China set to exceed renewables target
Friday, 16 November 2007
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Headlines in China tend to focus on how the country's roaring economy is being fuelled by a lethal cocktail of coal, oil and nuclear power.
Chinese power plants emit the second-highest total amount of carbon dioxide (2.4 billion tonnes) into the atmosphere each year.
But China also has a fast-growing renewable energy sector and the country is likely to achieve – and may even exceed – its target to obtain 15 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2020, according to a report by the Worldwatch Institute, an independent research group that concentrates on environmental, social and economic trends.
If China's commitment to diversifying its energy supply persists, renewable energy could provide more than 30 per cent of the nation's energy by 2050.
"A combination of policy leadership and entrepreneurial savvy is leading to spectacular growth in renewable energy, increasing its share of the market for electricity, heating, and transport fuels," said Eric Martinot, a Worldwatch senior fellow in Beijing. "China is poised to become a leader in renewables manufacturing, which will have global implications for the future of the technology."
In both rural areas and in major cities, houses routinely have solar panels on the roof to heat water for washing, while wind farms are becoming a more common sight. This should eventually go some way to offsetting China's reliance on coal, which provides 80 per cent of its power.
The Worldwatch report is a rare piece of good news about China's environment, which remains in dire shape – CO2 emissions are on the rise and are expected to exceed America's total carbon dioxide emissions shortly, although Chinese per-capita emissions remain about one-sixth of those in the US.
Last year, $35bn (£17bn) was invested in renewable energy worldwide, and China is expected to invest more than $7bn in new renewables capacity in 2007. Wind and solar energy are expanding rapidly in China, with production of wind turbines and solar cells both doubling in 2006.
This means China is poised to pass world solar and wind manufacturing leaders in Europe, Japan, and North America in the next three years, and it already dominates the markets for solar hot water and small hydropower. Wind power is the fastest growing power-generation technology in China. By 2007, China was home to four major domestic manufacturers of wind turbines and another six foreign subsidiary manufacturers.
Solar power production capacity increased from 350 megawatts (MW) in 2005 to more than 1,000MW in 2006, with 1,500MW expected in 2007.
"China's position provides a strong example for other developing countries, while helping to drive down renewable energy costs to become competitive with fossil fuels for all countries the world over," said the report's co-author Li Junfeng, vice-chairman of China's Renewable Energy Society.
