China May Be Planning Big Boost For Wind Power, As Greenhouse Gases Build
Chinese government officials may have produced a startling new goal for wind power in the giant country -- 100,000 megawatts by 2020. That represents a big step beyond more near-term figures the country floated just earlier this year (see Climate Law Update story here).
According to a story in the Shanghai Daily (see article here), an official with the Chinese Wind Energy Association (Chinese language site) said that the country's top economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission recently discussed increasing wind power capacity to the 100,000-megawatt level. Previously, the country's leaders had announced a goal of installing 10,000 megawatts by 2010, so the new objective represents a 10-fold increase over the succeeding decade.
The country had set an objective of supplying 10 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010, which would include wind, hydropower, bio-energy and solar. According to the Shanghai Daily story it now wants to achieve 15 percent of its power consumption from renewable sources by 2020.
Environmental Capital, the Wall Street Journal's online site that monitors such developments, sees new business opportunities in the Chinese move (see full posting here):
"Despite the recent tax reform meant to limit wind-turbine imports, China’s more ambitious goals could also open the doors for more joint ventures and local business for wind turbine makers like Vestas of Denmark, Suzlon of India, and Gamesa of Spain—all of whom have made China a key part of their global growth plans. And of course, General Electric hopes to make its energy business one of the group’s driving forces."
Such developments may come none too soon to help the planet weather the ever-increasing amount of heat-trapping gases in its atmosphere. The Chinese plans come to light shortly after a U.S. government agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, reported that carbon dioxide continued a steady rise in its concentration in the atmosphere in 2007.
On April 23, the agency's press statement (see text here) noted:
"Last year alone global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the primary driver of global climate change, increased by 0.6 percent, or 19 billion tons. Additionally methane rose by 27 million tons after nearly a decade with little or no increase. NOAA scientists released these and other preliminary findings today as part of an annual update to the agency’s greenhouse gas index (see text here), which tracks data from 60 sites around the world."
According to NOAA, the rate of increase in carbon dioxide concentrations accelerated over recent decades along with fossil fuel emissions. The recent data showed about a 2.4 part per million increase. Since 2000, annual increases of two parts per million or more have been common, compared with 1.5 ppm per year in the 1980s and less than one ppm per year during the 1960s.
The data follows by a few weeks the release of a report prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that showed some domestic declines in greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide, between 2005 and 2006 (see Climate Law Update story here; access report here). That report also showed an increase in methane releases to the atmosphere.
Separately, NOAA recently announced it would soon install the final nine of 114 stations as part of a new high-tech climate monitoring network. The stations track national average changes in temperature and precipitation trends. The U.S. Climate Reference Network (CRN) is on schedule to activate these final stations by the end of the summer, the agency said (see press statement here).
(Photo: Wind farm in China, Wikipedia)
Recent reports originating in Europe and Asia suggest the worldwide extent of the booming interest in renewable energy. One consequence, according to experts and observers, could be new pressure on critical supplies needed by the industry.