Who said this on September 10, 2009 ‘We should see scientific and technological innovation as an important pillar and make greater effort to develop new industries of strategic importance. Science and technology is a powerful engine of economic growth . . . We will make [our] country [one] of innovation. . . We will accelerate the development of a low-carbon economy and green economy so as to gain an advantageous position in the international industrial competition.’
lets not get confused between china’s position on “climate change & carbon” at COP 15 with what they are doing in their economy.
•While the European Union is aiming to produce 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, and the U.S. Congress considers adopting a 20 percent renewable electricity standard by the same year, China produced fully 16 percent of its electricity from hydropower and wind power alone by the end of 2009—numbers that will increase over the next decade. Nonfossil fuel sources are expected to account for as much as 30 percent of China’s overall power supply by 2020. The country expects to meet a big portion of this new market by building seven wind megabases of at least 10 GW each strategically sited across the country. Supported by a wind energy feed-in tariff of 7-9 cents per kwh, and is considering a similar program for solar energy.
•City and provincial governments are creating low-carbon development zones to catalyze clean-energy technology manufacturing. In these regions, clean-energy industries are the backbone of economic development, creating jobs through innovation, manufacturing, and assembly activities. [ Baoding in Hebei province, Tianjin municipality, Wuhan city in Hubei province, The ‘solar belt’ of cities found throughout Jiangsu province. ] The hope is that this type of cluster-based approach to economic development can lead to higher rates of innovation and entrepreneurship and better wages.
•China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) targeted three technologies: 2-3 MW wind turbines; High-voltage electricity transmission technologies;& Energy savings technologies.
•China already produces a third of the world’s solar panels. It is currently the world’s leading supplier of solar PV panels and solar hot water heaters, and until recently more than 90 percent of Chinese-made solar PV panels were shipped overseas for export markets.
•China Investment Corp. (CIC), China’s sovereign wealth fund is aggressively investing in clean energy: In November 2009, it announced investments of $400 million in China Longyuan Power, China’s largest wind energy generator, and $700 million in GCL-Poly, a diversified energy company specializing in cogeneration, wind, and polysilicon production. In the same month CIC also invested $1.6 billion in AES, a U.S.-headquartered global utility with one of the largest foreign operations in China, including investments in hydro and wind power projects.
•The China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation (CECIC), China’s version of a “green bank” plans to reach total assets of ~$15 billion in energy efficiency, renewable energy & pollution controls by 2012.
•National energy efficiency plan: 20% decrease in energy intensity from 2005 to 2010. “One major national energy conservation program that sets energy efficiency standards for the top 1,000 energy consuming enterprises in China, achieved its stated goal of reducing energy use by 100 million tons of coal equivalent two years ahead of its 2010 target date. In the process of fulfilling this target, some $7.3 billion in energy efficiency technologies & measures was invested in 2007, and another $13.2 billion was invested in 2008.”
Finally, approximately $100 billion of the $586 billion economic stimulus package China implemented in 2008 is dedicated to building transmission lines and railways. China already leads the world in ultrahigh-voltage grid transmission technology—its line between Shanxi and Hubei boasts the highest capacity in the world and is able to transmit 1,000 kilovolts over 400 miles. China is also embarking on the largest railway expansion in history and plans to spend almost $300 billion expanding its railway network from 48,000 miles today to 75,000 miles in 2020. Of this, 8,000 miles will be comprised of high-speed, long-distance rail. China is poised to have the world’s largest network for intracity urban rail transit. Eleven cities currently have urban rail routes totaling 520 miles. By 2015 approximately 1,300 miles of railway lines will be laid and operational in 19 cities.
[ source: Center for American Progress white paper ]
• Net net: we see execution on all fronts
(1) Industrial and public policy (laws, regs & gov’t) + investment strategy & industrial development (business & capital) = execution with direction
(2) building the next generation of infrastructure & industry: Renewable energy infrastructure, renewable energy industry, low carbon transportation, & energy efficiency “culture”
(3) can “new urbanization be far behind”…in fact china is executing the concept of eco-districts
where is our answer to this: “FDR’s new deal” meets “Kennedy’s apollo man-on-moon.”
Posted in funding & capital markets innovations, Sustainability
Tags: carbon trade and environ services markets, china, energy efficiency, green entrepreneurs, green innovation, green investing, low carbon transportation, renewable energy
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