China Targets 70 Gigawatts of Solar Power to Cut Coal Reliance

[bananas]

Source: Bloomberg

China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, plans to speed up solar power development, targeting a more than tripling of installed capacity to 70 gigawatts by 2017 to cut its reliance on coal.

The goal would be double a previous target set for 2015, according to a statement posted today on the National Development and Reform Commission’s website. China also plans to have 150 gigawatts of installed wind power capacity by 2017, 11 gigawatts of biomass power and 330 gigawatts of hydro power.

The plans come as the nation strives to get 13 percent of the energy it consumes from non-fossil fuels. Deadly pollution has forced the government to declare war on smog.

“This suggests the trend that China will develop alternative energy is stable,” Wang Xiaoting, a Hong Kong-based analyst from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said today by phone. “The new solar target set for 2017 will be easily attained if China keeps the current development pace.”

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Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-16/china-targets-70-gigawatts-of-solar-power-to-cut-coal-reliance.html

[bananas]

1. In Latest Step In Its 'War On Smog' Effort, China Says It Will Triple Solar Capacity By 2017

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/16/3438810/china-solar-goals/

In Latest Step In Its ‘War On Smog’ Effort, China Says It Will Triple Solar Capacity By 2017

By Emily Atkin May 16, 2014 at 3:34 pm

As part of its notorious “war on smog” and effort to cut its reliance on coal, the Chinese government on Friday announced that it would speed up solar power development in the country by tripling installed capacity to 70 gigawatts by 2017, a report in Bloomberg said.

<snip>

The announcement comes just two months after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s officially “declared war” on the country’s horrific and tragic smog problem, which scientists in Beijing have compared to the effects of a nuclear winter. The pollution has made headlines around the world as it has worsened, causing myriad health problems, marring cityscapes, and even giving an 8-year-old girl lung cancer. What’s more, the pollution has recently been confirmed to be caused by fossil fuel production, with coal at the forefront.

China’s announcement that it would increase solar capacity also comes just days after a report found that China’s continued dependence on coal would thwart any effort to fight global warming by any other country. That report, led by the U.K.’s Center for Climate Change Economics and Policy and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, recommended China swiftly reduce its dependency on the fossil fuel, otherwise it would be “almost impossible” for the world to avoid a situation where global warming stays below 2°C.

“The actions China takes in the next decade will be critical for the future of China and the world,” the study said. “Whether China moves onto an innovative, sustainable and low-carbon growth path this decade will more or less determine both China’s longer-term economic prospects in a natural resource-constrained world, … and the world’s prospects of cutting greenhouse gas emissions sufficiently to manage the grave risks of climate change.”

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[warrior1]

2. Great

[tomm2thumbs]

3. now if only the sun could reach those panels.....

ahem... <hack hack>

[tofuandbeer]

7. eeeeek!

[daleo]

10. It is a good thing they are making efforts to move away from coal

A friend and his wife were in Beijing a few years ago for several months. They said it could get very bad when there was an inversion.

[davidpdx]

18. They really need it too

It doesn't just affect China, it affects the whole East Asia area. We get the pollution crap from China from time to time and it is bad. I usually wear a mask. You really don't want to breathe that stuff.

[gtar100]

4. This is good news. Maybe *they* will take environmental concerns seriously since they basically

ignored them for so long and are now paying the consequences.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

5. Yes, and hopefully others wiill learn from their mistake.

We are making some progress here. It would be nice to see a much stronger push for green energy in America. Especially since the problems are far greater than pollution in the areas where fossil fuels are used.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. US is losing markets and falling behind. Insane laws make you pay to use own solar. nt

[Uncle Joe]

8. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, bananas.

[Auggie]

9. Where's our target?

[grahamhgreen]

11. Obama is an idiot for supporting nuclear power in GA. Period.

[Overseas]

12. K&R. Yes please!

[awoke_in_2003]

13. While we sit back...

and watch the rest of the world leave us in the dust.

[aggiesal]

14. U.S. is going to be the last developed country ...

with a comprehensive energy policy other then carbon based energy.

We're such losers!

[jtuck004]

15. Their housing market is getting soft, so they, unlke us, invest in the people and jobs and tech

instead of bank$ters.

Wonder who will win?

[mindwalker_i]

16. The funny thing is that, as they build more wind farms

and cut down on coal plants, their air will get cleaner and solar will become more attractive.

[freshwest]

17. Great news for them and the world. Thanks, bananas.

[tclambert]

19. How can the Chinese get away with this? Don't they fear the wrath of the Koch brothers?

Surely the billionaires of the fossil fuel industries will try to buy Chinese politicians just like they do here. Doesn't the Chinese Supreme Court recognize money as free speech?

[fujiyama]

20. Meanwhile in the US...

Oklahoma is looking for ways to punish users of solar energy, and one of the major issues in the Kentucky Senate election is whether Allison is waging a "war on coal". American politicians may the stupidest of all those in developed countries. And our status of being a "developed" country is further diminishing by neglecting our infrastructure.