Once regarded only as a polluter, China has now taken a leading position in the global green energy industry.
Once regarded only as a polluter, China has now taken a leading position in the global green energy industry.
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China’s investment into renewable energy has now reached the hundreds of billions of dollars and has created millions of jobs. China’s contributions to green energy also include the construction of massive wind and solar farms and the development of new technology and types of equipment to support them. These products and solutions are not only used in China, but around the world.
“Even in China where coal is — or was — king, the government still recognizes that the economic opportunities of the future are going to be in clean energy,” said Alvin Lin, Beijing-based climate and energy policy director with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
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More than 2.5 million people work in China’s renewable energy industry, compared with a paltry 260,000 in the United States. These statistics and others were released in a recent report issued by the International Renewable Energy Agency.
In a move to help China continue its progress toward a cleaner environment, China’s National Energy Administration in January established a mandatory target to reduce coal energy consumption. It also set a goal for clean energy to meet 20% of China’s energy needs by 2030.
To help reach the 2030 goal, China is betting big on renewable energy. It pledged in January to invest 2.5 trillion yuan ($367 billion) in renewable power generation — solar, wind, hydro and nuclear — by 2020.
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The investment will create about 10 million jobs in the sector, the National Energy Administration projects. China currently boasts 3.5 million jobs in clean energy, by far the most in the world, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
The country has already become a major manufacturer and exporter of renewable energy technology, supplying some two-thirds of the world’s solar panels.
China also has a strong grip on wind power. It produces nearly half of the world’s wind turbines — at a rate of about two every hour.
China’s hottest new project is a giant floating solar energy farm located in the eastern province of Anhui.
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Covering about 100 square miles, it is the largest floating panel facility in the world. It has the capacity to produce enough energy to power 15,000 homes, according to Sungrow Power Supply, the company behind the farm.
Fittingly, the solar farm floats atop a flooded area once home to a coal mining factory.
The idea to float solar panels is fast catching on in an industry that faces one persistent problem — space.
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“The government won’t allow us to just install panels wherever we want,” says Yao Shaohua, the deputy director of the project. “This lake wouldn’t be used otherwise, so it makes sense.”
Initially it is more expensive to build solar farms on water than on the land. But experts say floating solar panels can run more efficiently in the long run, because they are cooled by the water underneath.
“The whole world, including China, is recognizing that we need to fight climate change,” said Yao. “I’m pretty sure this is going to be a trend.”
Source: CNN
