Green Energy (Renewable Energy) in China
From Wikipedia,
China's rapid economic growth and heavy reliance on increasingly expensive foreign oil, the vast environmental toll that is one of the most apparent costs of China's economic success, persistent rural poverty in China and periodic power shortages all have impressed upon the Chinese government that renewable energy must be a large part of China's economy if China is to both complete its economic transformation and achieve "energy security".
China rapidly has moved along the path of renewable energy development.
About 16% of China's electricity came from renewable sources in 2006, led by the world's largest number of hydroelectric generators.
In 2007 China had the world's largest total investment in renewable energy (green energy) sources (excluding large scale hydropower plants) with expenditures of $10.8 billion, up 91 percent over the year before (2006) and the largest installed renewable capacity at 152 GW. In 2007, China invested $ 12 billion, almost level with world leader Germany as a percentage of GDP. However, it was expected to top the table by the end of 2009.
For wind power China added 3,449MW in 2007, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), representing an investment of over $5 billion dollars U.S. At the end of 2007, China reached a total installed capacity of 6,050 MW to rank as the fifth largest wind power producer in the world and is expected to add 4,000MW in 2008; Chinese analysts estimate that the total potential wind power generating capacity in China is estimated to be around 750,000 MW with just offshore farms, and Chinese policymakers have set an ambitious goal of putting in place 30,000 MW of wind power by 2020.
Biomass energy from agricultural waste, straw and waste from cities alone may exceed 500 million MT of coal equivalents.
In the near term China plans to develop 120000 MW's of renewable energy (green energy) by the year 2020; this would account for 12% of China's total installed energy producing capacity. China's growth target for renewable energy production will require an investment of approximately 800 billion Yuan ( about $100 billion USD) by 2020.
