China to spend $150 billion US per year on Renewable Energy for 15 years

[AdD 1]

Beijing's 'new thinking' on energy security
Wenran Jiang, The Jamestown Foundation
China's energy policy has come under scrutiny, with the country being called an 'energy threat' by some in the West. But China believes that its renewable energy plan will silence the critics.
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China’s growing appetite for energy has caused widespread concern around the world. The Middle Kingdom is blamed for the sharp increase in global oil prices in the past few years, and the United States grows uneasy about Beijing’s evolving cozy relations with major oil producers such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Venezuela - some of which are hostile toward Washington. Moreover, there is a growing call to contain China as an energy threat in a world of diminishing resources. Yet Beijing is resentful of such attitudes and has taken new measures to counter its critics.

In the past year, top Chinese policymakers have emphasized the fact that China, as a developing economy, is paying a huge price for mounting oil prices, a point not always recognized in the West. ....

...the latest action plans for the Chinese economy as passed by the People’s Congress last month reflects at least four new policy priorities of the Chinese leadership on energy security.

...First, Beijing has called for a nationwide paradigm shift in development strategies. The new model is labeled as a “scientific development concept” that will endorse an environmentally friendly approach to industrialization, and regards resource and energy conservation as top priorities. For the first time, Beijing set some compulsory targets on the efficient use of energy: energy consumption per unit of GDP is to decrease by 20 percent, water consumption per unit of industrial added value is to decline by 30 percent, and industrial solid waste recycling and conservation rate is to grow 60 percent—all by 2010.

Second, Beijing has stepped up the overall supervision, regulation and coordination of the country’s energy industry.

...Third, China is re-focusing on the self-reliance strategy that depends primarily on domestic energy sources to meet economic development needs.

...Fourth, China does not want to be tarred as a rapacious energy user willing to enter into deals with any regime—no matter how internationally isolated—to lock up oil and natural gas assets. If Beijing succeeds in keeping demand for oil from growing at explosive rates, it will be less vulnerable on that point.

...It may well be the case that China’s energy demand will slow down substantially this year. Yet China remains the second largest carbon dioxide emitter after the United States, most of its cities and rivers are severely polluted, and it burns three times as much energy as the global average and many times more than industrialized countries in producing every unit of GDP. Consequently, China is now looking to make its GDP greener and is willing to spend US$150 billion on renewable and alternative energy in the next 15 years.

Instead of blaming Beijing for its energy demands or containing China as an energy threat, the industrialized countries may be wise to seize China’s vast energy market potential in technologies of energy conservation and efficiency, environmental protection techniques and know-how, renewable and alternative energy production, and joint-efforts in managing global warming.http://www.energybulletin.net/15156.html

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[Frenchy68 0]

Quote

the industrialized countries may be wise to seize China’s vast energy market potential in technologies of energy conservation and efficiency

Good point, except that China is very wary of foreign involvement in what it considers industries vital to its economy, national security, etc... Much like every country, but with heavy (and sometimes arbitrary)regulations to back it up. Very hard for foreign company to get remotely involved in this field. Joint venture as minority share holder status at best would be my guess.

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

[billvon 3,118]

This is a golden opportunity to address some of the trade imbalance. There are a lot of green technologies being developed here in the US - if we make such efforts a priority, we could see China buying US technology to clean up their industries. A win-win situation for us.

[shropshire 0]

<> Possibly, if they play the game.... but they have a tendency not to... Their rules seem to be "Buy One... Make the rest ourselves, for free".

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[billvon 3,118]

>"Buy One... Make the rest ourselves, for free".

Well, nothing's 'for free' - it's just cheaper to build with cheaper labor. But at least we will start out with the upper hand. There are technologies (like ribbon melt solar cell manufacture) that will take them a long time to copy. and in the meantime we'll be selling it to them.