r/interestingasfuck • u/TangelaFan • 8h ago
Cattle farm covered by solar panels in China
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u/Klotzster 8h ago
Beef up electricity production
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u/bushwakko 8h ago
"China beefs up electricity production" is what the title of an article about this should be
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u/Remarkable-Ad-8876 4h ago
Be careful you’re approaching dad jokes territory. A little bit more and you’ll be banished to the uncool unc.
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u/Lost_Department_2177 7h ago
China beefs up electricity production with inhumane cattle sheds
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u/Scottiths 5h ago
Add methane capture and burn that for extra!
For the record, burning cow flatulence would reduce the total greenhouse impact of their emissions and generate even more electricity!
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Do-Cows-Pollute-as-Much-as-Cars
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u/Spartan2470 VIP Philanthropist 6h ago
Here is a much higher-quality version of this image. Here is the source. Per there:
Cattle stay in an open stable under a photovoltaic system at an Agrivoltaic farm on December 23, 2023 in Mengcheng County, Bozhou City, Anhui Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
More images of this can be found here.
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u/A_Dragon 6h ago
Now introduce methane collectors in there to add additional power to the structure and filter all the methane the cows emit.
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u/Independent_Image_59 7h ago
The amount of animals being confined in those small spaces is disgusting and insane. Kudos for the solar power to china anyways.
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u/Spiritual_Panic_6992 3h ago
If you want to raise beef for 5 times the population of the US in a little smaller place, are there any other options expect keep them in captivity? Moreover, China already lacks the vast plains in the central US for cattle farming.
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u/o1011o 33m ago
This is an excellent argument for the abolition of cattle farming entirely. It's wildly inefficient on space, power, and water, produces enormous amounts of pollution, and subjects millions of sentient beings largely similar to you or I in how we experience pain and fear to conditions that are truly horrific.
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u/tapitzamir 8h ago
China is definitely light-years ahead...
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u/justwalk1234 7h ago
I like how whenever anyone says that the comment chain becomes a competition of which country is the worse asshole.
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u/bulldog5253 6h ago
This is the exact same as feed yards in the United States that everyone protests but now that they have a solar panel roof it’s ok?
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u/InvestigatorAnnual36 8h ago
Not on human rights…
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u/Big_al_big_bed 7h ago
I forget - how many primary schools has china tomahawked recently?
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u/muntaxitome 5h ago
Like I am definitely not excusing any of China's human rights violations, but it's a little funny to me when people talk about illegal prison camps in Xinjiang when Xinjiang neighbours Afghanistan, where we were running our own illegal prison camps (saying 'we' as a Dutch person because we didn't lift a finger to stop any of that and were fully involved in Afghanistan war).
What China is doing to Uyghurs is horrifying but it would have been a lot more comfortable making that argument if our leaders didn't needlessly stomp out other's human rights too.
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u/Shark00n 6h ago edited 6h ago
School knife attacks are at an ath
They call it “revenge on society” attacks.
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u/TheTerribleInvestor 5h ago
Yeah, but we still have school shootings, which probably happen more often
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u/Shark00n 4h ago
No country is perfect.
China places police officers in schools, the US are still having that debate.
Europe has mentally ill forest fire starters that also kill dozens of people every year
Point is China is most definitely not light years ahead concerning human rights, political freedom and personal liberties. They don’t even have free press
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u/TheTerribleInvestor 2h ago
Yeah but whenever a comparison between the US and China comes up now the immediate defense is mentioning their human rights offenses. No country is perfect, especially not the one that practiced chattle slavery.
Whenever its mentioned how far a country has developed in one aspect the response shouldn't be "well, im over here and they havent gotten over here yet". Sure they still have things to improve, but the fact of the matter is they have visible progress and a lot of things in the US seems to be stagnating and maybe even sliding backwards.
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u/Shark00n 2h ago
China didn’t have slaves? lmao
They had slaves until the 50s. Still have some of the worse working conditions today. Plus literal labour camps
A far fetch from light years ahead
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u/Boyslop_Enjoyer 5h ago
Wow, using the US as a comparison for human rights is a great way to prove China is great
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u/komark- 8h ago
Oh, did China finally surpass the US in total prison population?
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u/Outrageous_Laugh5532 7h ago
Ahh yes because number automatically equals better. Setting that definitive fact aside.
Torture and ill-treatment of prisoners are common in China. Such abuses occur in police stations,
detention centres, labour camps and prisons, sometimes resulting in the death of the victims. Chinese
law prohibits only some forms of torture and ill-treatment. Though China has ratified the UN
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(hereafter, Convention against Torture), the authorities have failed to introduce basic safeguards to
prevent torture or to bring many torturers to justice.In prisons and labour camps, the official penal policy, which makes “acknowledgement of guilt” and
forced labour fundamental requirements for the “reform” of prisoners, creates an environment in
which abuses of prisoners often occur. Prisoners are expected to show total obedience to guards, to
acknowledge that they are “criminals”, and to perform any amount of the work required without
complaining. They are frequently humiliated and subjected to punishments which amount to torture
or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Punishments range from deprivation of
privileges to being beaten, shackled and placed in solitary confinement in extremely harsh conditions.
This may happen if prisoners complain, do not fulfil work quotas, disobey orders or infringe
regulations. Many examples of such ill-treatment have been reported in recent yearhttps://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/asa170511996en.pdf
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u/komark- 7h ago
Speaking of torture, ever hear about a place called Guantanamo?
How many children have been separated from their parents in immigrant detention centers waiting years for a court date that keeps getting postponed?
How many minorities are in prison when compared to whites in the US?
The US has 20% of the population that China has, yet we have more Americans living in prison than China does.
China and the US really aren’t that different.
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u/Outrageous_Laugh5532 7h ago
Well yes. Guantanamo is not used for us citizens or criminals convicted in us courts but prisoners of war. I do agree that torture is bad but that’s not what happened at Guantanamo either. Those occurred at black sites with the cia. Children being separated from people who are in jail is universal in every country . Do you expect them to lock the kids up too? Also if they return a child to a person they can’t confirm is the parent and then something happens to that child the government would be responsible for that. Having grown up on the border a lot of kids are brought over after the parents once they get established. Again we can argue disproportionately of implementation of laws or historical injustices of the system but that’s doesn’t mean we treat criminals in any way on par with China.
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u/Ghaith97 7h ago
Guantanamo is not used for us citizens
Pretty sure the thread was about human rights, not US citizen rights.
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u/Outrageous_Laugh5532 7h ago
That’s why I said us citizens or those convicted of crimes in the United States it’s a prison of war camp not the same as criminal justice system in China . Your comment was about prison population numbers equating to it being worse to be in prison in the us than in China.
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u/Ghaith97 7h ago
I wasn't the person you originally replied to, but still, "they're not our citizens so it's not as bad to torture them" is an insane argument for being better on human rights.
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8h ago
[deleted]
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u/AppointmentMedical50 8h ago
lol Americans do not have any room to talk about animal cruelty our factory farms are just as cruel
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u/Ka1Ser84 7h ago edited 7h ago
Dude.
Covering Overconsuming with Solar Panels is just some greenwashing..... 100% "Steak is my Salad" guys downvoting this.
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u/I_ALWAYS_UPVOTE_CATS 4h ago
This post (and this OP) is blatant propaganda, but why can we not simply go 'ah neat', instead of turning it into a competition between countries?
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u/justwalk1234 8h ago
A good idea is a good idea, whoever is doing it.
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u/tatalailabirla 8h ago
Factory farmed meat is both cruel and one of the most harmful things we do to the environment - deforestation, excessive crop yields, water use, greenhouse gases. But sure, wrapping it in a silicon foil makes it appear “green”.
It tastes good, so it’s fine
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u/justwalk1234 8h ago
We should compare like for like. Cattle farm with foil is better than cattle farm without foil etc. Of course the best case scenario for some people is that we skip the cattle and eat the soybean directly
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u/tatalailabirla 7h ago
I guess. Just can’t stop myself from irritating internet strangers and pointing out probably the greatest human sin of the modern world
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u/eddy159357 4h ago
Greatest human sin? Over genocide and slavery?? Lmao this is why people don't take you seriously.
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u/tatalailabirla 4h ago
Few million human lives vs billions of birds and animals every month? Yes it’s comparable to slavery and genocide
Atleast it’s acknowledged that genocide is wrong. There’s barely a peep on the mass murder and irreversible environmental degradation
Keep eating your burgers in ignorance buddy. I’m sure other people in history also had their justification to turning a blind eye
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u/Hefty-Butterfly-2974 7h ago
What are they supposed to do, starve? That's a population of over a billion right there. No matter what they choose to do, there'll be negative side effects. Can't get around that. At least this way less people die of hunger, and they get clean energy too.
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u/tatalailabirla 7h ago
A pound of beef requires something like 10 pounds of feed and 1000 gallons of water. Some of the largest crops we grow are primarily for animal feed. Instead of wasting so much, eat veg.
Unless you live in Greenland or Mongolia, modern supply chains aren’t dependent on meat for survival. It is purely luxury and fucks up the planet
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u/Hefty-Butterfly-2974 7h ago
Conceptually, I agree with you, but it's so much more complicated than just eat veg.
Cultural inertia and traditions—which may be a factor here—aside, does suitable farmland for human crops exist? If not, can they turn thousands of acres into suitable farmland? If yes, do they have the capital to do it? If yes, can they do it before their population starves? If yes, do they have the resources for pest control, fertilizers and whatnot? If yes, would their populace accept switching to a vegetable only diet, or would whoever suggested this plan be thrown out of office due to the people's outrage?
I'm sure there's lots more I'm missing, but just off the top of my head... It's nowhere near that simple. If people need to eat beef, let them eat beef. Even if they decided today to switch to vegetable only for the entire nation and there were no cultural, religious, spiritual or political rejections, it'd probably take half a century for that sort of plan to be implemented, and that's probably being wildly optimistic.
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u/tatalailabirla 7h ago
Until after WW2 meat was a few times a week treat and not something you eat 3 times a day for most people. But the Pandora’s box is open and no one wants to think they’re going down on the consumption spectrum.
All those challenges you mentioned are already mostly solved. Growing grains and veggies is something humans have been perfecting for a looong time. If anything we go the extra mile for animal feed. Look up how much water America spends on alfalfa for example.
It’ll probably take severe global warming repercussions for governments to move on this. Covid has proven how little people care about collective good if it means a little discomfort
Edit: If you’re in USA and have visited a national park, notice how much of the surrounding areas are dominated by ranches. Probably the biggest threat to wilderness areas is ranch owners so they can breed and feed and kill even more cows
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u/Illustrious_Fan_8148 7h ago
Correct. Its amazing people dont stop to consider the conditions they subject animals to just to eat meat which can easily be replaced with healthier alternatives.
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u/tatalailabirla 7h ago
It is incredible how much apathy exists when it comes to meat. The same people claim to love animals without missing a beat
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u/stinkyhippie 7h ago
When you consider the apathy people have about the abuse and murder that goes on within their own species, it’s incredible to think that animals would be a top priority for the human race…
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u/Quitcha_Bitchin 6h ago
Goddamn right. And no one is implying it's green. Because it does not need to be.
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u/Brotboxs 8h ago
Noo they steal our sun energy, i can feel the sun becoming weaker!
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u/Ka1Ser84 7h ago
But the sun shines on western world before reaching China. US snd Europe get the higher valuable Sun..
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u/ThePr0vider 6h ago
so, just Europe then? solar on barns is pretty common in the netherlands
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u/CyberpunkSunrise 3h ago
Anywhere with lots of sunshine in the US southwest, California, Nevada, etc. have setups like this all over. I’ve seen this setup in California dairy farms, and it’s also pretty common to cover parking lots with panels as well.
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u/test5784 4h ago
Nah, this is China man. Whatever they do, its the best and most revolutionary.
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u/ParkingTiny6301 3h ago
+10 social credits.
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u/test5784 3h ago
Im afraid that wont help me much. Im probably in such negative that they will shoot me as soon as I show up at the border, lmao.
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u/ParkingTiny6301 3h ago
Same but gottah take a dub where we can, I for one approve of my chinese overlords
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u/yuclv 4h ago
Genuine question, won't it be insanely hot near them? How are the cattle surviving
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u/RenRen512 3h ago
It likely balances out, shade vs exposed to direct sunlight, plus you can see there's exhaust fans making use of the chimney effect. And no walls means there's also cross ventilation.
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u/Alexander_Granite 4h ago
It wouldn’t be any hotter than any other covered structure like that. It looks like The panels are tilted and that would let the air circulate.
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u/bulldog5253 6h ago
Minus the solar panels this is exactly the kind of factory farming people in the united states protest all the time. I guess it’s ok as long as the Chinese do it and slap solar panels on top.
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u/Entire_Judge_2988 7h ago
There is a lot of CCP propaganda on Reddit.
People think of China as an green energy country, but in reality, China is the world's largest coal user.
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u/Imaginary_Demand4053 4h ago
I’ve noticed if it’s positive news it’s propaganda, if it’s negative then it’s the absolute truth.
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u/test5784 4h ago
Its quite reasonable to expect that they wont spread negative propaganda about themselves :D
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u/tacodestroyer99 8h ago
What happened to all the drone show videos from China that used to get posted by this account? Did they stop doing those?
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u/-Switch-on- 7h ago
Oh shut up, post a picture of the Tianomen Square massacre that's interesting and needs to be told not this generic fact.
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u/0berfeld 5h ago
Yeah, anything something good comes out of China be sure to remind them about a failed CIA-backed colour revolution that happened 40 years ago!
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u/-Switch-on- 2h ago
Oh come on. This is some China washing to the max. You mean the electric vehicles that they dump everywhere and cheap phones are anything but 'normal' capitalism....
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u/jandmmann2006 2h ago
Solar over the pasture keeps the herd cool and drops the electric bill. Pretty smart setup.
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u/o1011o 30m ago
Solar is good but cattle farming is very, very bad. The solar does not change anything about the suffering, oppression, and exploitation of the sentient beings being held captive here against their will and killed for the pleasure of humans. Go watch Dominion so that you can see what it's really like to be a cow in these conditions.
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u/Valokoura 8h ago
Any links to articles or is this just a AI manipulated slop?
Picture seems to be missing essential infrastructure like hauling food to cattle and hauling shit from them.
Also... where does drinking water come from?
Seems like a marketing scam to me.
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u/Anxious_Ad936 6h ago
There are visible troughs at the front of the feedlot yards, that'll be where the food goes. There's a roadway visible, that'll be where the food is hauled. For water, we have this wonderful modern invention called plumbing that can be hidden underground out of the way and move the water to wherever it's needed. That's probably also why there aren't visible water troughs, IE they don't need to be situated at the edges near the roadway for access like the feed troughs do.
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u/TangelaFan 8h ago
This is just one angle from the place? https://grist.org/author/jake-bolster-inside-climate-news/
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u/Imaginary_Demand4053 5h ago
This is positive news on China so I’m curious how Redditors will spin this as a negative.
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u/Loampudl 8h ago
the next china bot...
The methane produced by the cows completely negates the CO2 reduction... methane is ~30 times more potent as a propellant than CO2.
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u/TangelaFan 8h ago
It reduces operation costs, and fossil fuel reliance, tho. The farm would still be there without the solar panels
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u/pfmoke 6h ago
China is really going all in on renewable energy.
Maybe it’s time for the rest of the world to follow suit.
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u/I_ALWAYS_UPVOTE_CATS 4h ago
China generates 50% of the entire world's coal power, and has almost 300GW of coal-fired power stations either planned or under construction. Meanwhile the UK closed down its last coal power station two years ago.
But yeah the rest of the world needs to follow China's example. Sure.
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u/pithynotpithy 5h ago
Meanwhile the US elected an idiot who wants to go back to coal.
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u/Alexander_Granite 4h ago
Even if it’s just for the fact that we wouldn’t need to rely on such a hostile area for energy security.
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u/johangoldenhuyesza 8h ago
I didn't expect a cattle farm and a solar farm to work together. Great idea