BEIJING: At a solar photovoltaic project and wasteland reclamation demonstration base in Beijing’s Miyun district, rows of solar panels are arranged like fish scales, shimmering in the sunlight.
Such was the setting of a news conference titled “Strivers on the New Journey”, organized by the State Council Information Office on Wednesday.
Five representatives from the energy sector shared their inspiring stories of grassroots dedication and innovation, focusing on promoting the green transition of energy and ensuring supply security. Aged 37 to 47, they are all distinguished engineers in the nation’s energy sector, with their research projects ranking among the best in the world.
Zhang Deping, an executive at a subsidiary of CNPC Jilin Oilfield, expressed pride in their world-leading carbon storage technology in oilfields, a significant turnaround from two decades ago. Since 2008, his team has stored up to 4.3 million tons of carbon dioxide, becoming a flagship project in China’s carbon reduction campaign.
Wang Yuepeng, an engineer at the Changping branch of Beijing Electric Power Company under State Grid, said, “The intelligent live-line working robots developed by our team have been applied widely, and we are pursuing even greater experiments with advanced technologies.”
Beyond pride, these engineers also shared their ambitions. Liu Xin, director of the offshore wind power department of a research institute under China Huaneng Group, noted that the company is developing state-of-the-art offshore wind turbines to “provide a Chinese solution to deep and distant sea wind power generation”.
Similarly, Zheng Sanguo, vice-general manager of a China Huadian subsidiary, noted that his team recently completed the country’s first sand prevention and ecological rehabilitation project. However, he emphasized that “greater challenges lie ahead”.
Statistics show that more than 1.47 million drought-tolerant plants have thrived under the photovoltaic panels, controlling desertification over more than 1,200 hectares. Still, Zheng remains committed to further efforts, aiming to tackle 4,000 hectares of desertification, generate 5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, save approximately 1.58 million tons of standard coal, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 4.34 million tons.
In addition to new energy, coal remains a focus. Zhao Yunfei, a team leader at Shendong Coal under CHN Energy Investment Group, said: “Current coal exploration is undergoing significant technological upgrades. Our team has completed the country’s first unmanned thin coal seam mining project, and I believe intelligent coal mining will achieve safer, greater, and smarter outcomes in the near future.” –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
