Space combat against climate change

11/05/2015

China surprises the world by revealing that its scientists plan to build a space station whose panels will be able to capture ten times more solar energy than the modules installed on Earth.

The solar-powered space station will have panels that will cover an area from 5 to 6 square kilometers and will probably be visible from Earth as a star.

The scientists, headed by the professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wang Xiji, foresee that the daily productivity of electricity in this solar plant reaches an 99%. In the case of solar power plants installed on Earth, their productivity depends on factors such as time and weather.

Already in 2010, China, together with the European Union, the EU, had made explicit its willingness to explore by applying space technology from the perspective of combating climate change.

At the time, China and the European Union agreed to strengthen their cooperation to improve monitoring of climate change and build capacity to prevent and control natural disasters. This in the framework of the conference "Let's embrace the space"Held at the European Union pavilion at the World Exp trade fair, held in Shanghai at 2010.

The head of the EU's Space Research and Development Unit, Reinhard Schulte Braucks, said on the occasion that "Air pollution is a common problem that everyone faces", So both parties would have to strengthen cooperation to improve air monitoring.

Since then, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the European Space Agency have developed the joint project "Dragoness", Which is the largest international project with Chinese cooperation in the field of Earth monitoring. The initiative presupposes joint scientific research, exchange of specialists and technological training.

According to Braucks at the time, China has unique resources that the European Union lacks, since it can launch many satellites into orbit by providing a large amount of important data. In addition, both parties could share knowledge of space and technology.

Also, according to Gao Zhihai, researcher at the Chinese Academy of Forest Sciences, cooperation between both parties is an important role in the monitoring of natural disasters. For example, after the two earthquakes that shook the Asian country in 2008 and 2010, the European Union gave China the data that facilitated the rehabilitation work.

Another objective or result that is expected from the joint work between China and the European Union will allow to evaluate the capacity of the Asian terrestrial system to absorb carbon dioxide gas, which will provide a scientific base to elaborate the policy of its containment.

In the case of the solar power plant, China needs to build rockets with a higher lifting force, given that very few ships today can carry loads of more than 100 tons and it is estimated that the plant will weigh more than 10.000 tons.

Anyway, Li Ming, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Space Technology, estimated that for the year 2020 China will build this large space plant aimed at developing the production of solar energy.

Source: Xinghua