COMMENTARY
To date, the largest solar farm is still located in
. However, this capacity is only able to power 50,000 homes annually, which is little compared to its population. China has large bodies of water available owing to its size, but smaller countries do not have that luxury and in order for floating solar farms to be a viable power option, the power efficiency needs to be improved so that more homes can be provided for.
China’s Anhui province, which has a capacity of 150MW and covers an area the size of 110 football fields13
7 CONCLUSION
After discussing the various technologies, it appears that more research and innovation is required by governments around the world to allow for greater affordability and adoptability. This will be an inevitable trend as some of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases such as China, Japan and South Korea have lent their weight by pledging themselves to be carbon-free by mid-century14
. The
drive towards decarbonisation is therefore inevitable with water looking very likely to be the next frontier.
1
McKenna P., Hao F. (2020, Dec 20) Chinese Factories Want to Make Climate-Friendly Air Conditioners. A US Company is Blocking them. Retrieved from: https://
insideclimatenews.org/news/20122020/chinese-factories- air-conditioning-refrigerants/ on 30 Dec 2020
2
3 4
NUS (2018, Jan 08) NUS researchers pioneer water- based, eco-friendly and energy-saving air-conditioner. Retrieved from:
https://news.nus.edu.sg/nus-researchers- pioneer-water-based-eco-friendly-and-energy-saving-air- conditioner/ on 30 Dec 2020 Ibid.
5
Abrams M.(2018,Apr 20) Green Air Conditioning. Retrieved from:
https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/ green-air-conditioning on 30 Dec 2020 Ibid.
13
6
S&P Global. (2020, Dec 23) Commodities 2021: Japan to enter new era of hydrogen in 2021 with launch of liquefied transport. Retrieved from:
https://www.spglobal.com/platts/ en/market-insights/latest-news/electric-power/122320- commodities-2021-japan-to-enter-new-era-of-hydrogen- in-2021-with-launch-of-liquefied-transport on 30 Dec 2020
Wayland M. (2020, Jan 07) Toyota plans to build ‘city of the future’ with housing, robots and autonomous vehicles in Japan. Retrieved from:
https://www.cnbc. com/2020/01/07/toyota-to-build-city-of-the-future-to-
test-emerging-tech-in-japan.html on 30 Dec 2020
8
Mohan M. (2019, Oct 30) SP Group launches first zero- emission building in Southeast Asia powered by green hydrogen. Retrieved from:
https://www.channelnewsasia. com/news/singapore/sp-group-first-zero-emission- building-green-hydrogen-12046124 on 30 Dec 2020
9
Cho R. (2020, Jan 07) Why we need Green Hydrogen. Retrieved from:
https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2021/01/07/ need-green-hydrogen/4 on 15 Jan 2021
10
11 12
Daley J. (2019, Feb 07) Putting Solar Panels in Water Is a Great Idea-but Will it Float? Retrieved from: https://www.
scientificamerican.com/article/putting-solar-panels-on- water-is-a-great-idea-mdash-but-will-it-float/ on 30 Dec 2020 Ibid.
Thoubborn K. ( 2018, Nov 07) Floating Solar: what you need to know. Retrieved from:
https://news.energysage. com/floating-solar-what-you-need-to-know/ on 30 Dec 2020
Lee A. (2020, Feb 11) ‘World’s largest floating solar plant outside China’ ready in weeks after ‘record’ build. Retrieved from:
https://www.rechargenews.com/transition/ worlds-largest-floating-solar-plant-outside-china-ready-in- weeks-after-record-build/2-1-754179 on 30 Dec 2020
14
Ritchie A., Ewing J. (2020, Nov 29) How China, Japan and South Korea can make their carbon neutral goals a reality- and drive change worldwide. Retrieved from: https://www.
scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3111655/how-china- japan-and-south-korea-can-make-their-carbon-neutral- goals on 30 Dec 2020
Praveen Nair received his degrees in Bachelor and Master of Architecture from the National University of Singapore. He is passionate about the latest trends in sustainable design, and believes that the notion must gain more momentum for a paradigm shift to happen in the industry. Apart from writing, he works as an architectural designer who has designed buildings and spaces of multiple typologies. Some architects that he looks up to include Glenn Murcutt and Ken Yeang. Inspired by the Garden City’s goal for self-sufficiency, he comes home to a fledgling vegetable garden with chye sim and holy basil.
7 Toyota Woven City in Shizuoka will utilise solar energy, geothermal energy and hydrogen fuel cell technology to strive towards a carbon-neutral society, with plans to break ground in phases beginning in 2021. The city’s hydrogen power and stormwater filtration lies in an underground network
FUTURARC 81
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