China Power Plans Biggest Corporate Renewables Investment
by Alex Pasternack, Beijing, China on 05. 9.07
As China chases the US for the title of world’s biggest consumer for everything from timber to energy—and with “biggest CO2 producer” already in the bag—no one doubts the need for lots of renewable power. While the government’s been revving up its cleaner engines for a couple of years, state-run China Power International’s announcement on Monday of a 30 billion yuan (US$3.1-US$3.9 billion) investment in renewables heralds the country’s biggest single such investment by any company, Chinese or not. By 2010, it plans to put into operation 1,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity -- including wind, hydropower and biomass -- have another 1,000 MW under construction and have a further 1,000 MW in the pipeline. The company hopes to bankroll its investment, which beats those of Shell (an estimated $1.25 billion from 1996 to 2006) and BP ($900 million since 1999), by listing shares on the mainland's booming stock exchanges, Chief Executive Li Xiaolin told reporters on Monday. And it also anticipates benefiting from the government’s increasing affinity for clean energy, be it in the form of smarter regulation or financial incentives.
China has said it intends to spend an estimated US$200 billion on renewable energy over the next 15 years, partly to build hydropower, wind- and solar-powered plants to fuel its growth. Greatly boosting the country's renewable energy development, as the New York Times reports today and as we have reported previously, is Kyoto's Clean Development Mechanism. China gets about $3 billion of the $4.8 billion in yearly subsidies, but, it seems, to the detriment of clean energy in other developing nations.
: : Reuters via PlanetArk
Kudos to them :). I see many people dumping on China for their emissions etc; but a few things we need to bear in mind is that:
a) Their population is 4x (?) that of the USA
b) Who fuels much of the production demand in China? We do.
c) Who is attempting to impose Western culture (read: excessive consumption) on the Chinese? We are.
They are in a tough position. When the day does come that they exceed the USA in emissions, which will be very soon, the finger still needs to point back to the West for a good deal of the problem.
In terms of industrialization we've been at it for 200 years, the chinese maybe 20-30.
Maybe we've had our turn on the Coal, Oil & Gas etc. - perhaps we should stop, and let them have their go??
China must slow its use of coal or plan to begin coal imports in a few decades as it has done with oil. Years ago, China used to export oil; now it is looking for large amounts to import with the rise of the auto industry. The present use of coal in China is horrendous, over 900 million tons/year and is cause for concern. It is a finite source and present estimates lead to the conclusion that it will not be sufficient to keep China in energy through the remainder of this century.
adrianakau@aol.com
The fact is the emissions from 1.3billion people in China are less than those from 0.3billion people in the US, though they may exceed the US in the future. To explore renewable resources is a trend and necessity in the precess of China's development. And emission cut is a matter not only of China but of the world. Why not high-tech cooperation?
Even though China is supposed to surpass the U.S. by 2050, there is no reason we should give up all our profitable stocks before then. Investing in timber is showing some strong signs of positive growth for the future. I just want to recommend this report to anyone thinking about Timber stocks...
http://www.whiskeyandgunpowder.com/Report/TimberStockReport.html
-Cheers!