China Digital Times (CDT) » Tag: alternative energy

China Confirms $1.7 Trillion Spending Plan

Samuel Wade — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 01:37:59 +0000

Reuters reports confirmation of plans to inject $1.7 trillion dollars into key strategic sectors of China’s economy over the next five years.

The confirmation of the huge sum of money showed Beijing’s ambition to shift the growth engine of the world’s No.2 economy to cleaner and hi-tech sectors while also boosting domestic growth as the global economy struggles ….
According to Beijing, the targeted sectors include alternative energy, biotechnology, new-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, advanced materials, alternative-fuel cars and energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies.
To fulfill the spending target, the central Chinese government itself would most likely not deliver the bulk of the money, but would seek to spur spending by corporations, investment by local governments and lending by banks.

China’s investment in science and technology has tended to yield mixed or questionable returns, however: see, via CDT, a three-part NPR series on the country’s quest to become a scientific superpower.

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Post tags: alternative energy, biotechnology, clean tech, energy efficiency, information technology, investment, scientific advancement, technology innovation
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In China the Big Nuclear Question is “How Soon”?

Sophie Beach — Tue, 03 May 2011 06:17:37 +0000

Reuters reports on the development of China’s nuclear industry, which doesn’t seem to be fazed by the recent disaster in Japan:

Many of the nuclear research institutes across the country are working on advanced solutions to some of the problems facing traditional reactors, from the recycling and storage of spent fuel to terrorist attacks. But Duan and his state-funded team of scientists are on a quest for the Holy Grail of nuclear physics: a fusion reactor that can generate power by forcing nuclei together instead of smashing them apart — mimicking the stellar activity that brought heavy elements into existence and made the universe fit for life. Duan said fusion could be the ultimate way forward: it is far safer than traditional fission, requires barely 600 grams of hydrogen fuel a year for each 10-gigawatt plant, and creates virtually no radioactive waste. “Due to the problems in Japan, the government hopes nuclear fusion can be realised in the near future,” said Duan, the director of fusion science at the Southwestern Institute of Physics, founded in 1965 and funded by the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). While fusion has moved some way beyond the purely hypothetical after more than half a century of painstaking research, it still remains some distance away from being feasible. Critically, the energy required to induce a fusion reaction far exceeds the amount of energy produced.
Fusion might be the ultimate goal, but in the near future, all China’s practical efforts will continue to focus on a new model of conventional fission reactors. While China’s nuclear industry awaits the results of a government review in the wake of the Fukushima crisis, all signs point to China pushing ahead with its long-term strategy. The National Development and Reform Commission said last week China would continue to support the construction and development of advanced nuclear reactors and related nuclear technologies.
“Suddenly, China has become even more important to the world — as other people ask whether they still want to go ahead, China still seems intent on going ahead at full speed,” said Steve Kidd, deputy secretary general with the World Nuclear Association, a London-based lobby group.

© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: alternative energy, nuclear
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China’s Green Leap Forward

Sophie Beach — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:07:17 +0000

The Christian Science Monitor reports on China’s efforts to become a world leader in green technologies:

Chinese factories already make a third of the world’s solar cells – six times more than America. Next year, China will become the largest market in the world for wind turbines – overtaking America. This fall, a Chinese firm will launch the world’s first mass-produced all-electric car of this century. And where are American utilities buying the latest generation of “clean coal” power stations? China.
“The Chinese government thinks of renewables as a major strategic industrial option” that will help fuel this country’s future growth, says Li Junfeng, deputy head of energy research at China’s top planning agency. “We will catch up with international advanced technology very quickly.”
China will likely remain the world’s worst polluter, emitting more CO2 than any other nation, for the foreseeable future. Its reliance on cheap coal to generate the bulk of its electricity makes that almost inevitable.
At the same time, however, “this country is installing a one-megawatt wind turbine every hour,” points out Dermot O’Gorman, head of the World Wide Fund for Nature in Beijing. “That is more encouraging than the one coal fired power station a week” that normally dominates foreign headlines.

© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: alternative energy, green technology, sustainable development
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China Promises Solar Power Subsidies in Effort to Develop Clean Energy Industry

Sophie Beach — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 04:15:51 +0000

The sun is big news in China today. From the Los Angeles Times:

China’s government says it will pay up to 70 percent of the price of new solar power systems in an effort to speed development of clean energy industries.
The Finance Ministry’s announcement Tuesday comes as Beijing tries to reduce China’s surging demand for imported oil and gas and create companies that cash in on growing global demand for clean energy technology.
The subsidies are meant to develop the solar industry as a new source of Chinese economic growth, the ministry said.
The Finance Ministry said that over the next two to three years it will pay up to 50 percent of the price of solar power systems of more than 500 megawatts — comparable to a coal-fired power plant. It said the government will pay up to 70 percent of the cost in remote areas.

See also “Analysts See Little Upside from China Solar Subsidies” from Barrons’ Tech Trader Daily blog.

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Post tags: alternative energy, solar power, sustainable development
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China Emerges as a Leader in Cleaner Coal Technology

Sophie Beach — Mon, 11 May 2009 03:25:54 +0000

Despite China’s abundant use of coal which worries environmentalists around the world, the country is also at the forefront of developing cleaner coal power plants, the New York Times reports:

While the United States is still debating whether to build a more efficient kind of coal-fired power plant that uses extremely hot steam, China has begun building such plants at a rate of one a month.
Construction has stalled in the United States on a new generation of low-pollution power plants that turn coal into a gas before burning it, although Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Thursday that the Obama administration might revive one power plant of this type. But China has already approved equipment purchases for just such a power plant, to be assembled soon in a muddy field here in Tianjin.
“The steps they’ve taken are probably as fast and as serious as anywhere in power-generation history,” said Hal Harvey, president of ClimateWorks, a group in San Francisco that helps finance projects to limit global warming.

© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: alternative energy, coal, energy demand, global warming
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China 2008: Environmental Crisis

Xiao Niu — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 03:58:10 +0000

This next article in the CDT series on important issues facing China in 2008 focuses on the Environment. See also previous posts on Nationalism, the Developing World, and the Global Financial Crisis.

China’s environmental issues have increased in scale in 2008 as the country strives to maintain its economic growth and development. In particular, air pollution has worsened rapidly between 2007-2008 after a sharp rise in 2002. China’s total carbon emissions and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are estimated to have surpassed the United States, which has been the number one carbon emitter in the world. China’s increase in emissions is due to the burning of coal to generate the needed power for development. Air pollution is costing China alone $82 billion in economic losses this year. In addition to air pollution, China suffers from desertification, water pollution, soil erosion, indoor air pollution, and e-waste.

In particular, air pollution, water pollution, and e-waste have sickened many and even claimed the lives of Chinese citizens. Besides the urban centers in China, according to the Chinese Environmental Aspect Bulletin, the rural areas are facing a major environmental crisis as well.

How has the Chinese government responded to the gigantic environmental crisis that the country is facing? It has begun to invest in other energy sources in addition to coal. These energy sources include hydropower which requires building dams (such as the South Tibet dam), nuclear power, wind power, solar power, and even a more innovative solution such as burning straw. The government has also initiated large scale projects, such as forest rehabilitation, a ban on the use of plastic bags, reducing car traffic in Beijing and Shanghai, the construction of an eco-city in Dongtan, and rural environmental protection. Another recent innovative solution is the “smart grid” management of the electricity and information technology infrastructure.

The efficacy of China’s environmental effort is largely in question. While some US research institutions, such as MIT and Yale, have produced optimistic reports about China’s environmental effort, some remain skeptical about Beijing’s reporting on pollution numbers. The building of dams is met by local people’s resistance due to its damage to the ecosystem. Forest reclamation might be too late for the relentlessly encroaching desert. The Dongtan eco-city project is now stalled. Smog returned to Beijing soon after the Olympics was over, and Isabel Hilton wrote in China Dialogue that China needs to clean up after the Olympics. Greenpeace China also produced a report on Beijing’s environment before and after the Olympics. Enforcement of the ban on the use plastic bags is a struggle. Worse yet, when faced with the global economic melt-down, China is retreating its environmental effort in order to keep up its economic growth for the reason of stabilizing the society.

What is the attitude of Chinese citizens toward the country’s environmental crisis? The Ministry of Environmental Protection surveyed citizens’ satisfaction about the country’s environmental management. More Chinese value their environment over the economy according another report. Following the Xiamen PX protest last year, another protest against the building of a chemical plant was held.

While the environmental law needs to be tightened and codified, environmental litigation is being carried out by environmental litigators, such as Zhang Jingjing. However, grassroots environmental protection remains a relatively small force in comparison to industries’ cooperation with the government. For example, Beijing offers companies cash incentives to curb the capital’s pollution. Eco-enterprises are seizing opportunities for green investments. Big Chinese companies are joining global climate groups in reducing energy consumption.

Due to the global impact of China’s environmental crisis, Japan and the U.S. are pressing China as well as other developing countries, such as India, to have carbon emission caps. While some voices within China also propose that China needs to assume a primary role in tackling the country’s environmental problems, the official government response pointed to rich countries to do the cleanup, during recent global climate talks.

© Xiao Niu for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 2008, alternative energy, carbon emissions, China 2008, desertification, e-waste, economic growth, pollution, sustainable development
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Cutting Emissions in Rural China

Xiao Niu — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:38:48 +0000

Professor Jiang Gaoming discusses how farmers in rural China could use straw to reduce China’s carbon footprint in his China Dialogue article:

China’s population is mainly rural, and if that population realises its full potential for consumption, we will have no way to control the continually increasing greenhouse-gas emissions. Many wealthy farmers already are using energy-hungry appliances such as air-conditioners, refrigerators and microwave ovens, as well as coal for heating and cooking. Yet, they ignore the traditional bioenergy sources at their doorsteps — like straw – by simply burning them off in the fields.
So what if the millions of villages in China were mobilised? For answers, let us look at the experimental data collected by the Institute of Botany at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shandong Agricultural University.
[...] Solving the energy crisis will require a multi-pronged approach. Reducing the country’s dependence on fossil fuels must include our rural residents. Chinese policies should encourage them to use the energy sources naturally available rather than force rural locations to compete with cities and industry for fossil fuels. If China pays some attention to rural energy and makes full use of biological converters such as cows, sheep and methanogenic bacteria, 700 million tonnes of straw can be converted to energy and high-quality fertiliser.

Another form of alternative energy source recorded by CDT are methane plants, though they are not available to farmers.

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Post tags: alternative energy, carbon footprint, farmers, straw
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A Mighty Wind: What Will China’s Green Appetite Mean?

Kiran Goldman — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:28:16 +0000

The Wall Street Journal reports on China’s growing interest in wind energy:

China’s NRDC, the top economic planning agency, said renewable energy will provide 10% of the country’s energy use by 2010. As part of the program, officials upped their target for wind power to ten gigawatts by the end of their next five-year plan, reports Xinhua news service. If wind blew all the time, that would be about the same as ten nuclear power plants, something China is also building ferociously.

But, according to the Wall Street Journal, China still doesn’t have the capacity to produce enough wind turbines to meet demand.

Will China’s fast-growing domestic wind turbine business come to the rescue? Not likely. While a handful of players are building top-notch turbines, domestic capacity still falls far short of China’s needs. According to a report compiled by the Global Wind Energy Council, China’s domestic wind turbine production capacity in 2006 was 540 megawatts (about 300 good-sized machines). That’s less than half of what the country needs every year.

© Kiran Goldman for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: alternative energy, energy, environment, renewable energy, wind power
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Burning Bright in Beijing

Sophie Beach — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:53:28 +0000

China Dialogue looks at two companies in Beijing that are promoting energy conservation:

Xiongcai aims to solve some very real problems: how can China make use of its current stock of 4.8 million coal-burning boilers? How can the country cleanly and efficiently burn coal and biomass fuels like chaff, sawdust, leaves and household waste? How can the country utilise commonly discarded low-grade coal such as lignite, coal slurry and gangue, and coal that has not been fully burnt the first time round? These have long been important questions for China’s energy and environmental sectors.

© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: alternative energy, coal emissions, energy conservation
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China Considers Canceling Coal-to-Oil Projects – AP

Sophie Beach — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 14:57:36 +0000

From the AP, via the IHT:

China is considering halting efforts to make oil from coal because of concerns about cost and energy efficiency, a state press agency on Sunday quoted an official as saying.
China is hoping to ease its rising dependence on imported oil by promoting alternative energy sources like oil-from-coal and solar, wind and nuclear power. [Full text]

Read more about China’s “coal-to-liquid” program, from Asia Times and Financial Times.

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Post tags: alternative energy, coal, coal-to-liquid
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