China’s economy is going greener as the world’s third-largest economy makes resolute efforts to save energy and reduce pollution.

The Chinese government has ordered to eliminate out-dated production facilities and set stricter rules on new project approvals in a bid to meet its energy saving and emission cut target.

Last year, China blocked 156 energy-guzzling and high-polluting projects involving 473.7 billion yuan (69.3 billion U.S. dollars) of investment, Zhang Lijun, vice environment minister, told a forum in the northern port city of Tianjin this week.

It also has allocated 210 billion yuan (30.7 billion U.S. dollars) out of the 4-trillion yuan economic stimulus package for energy conservation, emission reduction, and environmental protection, Zhang said.

China aimed to cut energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 percent and cut emissions of major pollutants by 10 percent between 2006 and 2010.

The energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped 10.1 percent from 2006 to 2008, official data showed.

Subinay Nandy, Country Director of UNDP in China, said at the forum that China is balancing economic growth and environmental protection as it has realized the economy should not grow at the cost of environment.

China’s economy has experienced dramatic growth over the past three decades, but this miracle came with degrading rivers, lakes and air quality.

But the government has shifted its policy for sustainable growth and the ruling Communist Party of China even made "an energy-saving, environmentally-friendly society" a mandate in its charter.

As governments around the world focus on green growth, some experts even called it as an on-going Green Revolution, following major industrial revolutions of the mankind.

The green business is expanding rapidly in China. It is home to one-fourth of the world’s Clean Development Mechanism projects and the world’s biggest exporter of solar batteries. It is also the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines and expected to have the largest wind power generation capacity.

China has also become the world’s second-biggest market for wastewater treatment. It invested more than 200 billion yuan in around 1, 550 sewage treatment factories by 2008, which handle 86 million tonnes of wastewater per day, Zhang said.

The daily wastewater treatment capacity would increase by 10 million tonnes this year, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Wu Changhua, director of Greater China of the Climate Group, said China’s green revolution is not only giving emergence to highly promising industries amid the current global economic downturn, but also helping to protect the environment.

China has planned to increase investment on clean energy in the coming years. In 2007 alone, it invested about 12 billion U.S. dollars in such energy as wind and solar.

Zhang added that China’s total investment in desulfurization of coal-fired power plants had reached 100 billion yuan (14.6 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of 2008.

Todd Stern, the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change, will brief reporters on a U.S. delegation’s June 7-10 trip to China to discuss climate and energy issues. The briefing will take place in the Press Briefing Room (Room 2209) at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, June 12, 2009. The Daily Press Briefing will immediately follow Special Envoy Stern’s briefing.

Media representatives who plan to attend must present one of the following press credentials: (1) a U.S. Government-issued identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Defense, or Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identification card, or (3) a letter from their employer on original letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification (driver’s license or passport).

All members of the press who do not possess a U.S. Department of State building pass must enter the building through the 23rd Street lobby before 10:30 a.m.

For further information, please contact:

Ben Kobren
Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change
U.S. Department of State
202-647-9821

Shanghai-The Beijing Renewable Energy Base officially opened on June 10, the local government told Interfax on June 11.

China plans to tap Taiwanese companies to put LED (light emitting diode) technology into street lights in 10 Chinese cities, groups from both places said Thursday.

The project aims to cut electric bills in Chinese cities by using LED in city lights. LEDs give off less heat, consume less energy and last longer than traditional lights, according to China’s National Semiconductor Lighting Industry Alliance, which oversees the project to light up China with LEDs. The technology is also inexpensive because it’s used in a range of projects, from Christmas lights and the displays of alarm clocks, DVD players and digital music players, to the backlights in LCD laptop screens.

The agreement was part of deals signed at a two-day conference between LED industry leaders and government officials from Taiwan and China.

Delegates from the conference also signed a letter of intent to work together to promote LED technology, including in research, development, qualification and the creation of new standards. Over 200 Taiwanese companies and 71 Chinese companies took part in an exhibition related to the conference, and around 80 government officials from China attended the event, according to Taiwan’s economics ministry.

The cooperation highlights increased cooperation between Taiwan and China over the past year. A new president elected last year in Taiwan has pushed forward a number of initiatives to strengthen ties with China, mainly economic, a far different tack than the previous administration, which advocated Taiwan independence. China and Taiwan separated in 1949 amid civil war, and China has vowed to attack if Taiwan moves toward formal independence.

A number of new policies have been implemented by the new administration in Taiwan, including direct flights between Taiwan and China for the first time in decades and greater business ties between the two places. Another example in the high tech area was last week, when Taiwan hosted the first ever China pavilion at the Computex Taipei 2009 electronics show.

LED sales to China’s lighting industry stand to be big business for Taiwanese companies, according to investment firm CLSA Asia Pacific Markets in Taipei.

"The fast-growing economic growth in China will inevitably lead to urbanization and higher electric lighting consumption," said analyst Andrea Su, in a report on Thursday.

She believes China will increase spending on LED lighting to lower energy costs and that currently, lighting consumption per capita in China is only 10 percent that of North America.

Shanghai- Xinyu City in Jiangxi Province is planning for its photovoltaic (PV) industry to account for 20 percent of the global PV industry’s total output value by 2010, according to a newsletter posted on the National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) Web site on June 9.

China is planning a massive expansion of its renewable energy generation capacity, with a strategy to match Europe by 2020 by producing 20% of its total energy requirements from renewables.

"Based on the trend of development in China’s renewable sector, it is a realistic target for China to have 20% energy sourced from renewables by 2020," Cathy Tang, senior associate at Eversheds

According to comments reported in the UK’s Guardian newspaper, Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice-chairman of China’s national development and reform commission, said that China would easily surpass its current 2020 wind and solar targets and is now considering expanding them by a factor of three. For example, under the terms of the current proposals, wind is set to reach 30 GW by 2020 but Zhang told the paper the new goal could be 100 GW saying: "Similarly, by 2020 the total installed capacity for solar power will be at least three times that of the original target [of 3 GW]."

In an interview in London Zhang said: "We are now formulating a plan for development of renewable energy. We can be sure we will exceed the 15% target. We will at least reach 18%. Personally I think we could reach the target of having renewables provide 20% of total energy consumption."

Commenting on the move, Cathy Tang, senior associate in the Shanghai office of international law firm Eversheds, said: “Based on the trend of development in China’s renewable sector, it is a realistic target for China to have 20% energy sourced from renewables by 2020. It is even likely to exceed this target. For example, by the end of 2007 the installed gross capacity of wind turbines in China reached 6050 MW well exceeded Chinese government’s initial target of 5000 MW for 2010. The government later set higher targets for renewable energies. In 2008, analysts believed that by 2020 at least 15% of China’s energy will come from renewable sources. In the past few months, national and local governments of China have made a stunning focus on the development of renewable energy by publishing a series of policies to stimulate this sector, including adopting preferential treatments and state investment plans. Leading state-owned enterprises and private enterprises are very active in taking actions to build their manufacturing capacity, especially in wind and solar power, by buying advanced technologies from western countries.”

SHANGHAI- Shanghai will embrace the "Offshore Wind China 2009" end of June amid wide attention on "new energy", "wind power" and "smart grid".

(Logo: http://www.prnasia.com/sa/20061108114544-37.jpg )

The conference is organized by Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA) and Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd. As China’s first international conference featuring offshore wind power, this conference marks China’s wind power industry setting foot in the vast oceans which boast China’s 70% wind energy.

The conference covers five areas, namely, policy-making, marketing, technology, education and investment & financing. Speeches to be delivered at the conference will involve policies, marketing, planning, assessment of offshore wind power concerning resources, design, construction, management, operation of offshore wind power farms, manufacturing technology of offshore wind turbines, wind power grid-connecting, talent training for the wind power industry, as well as investment & financing for offshore wind power projects. About 300 delegates and speakers are invited to the conference, including representatives from national and local energy government bodies, major power- investing enterprises, manufacturers of well-known wind power equipments and spare parts, relevant research and advisory institutes both at home and from abroad, financial institutions, design companies, construction companies, higher education institutes, etc.

Following the successful installation of China’s first offshore wind turbine in Shanghai, the East Ocean Offshore Wind Farm project will be one of the highlights to be featured in "Offshore Wind China 2009". The project is owned by Shanghai East Ocean Wind Power Co. Ltd., designed by Shanghai Investigation, Design & Research Institute, installed by CCCC Third Harbor Engineering Co. Ltd., and with equipment provided by the turbines Sinovel Wind Co.,Ltd. Representatives from these companies will introduce the project’s progress at the conference. A visiting survey to the East Ocean Bridge Wind Power Project will also be arranged by the organizers during the conference.

Amid enthusiasms in developing offshore wind power among China’s coastal provinces and cities in recent years, participants from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong provinces will share their thoughts, planning and experiences, including the case of intertidal belt and offshore wind power in Rudong county of Jiangsu Province.

Nearly half the guest speakers come from Europe, where there is a long history of offshore wind power development, with a variety of large scale offshore wind farms. Representatives from Denmark, Germany, Britain, Spain and other countries will share their rich experiences in policy making, planning, construction, grid-connecting and equipment manufacturing, while other topics will cover all aspects of wind power development. The conference will provide a great opportunity for the China’s offshore wind power industry to gather experiences for further development.

The 2-day conference will be held at the Regal International East Asia Hotel (Shanghai) from June 29 to June 30. For more information, please visit: http://www.offshorechina.com .

    For more information, please contact:

     Song Xiaoye
     Tel:   +86-21-6279-2828 x257
     Email: ricesong@siec-ccpit.com
     Web site: http://www.siec-ccpit.com

China is planning a huge increase in renewables and hopes to generate 20 per cent of its energy from clean sources by 2020, officials said yesterday.

Zhang Xiaoqiang is the vice-chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the government office responsible for masterminding China’s move towards green energy.

"We are now formulating a plan for development of renewable energy," he told The Guardian.

"We can be sure we will exceed the 15 per cent target. We will at least reach 18 per cent. Personally, I think we could reach the target of having renewables provide 20 per cent of total energy consumption."

Zhang said the new plan would see the goal for total installed capacity of wind energy and solar power triple to 100GW and 9GW respectively by 2020.

The targets match Europe’s goals and will mean the country will lay heavy claim to being a global hub for renewables technology.

A recent report from New Energy Finance found that China is already the world’s second-largest wind market in terms of new capacity and the world’s biggest solar photovoltaic manufacturer.

The new targets will be reached by spending more than $30bn (£18.4bn) of China’s $590bn economic stimulus package on low carbon investment.

And further investment in carbon-efficient transport and electricity transmission systems would be even greater.

HSBC Global Research estimated that the green share could be over a third of the total package.

Zhang also told the Guardian that the government would plough money into the expansion of solar heating systems.

A US delegation is currently in China negotiating positions ahead of climate talks in Copenhagen later this year.

Zhang said China is pursuing "a constructive and positive role" in negotiations aimed at agreeing a deal in Copenhagen. He said Beijing was open to the idea of limits on the carbon intensity of its economy.

"We have taken note of some expert suggestions on carbon intensity with a view to have some quantified targets in this regard. We are carrying out a serious study of those suggestions," Zhang said.

A joint research project between China and Kenya will help utilize solar energy in Africa, scientists said Wednesday.

An Xingcai, deputy head of the Natural Energy Resource Research Institute based in Gansu Province, northwest China, said researchers would study how to adapt Chinese solar panels and heaters to the Kenyan climate.

The demonstration project will run until 2012. The Kenyan partner is an electronic technology company.

China’s Ministry of Science and Technology approved the project in April and allocated 2.64 million yuan (386,000 U.S. dollars) for the work.

The institute would dispatch researchers to Kenya and set up an office there, according to An, also deputy director of the International Center for Promotion and Transfer of Solar Energy Technology under the United Nations Industry Development Organization.

Kenya has rich solar resources, but its electricity comes mainly from hydropower and imported oil. Its rural population relies heavily on wood and charcoal for heating and cooking.

The Natural Energy Research Institute was founded in 1978. Between 1991 and 2008, the institute trained more than 500 people in practical solar technology for Africa, including 12 for Kenya.

China is the world’s largest producer of solar heaters and the third largest maker of photovoltaic cells, National Development and Reform Commission statistics show.

Renewable energy companies traded in China, led by Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric Co. and Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., are overpriced and are set to fall on declining global demand, said analysts.

“We feel it’s time to sell those stocks because they are no longer attractive based on current valuations,” Han Ling, the vice president of the research department at BOC International (China) Ltd., said in an interview yesterday.

Baoding Tianwei trades at 44.46 times reported earnings and Goldwind is valued at 48.43 times, compared with 28.24 times for the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index. The two stocks have surged 79 percent and 74 percent this year. The 30-member SP Global Clean Energy Index has risen 16 percent in the same period.

Prices of coal and oil have fallen from their records reached in July last year, making the cost of power from conventional generators cheaper than electricity from alternative energy sources such as wind, hydro and solar. In China, the on- grid price for wind power is about double that of electricity from coal, according to Shi Lishan, deputy director of the renewable energy department at the National Energy Administration.

“High production costs and valuations are the two major problems facing the industry,” said Pan Hangjun, an analyst tracking the alternative energy industry at Central China Securities Holdings Co. in Shanghai. “Investors’ expectation is ahead of the companies’ profitability, although the industry’s outlook is bright in the long term.”

Stimulus Plan

China, the world’s second-largest oil user, plans to at least double the target for renewable energy use by 2020. China will release the renewable energy industry stimulus package “soon,” Han Wenke, the head of energy research at the National Development and Reform Commission, said last month.

Speculations about the plan, part of government efforts to boost the economy, have sent shares of renewable stocks soaring, Han said.

Funding for renewable energy projects has plunged 70 percent in the first quarter in Asia to $1.8 billion as the global recession curbed credit, according to New Energy Finance, a London-based carbon market research firm. China, which uses coal to generate 80 percent of its electricity, approved 18 percent fewer ventures.

Chinese solar-cell component producers’ orders have slumped amid the global financial crisis, Han said. About 98 percent of the components made in China are exported overseas, Shi Dinghuan, the chief director of China Renewable Energy Society, said May 5.

The growth rate of China’s wind power capacity, which has doubled in recent years, will slow to between 30 and 40 percent, Han said. “China’s wind-power industry has passed its peak as fierce competition squeezed profit margins.”