The Big Green Machine

By staff reporter JIAO FENG

China's stepped-up commitment to expanding her energy infrastructure is official. Premier Wen Jiabao, in a statement at the 2009 National People's Congress, redefined the direction of the country's energy strategy and development goals, clarifying that nuclear, hydroelectric, wind and solar power are all the focus of new projects. China's green energy campaign is unprecedented both on the industrial and legal fronts, and not surprising, since the country is one of the world's major energy consumers.

Law Breaks the Trail for Renewable Energy

As early as the 1980s, the Chinese government listed renewable energy as a national development strategy focus. In the Sixth Five-year Plan (1981-1985), green projects were included in the state's key scientific and technological research and development program, but lack of related legal instruments shackled actual implementation.

Force of nature and man: Three Gorges passed the final acceptance test, making it hte world's largest hydropower operation.

Then in 2003, the expectation of dwindling fossil fuel resources made the green energy path a rallying point at the annual National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Because fossil fuel supplies will decrease dramatically over the next 50 years, the development of hydroelectric, nuclear and wind power, coal bed gas and other green energy replacements are needed to avert an acute energy shortage.

In February 2005, the Renewable Energy Law (Draft) was passed, and within two years it formally took effect. This was the fastest passage of legislation ever in China, testimony to the government's green commitment. The law provided a framework for the rapid development of renewable energy and the effects were immediately apparent: in the year it took effect, consumption of renewable energy reached the equivalent of 180 million tons of standard coal, accounting for 7.5 percent of the total consumption of primary energy resources. Sulfur dioxide emissions dropped by 3 million tons.

Legislation in this field is incomplete however, and lack of related laws and practical regulations make implementation problematic. A case in point is that of a Shanghai citizen named Zhao Chunjiang. Since the Renewable Energy Law encourages companies and residents to install and use solar energy systems, and obliges power grids to purchase the surplus energy they generate, Zhao installed in 2006 a home-use solar power generator in his garret and connected it up to the local grid. Two-thirds of the self-generated power supplied his family's electricity consumption in the daytime, and the surplus was transmitted to the local grid. At night, when the solar power generator was off duty, Zhao's family relied on electricity that came from the local grid. But soon he found out that he was charged both ways. "Both the input and output flew through my one-way amperometer, so the more I transmitted, the bigger the bill I received," he complained. Since there was no relevant implementation measures to follow, Zhao's problem was shelved.

In August of this year, a draft amendment to the law was submitted to the legislature while public opinion was sought. It specifies that renewable green energy projects are eligible for government subsidies and draws out a full purchase guarantee system for the electricity so generated. So if adopted, the amendment will provide a solution to Zhao's problem.

Water Power: the Leading Edge

China is blessed with ample water resources. Several rivers run across the country from west to east, with high rates of flow over some massive drops in terrain.

As early as 1957, the Chinese government was aware of the value of water power. In that year the Xin'anjiang River hydropower station began construction. It was the first large-scale hydropower project that was designed, built and installed independently by Chinese talent. Construction lasted for about 20 years, until the installed capacity reached 662,500 kW with an annual output of 1.86 billion kWh. Since reform and opening-up, China's installed capacity of hydropower has doubled every ten years as a host of similar stations were put into operation; the Yangtze River Three Gorges Dam and Gezhouba Dam are the best known.

Now hydropower has become the second largest energy source in China. In August 2009, the main water control project at the Three Gorges passed the final acceptance test, marking the completion of the world's largest hydropower operation. From July 2003 when its first generator went on line, to March 10 this year, the Three Gorges Power Station has generated a total of 297 billion kWh. By the end of this year, it will reach the designed annual volume of 84.7 billion kWh, equaling the output of 50 million tons of coal.

According to Chen Lei, Minister of Water Resources, by the end of 2008 China's hydropower had achieved a world-record of 172 million kW and an annual output of 563.3 billion kWh, accounting for 21.6 percent and 16.4 percent of the country's respective total. That breaks down into an installed capacity of 510 million kW and an output of 160 billion kWh for rural areas, allowing more than 300 million villagers access to this electricity.

New Energy Resources

The Chinese government has been promoting methane gas in rural areas since the 1970s. By 2007 the country's annual methane gas output had reached 10 billion cubic meters, and is expected to increase to 24 billion cubic meters by 2020. In recent years the government has also stepped up development of other new energy sources, such as that based on biomass and liquid fuel. Also by 2007, the installed capacity of electricity generation using biomass materials had reached 3 million kW and the annual production capacity of fuel ethanol made from stale and fermented grain, around 1.4 million tons. China plans to build an annual 10-million-ton production capacity of liquid fuel as a substitute for petroleum by 2020.

Wind power has been used to irrigate farmland, provide potable water and mill flour. The development of wind power has already exceeded original expectations by far. In 2007, the installed capacity was six million kW, ranking fifth in the world. By the end of 2008, it doubled to 12.17 million kW, with another 12 million kW capacity under construction.

Solar power is quite familiar to the Chinese people in the form of solar water heaters. The biggest user and producer in the world of solar heaters, China is estimated to have 125 million square meters of heaters in use, accounting for 70 percent of the world's total. Benefitting from favorable policies, solar energy has received much attention in urban China. In 2005, Shanghai launched its "photovoltaic roof project," the one Zhao Chunjiang joined. That was followed by Wuxi's 40-kW photovoltaic electricity generation system and Xuzhou's photovoltaic illumination project for the bus stop billboards across the city. During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, hot water and street lamps in the Olympic Village were mainly powered by solar energy. The National Stadium's 100-kW solar photovoltaic panels generated 200 kWh of electricity daily to illuminate the 15,000 square meters of the underground parking.

Last September, China's first 10,000-kW photovoltaic power project was kicked off in Dunhuang, Gansu. On completion in 2010, it will be the world's largest photovoltaic power station, expected to deliver 18.05 million kWh annually to the state grid. Wang Jun, director of the New Energy and Renewable Energy Department of the National Energy Bureau, says the project will usher in a new era for the photovoltaic industry in China.

In early 2009, China defined immediate and long-term strategic roles and development targets for clean energy: as a supplemental energy source it will make up roughly 10 percent of the country's total energy consumption by 2010, and 15 percent of the total consumption by 2020. It graduates to a main energy source by absorbing 25 percent of demand around 2030, and will finally dominate all current sources to satisfy an impressive 40 percent of China's needs by the middle of the 21st century.