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China’s economic rocket ship may be fuelled by coal but paradoxically, the world’s second largest generator of carbon emissions is also on target to meet its goal of obtaining 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. To do so it is recruiting outside help from renewables companies in Europe, who are relishing the multi-billion dollar opportunity.
Scottish company Sgurr Energy, for example, is involved in a wind farm project in Inner Mongolia and another off the coast of Fujian Province. Other companies bringing renewables to China include Siemens and Denmark’s Vestas.
US-based think tank the Worldwatch Institute estimates that China has already invested over $10 billion in renewable energy capacity in 2007, which is second only to Germany. China’s solar cell and wind turbine capacity doubled in 2006, and Worldwatch predicts that China will pass current solar and wind manufacturing leaders in Europe, Japan and North America within the next three years. China already leads the world in solar hot water and hydropower development.
"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 report author Eric Martinot. "China is poised to become a leader in renewables manufacturing, which will have global implications for the future of the technology."
Wind power is the fastest growing power-generation technology and China has four major home-grown and six foreign subsidiary wind turbine manufacturers. There is also burgeoning investment interest in the home-grown solar photovoltaics (PV) industry, which has seen capacity quadruple to 1,500 megawatts over the last three years.
There is now a significant political will to move towards renewable energy despite China's chequered history with coal and industrial pollution. The Chinese government announced in November another $3 billion investment in energy efficiency and emission control measures, which will its hope will save 240 million tons of coal in five years.
The move towards renewables is being driven as much by necessity as philosophy. Despite being the world’s biggest coal producer, China’s hunger for the black stuff is turning it into a net importer. Seventy percent of the country’s energy requirements are met by coal, and it is keen to diversify its energy production.
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