"I think China is really doing a lot in this area. The business in the wind sector came in a very short time, most probably this year, China will become the world number one in installation in 2009. This shows also the dynamic of the sector. I think China is a very good example of how the wind power can contribute to development very fast because five years ago China had very little wind installation and this year you will be the number one in wind installations," said Professor Arthouros Zervos.
He is also President of European Renewable Energy Council and Chairman of Global Wind Energy Council.
"For me, this is extremely positive because China is very important also for the CO2 emission. So it is right the Chinese government moves to the renewable energy sector, not only the wind, and we appreciate very much what China does in that sector," said Professor Arthouros Zervos.
"Now I believe in two or three years, China will be the number one in total installation. This is most dynamic development in China in wind energy sector, it is not offshore."
Currently Vestas in Denmark is the world Number one wind company in installations, followed by GE of the US and companies in Spain (Gamesa, Acciona), India (Suzlon) and German (Enercon, Nordex, Siemens). China’s Sinovel Wind. Co. Ltd numbers 7.
Professor Arthouros Zervos said he was overwhelmed by the great interest in the wind sector which attracted actually about 5000 people, 2000 more than expected.
"It is a dynamic sector which is starting now and growing up very quickly. All the elements here show that this is possible and that will have a major contribution through the European electricity in the next decade. It is a major part for meeting our goals of 20% reduction of CO2 for 2020."
The conference ends with a declaration announcing that the wind industry sector is ready to deliver the business by pledging to produce enough offshore turbines, build up foundations, installation vessels, cable laying vessels and high voltage DC VSC electricity transmission technology.
Meanwhile the industry also calls on the European Commission to publish its blueprint for a North Sea Grid, EU Energy Security and Infrastructure Instrument, Communication on Financing Low Carbon Technologies and Market Integration Roadmap.
"With the declaration we announced that the industry is ready to do from their part and the politicians should really make their frameworks and facilitate this update of the sector. That means an agreement must be reached in Copenhagen because this sector can play the role of reducing emissions in the next 20 years."
He also rejected the worry of bubbles in the sector. "This is heavy industry and there is no bubbles here. I don’t see it at all. This has been proved in the onshore wind energy which now contributes 4% of our electricity."
The next European Offshore Wind Conference and Exhibition will be held in Armsterdam in Holland.
Wind power could cut China’s emissions and could meet its entire future energy needs
Study suggests that wind is economically practical and could reduce CO2 emissions. A team of environmental scientists from Harvard and Tsinghua University demonstrated the enormous potential for wind energy.
With ambitious government policies and a new breed of entrepreneurs, Chinese businesses are among the top producers of electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and energy efficient appliances, the report found.
Last year, the downturn hurt China’s exports of renewable and low-carbon technologies and provided new impetus for expanding its domestic markets.
The Chinese government’s 4-trillion-yuan (US$ 585 billion) stimulus package puts strong emphasis on clean development and is backed by many new regulations and policies focused on increasing the uptake of low carbon technologies.
Low carbon electric vehicles, energy efficiency in industry, renewable energy and low carbon buildings and urban design are the four key areas of China’s low carbon economy. And, each of the four areas witnessed solid progress, the report found.
With car sales in China surpassing that in the US for the first time in January 2009, the country is now both the world’s largest auto market and the third largest producer, but most vehicles are still powered by gasoline and diesel.
Rapid demand growth creates an urgent imperative to accelerate the development of electric vehicles (EVs) and other forms of low carbon transport. Thirteen Chinese cities have signed up to a government scheme to purchase a total of 13,000 EVs this year. China aim’s to manufacture half a million EVs in 2011.
The energy intensity of the Chinese economy has already fallen by over 60 percent since 1980, and the government has set a goal of reducing it by a further 20 percent between 2005 and 2010. Although fossil fuels, notably coal, still provide the bulk of China’s power, an aggressive push is underway to replace inefficient power stations with efficient super-critical technology. China is already one of the world’s largest users of supercritical and ultra-supercritical generation technology, with 150 of these units already in operation.
Government policies including fiscal incentives and credit support are helping to shape an energy-saving market that could already be worth 800 billion yuan and which is expected to grow substantially over the next decade, the report estimated.
China has also raised its mid- and long-term targets for renewable energy, to meet the rapid development of the green industries.
By 2020, new energy is expected to constitute 17 percent of the country’s power supply. Of this, 150 million from wind, and 20 million from solar power.
The growth of installed wind turbines in China is faster than anywhere else, with wind power generation capacity topping 12,000 MW in 2008 – a figure that is doubling each year. China is also the world’s largest producer and consumer of solar water heaters, accounting for 65 percent of installations; and, 95 percent of core technology patents on solar water heaters were developed by Chinese companies. Penetration of photovoltaic (PV) solar power has also shown rapid growth, as have geothermal energy.
The government has also set ambitious energy conservation targets for new buildings, promoting low carbon building materials and renewable energy, especially solar.
Many successful low carbon buildings, for residential, commercial and public use have been completed, with several entire ‘eco-cities’ in advanced stages of planning. The government has also announced a large-scale promotion project for energy efficient lighting, with the aim of distributing 100 million subsidized bulbs in 2009.
The report also pointed out the barriers for China to realize its low carbon economy. China is struggling hard to catch up with international peers and to move from lower-end to higher-end technology, but gaps still exist.
Creative, market-based financing mechanisms are also required. It is estimated that China will need to invest 1.8 trillion yuan every year to meet its energy conservation and emissions reduction goals.
"It’s a 70-30 situation. We have 70 percent of the solutions today, but they are not all proven technologies and none are of the scale we need. Thirty percent of the solutions will be found in the future. Therefore we still need foreign investment to drive the revolution." Said Wu Changhua, Greater China Director at The Climate Group.
As both a major emitter and provider of solutions to climate change, China’s role at the heart of the international climate negotiations is essential to their success and their ability to accelerate the transition to a prosperous low carbon global economy.
Areas rich in wind power resources are mainly concentrated in the remote northwest, northeast and southeast, where the power transmission network is poorly constructed.
But the scale of renewable energies is over-expanding in some areas despite the lack of necessary infrastructure to collect the electricity.
More than 20 percent of the country’s wind power machines did not generate any electricity last year because the equipment was not yet connected to the grid, according to officials from the China Wind Energy Association.
Zhang Yue, chairman of Broad Air Conditioning, also said that the investors should pour the money into real "green" sectors. "We need to decide what are the real low-carbon products, the assessment should be based on the whole life cycle," he said.
english.people.com.cn/90001/90781/90879/6763396.html
www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/325/5946/1378
www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5946/1378
www.sciencemag.org/content/vol325/issue5946/cover.dtl
www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/06/19/0904101106.full.pdf
www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/06/19/0904101106.full.pdf+html
www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/06/19/0904101106.abstract
