Renewable energies in China

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Development of energy consumption in the People's Republic of China since 1990

Since 2006, the use of renewable energies in China to expand the energy mix and the future greater independence from coal as an energy supplier has been the focus of environmental and energy policy. Measured in terms of gross domestic product , the People's Republic of China is the second largest economic zone in the world. The rapid development of the last 30 years has resulted in an immensely increased demand for energy. This has increased more than tenfold since the 1960s, so that the country today consumes the most energy in the world. As early as 2010, China replaced the USA as the world's largest energy consumer.

China's energy consumption in a global comparison

Fossil fuels are still predominantly used to generate energy , especially coal. In 2010 this accounted for 66% of total energy consumption , while renewable energy sources only accounted for just over 10%. In a global comparison, however, the People's Republic invests the most in the development of renewable energies in order to improve the use of these resources. In order to curb the rapid development in energy consumption and the associated problems, the government in Beijing has been relying more and more on renewable energies since the early 2000s. In the 13th five-year plan of 2016 it was stated that the maximum values ​​in total energy consumption will be reached by 2030. The share of energy generation from renewable energies should be 20% by this time. In particular, it is important to make urban areas less dependent on coal in order to counteract environmental problems such as air pollution .

Uses and types of renewable energies

China is one of the world's economies that has a relatively large number of resources for renewable energies, but has hardly used them so far. In order to improve this situation, the “renewable portfolio standard” was introduced in 2007, which obliges private energy producers to cover a certain proportion of their energy mix with renewable energies. China has natural resources such as wind, sun and water that can be used to generate energy. In addition, biomass and geothermal energy are increasingly being used to generate energy. In terms of the development of possible uses and investments, China is at the top of the list in the fields of water, solar and wind energy. The following renewable energy sources play major roles in China:

Hydropower

Three Gorges Dam

China has the world's largest hydropower potential and can therefore make extensive use of the world's cheapest form of energy generation. The Chinese government plans to maximize this usage in the near future. The pioneering project in this area is the Three Gorges Dam in the central west of the country.

Wind power

Wind energy is given the potential to become the best form of energy production. However, the planning and construction of wind turbines is an expensive and lengthy process. Nevertheless, wind power in China is now one of the most widely used renewable energy sources. Wind energy currently covers around 4% of total consumption in China and annual production has almost doubled every year since 2005. The Chinese government is currently massively promoting the development of wind farms in the northern plateau regions and off the eastern and southeastern coastal provinces.

solar power

Solar energy can be obtained relatively easily and safely. Because of large deserts and regions with a lot of solar radiation, China has already made great strides here. In the “Roadmap 2050” presented by the government, solar energy, together with energy generation from hydropower, should cover more than 60% of demand in 2050. Probably the best known example of the use of solar energy in public areas is the Olympic Village, which was opened for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Light, heat and hot water were obtained here from solar energy.

Biomass and geothermal energy

China has large resources of biomass and geothermal energy , but these are not yet being used to any significant extent. According to the Chinese government, these are mainly used in the rural regions of the country and are to be expanded here. However, due to the dependency of biomass and geothermal energy on geographic conditions, an area-wide expansion is not possible.

National laws and guidelines

Since the resolution of the 11th Five-Year Plan in 2006, the Chinese government has placed resource conservation and environmental protection as well as the development of a sustainable economic system in the focus of the nationwide environmental and energy policy, with the use and expansion of renewable energies in the foreground.

When the Renewable Energy Act came into force in 2006, the Chinese government set clear rules for changing how energy needs are met. This law is intended to promote the development and use of renewable energies, improve energy supply and the energy structure, guarantee energy security, protect the environment and achieve sustainable economic and social development. Specifically, it says: “Components of the law are firstly the establishment of targets for renewable energies at the national level, which are to be transferred down to the individual energy producers; secondly, the contract to the state network operator to purchase renewable electricity, treat it advantageously and connect it to the network and the overhead lines; thirdly, the general guideline to set feed-in prices for renewable energy and fourthly, the listing of possible financial and tax incentive mechanisms for expanding the renewable industry. "This is to be implemented with the help of energy price and tax systems, for example feed-in tariffs . The aim is to reduce the investment risk by enabling a direct connection to the electricity grid and by setting minimum prices for the electricity generated. At the same time, strengthening local governments is intended to counteract further exploitation of natural resources and to improve existing problems, such as air pollution .

literature

  • Saeed Ahmed, Anzar Mahmood, Ahmad Hasan, Guftaar AS Sidhu, Muhammad FU Butt: A comparative review of China, India and Pakistan renewable energy sectors and sharing opportunities . In: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews . tape 57 , 2016, ISSN  1364-0321 , p. 216–225 , doi : 10.1016 / j.rser.2015.12.191 .
  • Mita Bhattacharya, Sudharshan R. Paramati, Ilhan Ozturk, Sankar Bhattacharya: The effect of renewable energy consumption on economic growth: Evidence from top 38 countries . In: Applied Energy . tape 162 , 2016, ISSN  0306-2619 , p. 733-741 , doi : 10.1016 / j.apenergy.2015.10.104 .
  • Kevin Lo: A critical review of China's rapidly developing renewable energy and energy efficiency policies . In: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews . tape 29 , 2014, ISSN  1364-0321 , p. 508-516 , doi : 10.1016 / j.rser.2013.09.006 .
  • Antje Nötzold: The energy policy of the EU and the PR China: Recommendations for action for European security of supply . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften / Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-531-92669-8 .
  • Xia Yang, Yonghua Song, Guanghui Wang, Weisheng Wang: A Comprehensive Review on the Development of Sustainable Energy Strategy and Implementation in China . In: IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy . tape 1 , no. 2 , June 21, 2010, ISSN  1949-3029 , p. 57-65 , doi : 10.1109 / TSTE.2010.2051464 .

further reading

  • Harry Bloch; Shuddhasattwa Rafiq; Ruhul, Salim: Economic growth with coal, oil and renewable energy consumption in China: Prospects for fuel substitution, published in Economic Modeling, Ed. 44, pp. 104–115, 2015, doi: 10.1016 / j.econmod.2014.09.017
  • Alexis Hellwig: Renewable Energies in China - Project development of a power plant for power generation from solid fuel biomass, taking into account the legal situation and the Kyoto Protocol, 2010, ISBN 978-3-8366-8380-7
  • Xingle Long; Eric Y. Naminse; Jianguo Du; Jincai Zhuang: Nonrenewable energy, renewable energy, carbon dioxide emissions and economic growth in China from 1952 to 2012, published in: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Ed. 52, 680 - 688, 2015, doi: 10.1016 / j.rser.2015.07 .176
  • Fang Lv; Honghua Xiong; Sicheng Wang: National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in CHINA, International Energy Agency (Ed.), 2016, URL: iea-pvps.org July 2, 2018
  • Barbara Zachariou: Renewable Energies in China: Climate Policy Insight or Strategic Calculation ?, 2011, ISBN 978-3-656-05886-1 .
  • Jingzhu Zhao: Ecological and Environmental Science & Technology in China: A Roadmap to 2050, Science Press Beijing and Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg, 2010, ISBN 978-3-642-05346-7 .

Web links

  • David Fridley; Hangyou Lu; Nina Khanna: Key China Energy Statistics 2016, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - China Energy Group (Ed.), 2016, URL: china.lbl.gov July 2, 2018
  • David C. Michael; Sam Zhou; Xinyi Wu; Gang Chen: China's Energy Future - Reaching for a Clean World, The Boston Consulting Group (Ed.), 2013, URL: image-src.bcg.com July 2, 2018
  • Ministry of Commerce People's Republic of China: Renewable Energy Law of the People's Republic of China, 2013, URL: english.mofcom.gov.cn July 2, 2018
  • Christine Sadler: China: Climate and Energy Policy - In the field of tension between international commitments and national development strategy, Heinrich Böll Foundation eV (Ed.), 2017, URL: boell.de July 2, 2018
  • South China Morning Post: Why China's wasting huge amounts of cleanly-produced electricity and how to fix it, 2017, URL: scmp.com July 2, 2018

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Antje Nötzold: The energy policy of the EU and the PR China - recommendations for action for European security of supply. 2011, p. 87.
  2. ↑ David C. Michael; Sam Zhou; Xinyi Wu; Gang Chen: China's Energy Future - Reaching for a Clean World, The Boston Consulting Group (Ed.), 2013, p. 3, image-src.bcg.com (PDF) July 2, 2018.
  3. ↑ David C. Michael; Sam Zhou; Xinyi Wu; Gang Chen: China's Energy Future - Reaching for a Clean World, The Boston Consulting Group (Ed.), 2013, p. 5, image-src.bcg.com July 2, 2018.
  4. ↑ Mita Bhattacharya; Sudharshan R. Paramati, Ilhan Ozturk; Sankar Bhattacharya: The effect of renewable energy consumption on economic growth: Evidence from top 38 countries, published in: Applied Energy, 2016, p. 735.
  5. ↑ Christine Sadler: China: Climate and Energy Policy - In the field of tension between international commitments and national development strategy, Heinrich Böll Foundation eV (Ed.), 2017, p. 7, URL: boell.de July 2, 2018.
  6. ↑ South China Morning Post: Why China's wasting huge amounts of cleanly-produced electricity and how to fix it, 2017, URL: scmp.com July 2, 2018.
  7. ↑ Kevin Lo: A critical review of China's rapidly developing renewable energy and energy efficiency policies, published in: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2014, p. 509.
  8. ↑ Saeed Ahmed; Anzar Mahmood; Ahmad Hasan; Guftaar AS Sidhu; Muhammad FU Butt: A comparative review of China, India and Pakistan renewable energy sectors and sharing opportunities, published in: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2016, pp. 5, 17.
  9. ↑ Mita Bhattacharya; Sudharshan R. Paramati; Ilhan Ozturk; Sankar Bhattacharya: The effect of renewable energy consumption on economic growth: Evidence from top 38 countries, published in: Applied Energy, 2016, p. 734.
  10. ↑ Antje Nötzold: The Energy Policy of the EU and the PR China - Recommendations for Action on European Security of Supply, 2011, p. 84.
  11. ↑ Saeed Ahmed; Anzar Mahmood; Ahmad Hasan; Guftaar AS Sidhu; Muhammad FU Butt: A comparative review of China, India and Pakistan renewable energy sectors and sharing opportunities, published in: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2016, p. 15.
  12. ↑ Saeed Ahmed; Anzar Mahmood; Ahmad Hasan; Guftaar AS Sidhu; Muhammad FU Butt: A comparative review of China, India and Pakistan renewable energy sectors and sharing opportunities, published in: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2016, p. 18.
  13. ↑ Xia Yang; Yonghua Song; Guanghui Wang; Weisheng Wang: A Comprehensive Review on the Development of Sustainable Energy Strategy and Implementation in China, published in: IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy. , 2010, p. 62f.
  14. ↑ Saeed Ahmed; Anzar Mahmood; Ahmad Hasan; Guftaar AS Sidhu; Muhammad FU Butt: A comparative review of China, India and Pakistan renewable energy sectors and sharing opportunities, published in: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2016, p. 10f.
  15. ↑ a b c Xia Yang; Yonghua Song; Guanghui Wang; Weisheng Wang: A Comprehensive Review on the Development of Sustainable Energy Strategy and Implementation in China, published in: IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy. , 2010, p. 58.
  16. ↑ Saeed Ahmed; Anzar Mahmood; Ahmad Hasan; Guftaar AS Sidhu; Muhammad FU Butt: A comparative review of China, India and Pakistan renewable energy sectors and sharing opportunities, published in: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2016, pp. 17, 19.
  17. ↑ Antje Nötzold: The energy policy of the EU and the PR China - Recommendations for action on European security of supply, 2011, p. 106f.
  18. ↑ Ministry of Commerce People's Republic of China: Renewable Energy Law of the People's Republic of China, 2013, URL: english.mofcom.gov.cn July 2, 2018.
  19. ↑ a b Antje Nötzold: The Energy Policy of the EU and the People's Republic of China - Recommendations for Action on European Security of Supply, 2011, p. 125.
  20. ↑ Xia Yang; Yonghua Song; Guanghui Wang; Weisheng Wang: A Comprehensive Review on the Development of Sustainable Energy Strategy and Implementation in China, published in: IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy. , 2010, p. 61.
  21. ↑ Kevin Lo: A critical review of China's rapidly developing renewable energy and energy efficiency policies, published in: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2014, p. 510.
  22. ↑ Kevin Lo: A critical review of China's rapidly developing renewable energy and energy efficiency policies, published in: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2014, p. 509.