The rise of nanometers

It is about 260 kilometers northeast of Yinchuan.

Here stands a city - Hangjin Banner, flanked from the north and south by the Kubuqi Desert and the Mu Us Sandy Land, as if the thousand-year-old Populus euphratica trees are deeply rooted in this sandy land.

After being interrogated from Shizuishan City and given a warning and education, Julie and Vivian came to Xini Town in Hangjin Banner.

Vivian, who was wearing a cowboy hat and cowboy vest, and Julie, who had short hair, hired a local tour guide and took a sightseeing bus from the town of Sini to Yanhaizi along the provincial road.

Beside the highway, there is a huge pipeline, parallel to the highway. From time to time, you can see many small pipelines extending from the main pipeline.

On both sides of the road, there are dense sand-fixing grass grids or small patches of savanna and shrub grassland. Occasionally, you can see small residential gathering places beside the road.

Putting down the telescope, Julie turned around and asked, "Hana, is this pipeline a natural gas pipeline?"

Tour guide Baek Hana shook her head: "No, it's a water pipeline."

Suddenly, Julie saw a large area of ​​"farmland" and a very dense black "forest" in front of her. She asked in surprise: "Isn't this a desert? There are farmland and forests?"

"Oh! That's so cool!" Vivian exclaimed, waving her cowboy hat.

Baek Hana smiled and said: "The farmland is real, but the forest is not real. You will know when you get closer!"

The sightseeing bus advanced about two kilometers and stopped by the roadside. Julie looked at the scene in front of her. Fengmin Agriculture's sand transformation machinery team operated various equipment to transform large mobile sand dunes and semi-mobile sand dunes.

Not far away, the transformed sand has turned into an earthy gray color due to the removal of harmful saline-alkali substances and a large amount of organic fertilizers. Compared with the earthy yellow desert, it looks distinct.

"What are you growing?"

"It should be alfalfa. This plant can improve soil quality." Bai Hana used a telescope to look at the fence sign not far away.

Looking at the scene in front of her, while Julie was lamenting the industrial power of mankind, another thought emerged in her heart, and she whispered to herself: "Will large-scale transformation of the desert cause other ecological problems?"

With such a question, they came to Fengmin Agriculture's temporary operation station nearby. On one side of the temporary station, there is an artificial lake with an area of ​​tens of thousands of square meters. Half of the area is covered with solar panels, which supplies electricity to the station. , and can reduce water evaporation in artificial lakes.

Zhang Guodong, a researcher of the Kubuqi Desert Prevention and Control Project Team of Northwest A\u0026F University, and several people in charge of Fengmin Agriculture discussed transforming the Kubuqi Desert.

Suddenly I saw three girls walking over, and there were two white people. Although there were white people in China, Zhang Guodong, who had been working in the northwest for more than ten years, could tell at a glance that the other girl was a foreigner.

Although it is not a confidential unit, the Suiren Department is very wary of foreigners, and security guards immediately went up to inquire.

After a while, a security guard came to Zhang Guodong and reported to the resident team leader: "Team Huang, two foreign women, said they wanted to see how we manage the desert."

Just as the resident team leader was about to chase them away, Zhang Guodong said with a smile: "Team Huang, I'll show them around! Anyway, I want to inspect Yanhaizi in the next few days."

"Then I'll bother you, Researcher Zhang, but be careful." the resident team leader reminded.

Zhang Guodong nodded: "Understood."

Julie, Vivian and Bai Hana, who were stopping to watch not far away, saw a middle-aged man with dark skin and glasses walking towards them.

“You want to visit Desert Governance?”

"These are two foreign friends who want to visit. I am their guide." Baek Hana explained.

After getting to know each other, Julie, who had become familiar with each other, expressed her inner doubts: "Dr. Zhang, is it possible that humans' large-scale transformation of deserts will lead to other ecological problems?"

"Ms. Julie, your question is very profound. If it is a native desert, it is part of the ecology. The transformation of this part of the desert will indeed cause ecological problems."

Julie asked with some concern: "Will your renovation activities here affect the ecological environment?"

"NO, Julie, you need to understand one thing: what are native deserts and man-made deserts? The land under our feet was actually a grassland with rich water and grass hundreds of years ago." Zhang Guodong pointed to the sand under his feet. explained:

"This place became a desert because of over-cultivation and grazing, which led to desertification of the land. Our current transformation is to restore the former ecological environment here."

"That's it." Julie suddenly realized.

On the sightseeing bus, Zhang Guodong took Julie and others toward Yanhaizi in the north. As they approached Yanhaizi, farmland, savannas, and "forests" became increasingly dense.

At this time, they finally saw clearly. The "black forest" they saw before turned out to be densely packed solar panels.

"It turned out to be a solar panel. I thought it was a forest." Vivian said in surprise.

"To a certain extent, these solar panels can also be said to be trees." Zhang Guodong said with a smile.

In fact, what he said is not wrong. The solar power plant in the Kubuqi Desert, although the solar panels are designed in the shape of a tree, looks a bit formalistic.

But solar cell trees have many characteristics of trees.

Through photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, while maintaining water and soil and maintaining the local micro-ecology.

Solar cell trees convert solar energy into electrical energy through the photoelectric effect and thermoelectric effect. Power plants can extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produce carbon powder and oxygen.

Similarly, solar cell trees can also retain water and soil, reduce soil evaporation, and make the local climate more humid.

Solar cell tree is an alternative "silicon-based tree".

Zhang Guodong did not explain in depth.

After a while, the tourist bus arrived at the desert management experimental area of ​​Northwest A\u0026F University. The group seemed to have left the desert and entered a savanna grassland.

Several tall Populus euphratica trees took root at the gate of the experimental area, like soldiers with solemn expressions.

There are small shrubs of thyme, sea buckthorn, nematodes, green onions, and a large number of perennial grasses, such as sand rice.

"Dr. Zhang, how big is this desert?"

Hearing Julie's question, Zhang Guodong replied without hesitation: "About 13,900 square kilometers, of which 5,153 square kilometers have been managed so far, the remaining two-thirds of the desert area will be transformed into farmland, grassland and solar power plants in the future. "

Julie exclaimed: "It's bigger than my hometown of Corsica."

The group walked deep into the experimental area and saw many students from Northwest A\u0026F University doing experiments or collecting samples.

According to the overall transformation plan of the Kubuqi Desert, 30% farmland, 30% pasture, and 40% savanna nature reserve are concentrated together for the convenience of management.

With the extension of the water pipeline, the Kubuqi Desert will be completely wiped out and turned into a Kubuqi agricultural area.

5,000 square kilometers of farmland is 7.5 million acres, which is a very important supplement for China, which has scarce arable land resources.

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