Sun or something they will do so.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
200,000 acres for 5GW? That's the same output as just one large nuclear power station. Don't they need that land for crops and stuff? While it's great it's renewable it just doesn't seem very land efficient. Maybe hydro can do better.
not mutually exclusive actually https://www.salon.com/2023/05/03/how-shading-crops-with-solar-panels-can-improve-farming-lower-costs-and-reduce-emissions_partner/
China has a lot of land that isn't at all suitable for farming but extremely suitable for solar power. But yeah nuclear and hydro are great too and very much necessary.
"Wow."