Emirati on board with Solar Impulse team shares Nanjing experience

Emirati Hasan Al Redaini will be sending periodic updates as he travels with Solar Impulse 2, which is circumnavigating the globe using solar power.

Chinese policemen stand guard next to the Solar Impulse 2 plane after it landed at Nanjing Lukou International Airport. Reuters

NANJING // It was a city much different from what I had imagined – very modern and clean. I never thought there were roads bigger than the motorways of the UAE until the ride from the Nanjing airport to the hotel.

The capital of Jiangsu province is bustling with commerce, culture and, most notably, renewable energy technology.

When it comes to clean-tech, developing solar and renewable energies that are deployed globally, China is a top-tier country. Nanjing, a walled city about three and a half hours east of Shanghai, is a hub of solar-powered energy industries in China. The city is home to solar-cell provider Sunergy, which lists its products on Masdar’s portal for green materials.

As a key centre for education, research, transportation and tourism, Nanjing stands as the city with the second greatest potential for sustainable development in the Yangtze River Delta, and, therefore, an ideal and meaningful stop on Solar Impulse 2’s mission.

During my visit to the UAE consulate in Shanghai, I learned that a young woman who studied at the Masdar Institute now worked and resided in Beijing.

I was proud to know that Masdar Institute empowered its students to succeed and compete in the global market.

Late on Tuesday evening, Solar Impulse 2 finally arrived in Nanjing with Bertrand Piccard at the controls.

Unfavourable weather conditions had kept the aircraft and my colleagues in Chongqing longer than expected.

While Andre Borschberg was set to be in the cockpit for that leg, he was in Switzerland for a full medical check-up in preparation for the seventh and longest leg of the round-the world attempt – the Pacific crossing to Hawaii, which will take five days and nights to complete.

I’m looking forward to the next week of events. Please follow my Twitter and Instagram handles: @HasanRTW.

Hasan Al Redaini, 25, works for group communications at Mubadala. He is travelling with the Solar Impulse team to assist in solar-energy lectures and demonstrations in each of the 12 countries the team is visiting.