Across China: Green energy revolution takes root in China's mountain village

WUHAN, April 23 (Xinhua) -- For decades, Hu De'an found a sense of security in stacking firewood outside his home as tall as a man.

"A high pile of firewood meant a secure winter," said the 75-year-old, recalling how each log represented warmth and survival.

Today, the crackle of firewood has been replaced by the quiet hum of progress. Hu now brews tea and cooks his meals not with smoky coal or timber, but with clean electricity drawn from the sun.

The smoke that once curled from rooftops has vanished, replaced by neat rows of solar panels quietly generating clean energy. It's a transformation playing out across Tudianzi Village, nestled deep in the mountains of central China's Hubei Province.

Tudianzi is one of four village-level clean energy demonstration sites launched by State Grid Hubei Electric Power Co., Ltd. Over the past two years, the Tujia ethnic village has emerged as a model of how rural China can leap to the era of renewables, mainly solar and wind power.

"From rooftops and pavilions to chicken coops and pigsties, nearly every surface in the village has been fitted with photovoltaic panels," said Chen Wentao, deputy director of the development department at State Grid's local branch.

At the village's black pig breeding base, which produces over 4,000 hogs annually, solar panels stretch across the pigsty roofs. There's barely a trace of odor in the air, and the ground is clean and dry, a stark contrast to the messiness traditionally associated with livestock farming.

Even more remarkably, waste itself has become part of the energy solution.

A 30-kilowatt biogas station adjacent to the farm recycles pig manure and kitchen waste from nearby households, converting it into biogas for power generation.

The byproducts are fully utilized, with the slurry used as a natural disinfectant and the residue processed into fertilizer. This approach not only improves soil fertility but also helps curb pollution.

Every year, Tudianzi Village treats more than 3,700 tonnes of livestock and poultry waste, generates 130,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, produces 170 tonnes of organic fertilizer for local sale, and delivers 3,300 tonnes of nutrient-rich slurry through a fertigation system to a 500-mu (33-hectare) pear orchard.

This clean energy system has reshaped both daily life and economic outcomes.

"Transporting manure used to cost us over 40,000 yuan (about 5,547 U.S. dollars) a year," said Feng Cailong, a local farmer. "Now it's sent directly for power generation. It's convenient and saves money. We're cutting over 60,000 yuan annually."

"Thanks to the organic fertilizer, our pears are now crisper and sweeter, and visitors love them," said Zhang Wencan, the village Party chief, adding that the village, once plagued by frequent power outages, is now drawing young people and tourists back.

Data from local authorities show that since the launch of the green energy project, Tudianzi has generated 1.44 million kilowatt-hours of clean energy, saving 472 tonnes of standard coal and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 1,436 tonnes and sulfur dioxide by 43 tonnes.

Today, the power generated by the project not only provides green energy for every household, but also produces a surplus supplied to surrounding areas, according to Yang Lin, an official with the Development and Reform Commission of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, where Tudianzi is located.

Tudianzi's green energy transition reflects a broader push across China, which now boasts the largest and fastest-growing renewable energy capacity globally. In 2023, more than half of the world's newly added renewable energy capacity was in China.

Solar power and wind energy have seen the fastest expansions, with respective increases of 278 million kilowatts and 79.82 million kilowatts in 2024, pushing China's renewable energy capacity to a record 56 percent of the total national capacity, according to the National Energy Administration.

China has pledged to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. As part of that drive, experts believe that rural areas play a key role.

China's renewable energy consumption is expected to exceed the equivalent of 1.5 billion tonnes of standard coal by 2030. More renewable energy will be used in industrial enterprises, transportation, buildings, agriculture, rural areas and infrastructure, according to a set of official guidelines released last year.

Back in Tudianzi, the transformation is already part of daily life. Sitting beside the old stove that once warmed his winters, Hu De'an gazes toward a different kind of future.

"In the past, we were always surrounded by firewood," he said, watching the sun stream through his courtyard. "Now, as long as the sun shines, the electricity flows." Enditem