In the past few decades, China has enjoyed significant growth from opening up its economy and adopting industrialization to become the workshop of the world. Averaging at 10% growth a year, its GDP has grown from US$ 202.46B to US$7320.00B, a 36.2 times increase, from 1980 to 2012. However, this development comes with an environmental cost. China has traditionally relied on coal to provide for power which accounts up to 70-80% of its provision of power. With hydroelectricity contributing to about 15-20% of energy production and the remaining is a combination of fossil fuel, natural gas, nuclear and other renewables. The high reliance on coal for energy has made China the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. China has produced an estimate 9,700,000 tons of CO2 in 2011, contributing to almost of a third of the world’s CO2 emission. While clean and renewable energy only represents a small portion in China’s energy production.
China
Coal
Coal has traditionally been the staple fuel for China’s energy production, accounting for at times up to 80% of the country’s energy production. Currently, China holds 13% of the world’s proven coal reserved, at 114B tons of coal. The abundance of coal meant that China has access to cheap energy, which it exploited for economic growth. In 1990, the consumption of coal was approximately 1B ton of coal a year which meant that the reserves could last more than a century. However, as China’s economy experienced an exponential increase, its appetite for energy grew also. In 2011, China’s consumption of coal increased to 3.8B tons. Suddenly, China’s coal reserves could only last another 3 decades.
Heavy reliance on coal for energy production results in severe environmental impacts. Firstly, strip mining, a mining method commonly adopted by mining companies, destroys the natural environment in the surrounding land and displaced indigenous population and wildlife. The loss of top soil in the process of strip mining is also associated with soil erosion, leading to increasing land-slides and creates a wasteland as the ability of the land to recover itself is destroyed. Also, excessive mining could lead to physical instability of the land resulting in mine collapses.
Another major concern in using coal as a source of energy is air pollution. Coal and coal waste products (including fly ash, bottom ash and boiler slag) releases approximately 20 toxic-release chemicals, including arsenic, lead, mercury, nickel, vanadium, beryllium, cadmium, barium, chromium, copper, molybdenum, zinc, selenium and radium, which are dangerous when released into the environment. These toxic pollutants are linked to degrading air quality and results in higher levels of lung cancer and asthma. The air quality in major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong have reached 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter for PM2.5 particles which is 40 times higher than the WHO’s recommended value of only 25micrograms per cubic meter. This severe degradation of air quality is estimated to have caused 1.2million death in 2010.
Current Viewpoint
In view of its unsustainable path in development, China has adapted its national policies to a more sustainable path to encourage the use of renewable and clean energy. In 2007, China officially issued its first national plan to address the nation’s pollution issues by introducing the “National Climate Change Program” (中国应对气候变化国家方案) and then subsequently publishing the “12th Five-year Plan on Greenhouse Emission Control” (第十二个五年规划) The plans includes a national emphasis on increasing the proportion of renewable and clean energies such as hydroelectricity, wind, solar and nuclear power in its power production and a decreasing reliance on “dirty” fuels such as coal. There is also a call for support of domestic renewable energy sector which saw China becoming the world largest manufacturer of solar panels and wind generator.
Hydropower
Hydropower accounts for the second largest portion of energy production in China, after coal. China is also the largest hydroelectricity producer with some 19,000 dams, second only to the USA with 5,500 dams. In 2010, its hydropower produced 721 terawatt-hours of power, representing around 17 percent of domestic electricity use.
The Chinese government has placed great emphasis on development of hydropower as the country tries to wean itself off its addiction on coal for power and limiting greenhouse emissions. The cost of power produced by dams is considered relatively low and there is an added advantage of being able to control the flow of the river to regulate power output. Construction of dams would also boost local economy through increase employment and government spending, as seen in the case of the Three Gorges Dam.
However, there are also significant criticisms towards China’s hydropower policies. There are significant environmental impacts of building a dam such as flooding of higher grounds that would result in the destruction of local natural habitat, soil erosion and displacement of indigenous population. However Chinese government has mostly ignored these issues in the process of building dams. Oppositions are mostly waved off and critics are rebutted by the argument that the benefits of economic development far outweigh the cost.
Three Gorges Dam
The dam first began construction in 1994 along Yangtze River. It was constructed at a place called Sāndòupíng in the Xiling Gorge. It was envisioned as the greatest dam ever built and capable of producing 22,000MW of power (it now produces 22,500MW). It was then seen as the pinnacle of Chinese engineering ingenuity in the decade long project and difficulties in building the 2.3km long dam.
The dam officially went operational in 2012. The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest dam in both size and capacity. It has in total of 34 hydropower generators with a capacity of 22,500MW. The annual power production is estimated to be over 100 GWh which provides about 1.7% of China’s annual power demand.
Benefits
The construction of the dam has brought significant benefits. By replacing coal power with hydropower, the Three Gorges Dam is estimated to reduce coal consumption in by 31M tons a year which translates to 100M tons of greenhouse gases, millions of tons of dust, toxic waste associated with coal power production.
The dam has also brought significant economic benefits. The Three Gorges Dam had cost US$41B to construct and provided an employment of some 26,000 jobs. Local officials are also prone to support such programs as successful implementation of renewable energy in provinces in adherence to party policy would be significant in their political career. The construction of the dam also resulted in a rise of water levels which widened the river banks. This would effectively widen shipping lanes and allow bigger ships to pass through the Yangtze River.
Criticism
The rising water levels as the result of the construction of the dam have caused significant environmental impacts. The impact on local biodiversity brought on by the dam have caused many wild species to become endangered or even extinct, including the Chinese river dolphin, Chinese sturgeon, river sturgeon, Chinese paddlefish, and the migrating Siberian Crane. As the Three Gorges Dam also slows the river flow, it also decreased the river’s flushing capacity, causing an increase in pollution as garbage and waste accumulate behind the dam. The dam has blocked approximately ten million tons of waste that would otherwise have been flushed out to the sea. This has resulted in a significant degradation in water quality along the Yangtze River.
The rising water have submerged 13 cities, 140 towns, and 1,350 villages lower-lying or coastal areas, forcing at least 1.2 million people to relocate to higher grounds. This was significant impact on the local populace. As the banks of the Yangtze River are extremely fertile and highly suitable for agriculture, many of the populace displaced are farmers who as a consequence of the flooding lost their lands. Many others also lost their jobs and homes and are forced to live in a new environment. It also flooded several archeological and heritage site such as the 1,700-year-old Zhang Fei Temple and Shibao Village which is dubbed the world’s most complex wooden structure.
Wind
Currently, China is the largest wind energy provider in the world with an installed wind capacity of 76GW. Wind power is seen to have great potential in China. The vast tract of flat lands and high wind speeds in the northern and western part of China could potentially generate 116MW which is twice the total power demand in China. As an increasing number of wind farms come into operation, the wind power capacity of China will only grow. China saw an exponential growth of wind power generating capabilities as its capacity grew 30-fold from 1260MW to 31,100MW in a short span of 5 years from 2005 to 2010.
In light of space constrains in the cities, several offshore wind farms have also sprung up. The first of which is the Donghai Bridge Wind Farm (上海东海大桥海上风电场), which came into operation in 2010 and is capable of providing power for 200,000 households. More offshore wind farms are planned.
Domestic wind companies are also heavily subsidized by the state in adherence to its “12th Five-year Plan on Greenhouse Emission Control”. The huge amount of subsidies has allowed Chinese companies to quickly expand to becoming industry leaders on a global scale. Chinese wind companies Sinovel and Goldwind are the second and third largest wind turbine manufacturers in the world with a respective market share of 9.0% and 8.7%.
Criticism
One major criticism of the current China wind power policy is that the power grid infrastructure development was not kept in pace with the rapid expansion of wind power capacity. In 2012, only 80.2% of the total wind power capacity was linked to the power grid. Almost 20% of the power generated was not harnessed. This represents a great waste of resources.
Also, because of the sporadic nature of wind power, more coal-fired power plants have to be built to compensate for when wind isn’t available to allow stability in the provision of power. This will, ironically, result in a greater demand for coal and thus lead to a higher level of pollution.
The high cost of installing wind power generators ($3M-$4M per turbine) means that many Chinese companies relies on government subsidies and grants for survival. Many wind power companies derive nearly half their earnings from government subsidies. With which many companies would struggle against the high operation and maintenance costs resulting in high debts in many wind companies. High reliance on subsidies have proved to be detrimental to many Chinese wind firms. In 2011, the Chinese government, in adherence to a recent WTO ruling, repealed its wind power subsidies to encourage more free and equitable trading in the global market. Many firms, already burdened with debt and decreasing profit margins was forced to go bankrupt or run at a loss. This has exposed the vulnerabilities of the Chinese wind power industry.
Solar Energy
Many measures are also introduced to encourage domestic use of solar power. In 2011, China introduced the policy of feed-in tariff where people can sell the excess power they have generated back into the power grid at the price of US$0.15/KWh. This creates economic incentives to encourage use of solar power. The huge solar manufacturing capacity meant that the cost of solar panels in China is significantly cheaper (up to 80% cheaper) than their overseas counterparts, this encourages domestic use of solar power installations. One such is the solar power heaters which is now a common sight in many Chinese residential apartments. It is estimated that approximately 30 million Chinese households now have solar water heaters installed.
China has marked solar power as one of its key industries. In 1999, China’s solar capacity was only 16MW. By 2005, it more than quadrupled to 70MW and by 2012 it grew a whopping 518 times the 1999 levels at 8300MW. Of the five largest photovoltaic firms in the world, four are Chinese. Chinese firms now dominate 60% of the polycrystalline silicon (a key component of solar panels) and 70% of the market for solar panels and modules. This is primarily the result of high level of government grants that produced the exponential growth of the Chinese solar industry. In the short span of a decade, China has emerged not only the biggest consumer of solar power but the world’s biggest producer of solar products.
The government also encourages large scale solar farms that are cost-efficient on an industrial scale. One of the primary areas of development is Golmud, in western part of China. The desert region now as a power capacity of 570MW, consisting primarily of solar farms. It is also home to the largest solar farm in the world, the Huanghe Hydropower Golmud Solar Park (黄河水电公司格尔木光伏电站) went into operation in 2011 and has a capacity of 200MW. Other solar farms in development in the region are expected to increase this capacity by another 500MW by 2012. As seen from the diagram majority of the sun exposure is concentrated in the western part of China, this will pose problems for solar industry that will be discussed later on.
Criticism
The primary criticism of China’s solar power industry is the excessive government subsidies which has encouraged an over-saturation of solar firms in China. Since the Chinese government begun on its spending binge, over 2000 solar firms have sprung up in China in less than a decade. The flow of free cash has significantly lowered cost of production but has also sparked a vicious price war among local firms. From 2010 to 2012, the prices of primary solar panel components like the polycrystalline silicon and solar cells have dropped 73% and 68% respectively, forcing companies around the world out of business due to shrinking profit margins. These Chinese firms literally sold themselves out of business.
The over-saturation of firms also meant that the current Chinese solar industry is producing solar capacity far beyond its domestic demand. 8,300MW of solar capacity was manufactured in 2012 but only 5,000 MW was installed domestically. Some firms export up to 90% of solar products. Heavy reliance on exports exposes vulnerabilities in the solar industry in China. Due to the plunging prices of solar panels in the international market from cheap Chinese exports, many countries have put up tariffs to protect their own domestic market. In 2012, the US International Trade Commission introduced an anti-dumping and anti-subsidies charges ranging from 23.75% to more than 250% on Chinese solar panels. And the EU Trade Commission launched an investigation the same period into unfair Chinese subsidies which resulted in a minimum price for Chinese solar prices.
Such rapid and unregulated expansion of the solar industry meant that supply had far out-stripped demand. Many firms are running far below their manufacturing capacity or are operating at a loss. In 2010, Chinese polysilicon producers were running at only 56% capacity. The industry average utilization capacity dropped from 70% in 2007 to 60% in 2011.
Inefficiencies in the country’s power grids have also marred China’s solar industry. In 2011, faulty connections to the country’s power grid resulted in an estimated loss of 25% of the newly installed solar power capacity because plants cannot maintain a grid connection. Another reason for inefficiencies in the grid is geographical. The area which has the greatest sun exposure and greatest capacity is limited to the western parts of China, mostly in the rural Xinjiang, away from the eastern coastal areas where there is the greatest power demand. The need to transport power over vast distances also creates inefficiencies in the system.
Dongtan
Dongtan was a concept eco-city that was planned to be built on the island of Chongming near the city of Shanghai. In 2005 Shanghai Industrial Investment Company (SIIC) commissioned Arup, the British engineering consultancy firm, to design and plan an eco-city on the island on Chongming. It was a zero-carbon city that would self-sustainable based on a spectrum of renewable and clean energy such as wind farms, solar power and rice husk power plant. Power needs are minimized through the use of zero-energy concept buildings whereby the buildings have an annual net zero energy consumption and zero carbon emissions. Its water needs are completely self-sustaining through a waste water recycling system. It is proposed to house 500,000 residents by its completion.
One novel approach that Arup proposed as a form of sustainable energy is the rice husk power plant. Rice has been a traditional staple food in Asia. In 2007, China consumed over 100 million tons of rice. In the meantime, 25 million tons of rice husk, which accounts for 20% of the rice, was disposed. A novel concept, first developed in India and then widely adopted in Thailand, propose to tap into this potentially vast source of energy. Not only will the city be tapping into otherwise wasted resource, the carbon footprint as the result from rice husk fueled plants is far smaller than traditional fossil fuel based generators. The impact of global warming potential of rice husk energy (17.16 kg CO2- eq/MWh) is far less than the combined value of fossil fuels plants (734.37 kg CO2-eq/MWh) because CO2 from biomass is considered as greenhouse gas neutral. In view of all the potential benefits of installing such a plant in China, it considered an innovative and environmentally friendly source of energy.
Progress
To the disappointment of many hopeful of a completely self-sustaining city, Dongtan has made very little progress beyond the planning stage. When the concept for an eco-city in China was first introduced, a lot of media hype was garnered. Dongtan was seen as the poster child for sustainable cities, a blueprint for future cities and China’s determination in moving towards a sustainable future. It was also the collaboration between two nations. The contract for Dongtan was signed by the then-prime minister of Britain, Tony Blair, and the then-president of China Hu Jin Tao.
Arup completed the master plan for Dongtan in 2007 and yet 6 years later actual construction has yet to begin. The preparation for construction was completed years ago. Even before the master plan was introduced, vast tract of land (8400 hectares) of land has already been cleared, and its local populace relocated, in anticipation for the construction of the eco-city. A $1.8B bridge and tunnel system linking the island to the mainland was constructed and yet under-utilized.