URUMQI, June 05 (ABC): The Tarim Desert Road, which traverses the Taklimakan Desert in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has been turned into a zero-carbon one, thanks to a transformation project completed Thursday for the irrigation system along its shelterbelt.
After the transformation project, shrubs along the road are now irrigated with the help of solar power-fueled pumps, instead of diesel ones.
The project is estimated to cut diesel consumption by about 1,000 tonnes and carbon dioxide emissions by 3,410 tonnes per year, according to PetroChina’s Tarim oilfield branch, which is in charge of the project.
THE GREEN SHIFT
The Tarim Desert Road was completed in 1995. Cutting through China’s largest desert, it reduced the distance from the regional capital Urumqi to Hotan by 500 km.
However, it was no easy task to build and maintain a road in the Taklimakan, the world’s second-largest shifting-sand desert. In 2005, a 436-km-long shelterbelt was planted on both sides of the road to protect it from being swallowed up by sand, and 109 well stations were built for irrigation.
Eighty-six of the well stations were powered by diesel fuel. They were also unable to provide continuous energy.
