CHINA:

A booming market for renewable energy investments

   September 26, 2014

   It's the most pollutant country in the world but at the same time, the state with the highest investments in renewable energy. Higher than those of the United States – the strongest economy in the world. We're talking about China, now the world's second largest economy, which is listed as the favorite to get the first place in this ranking over just 10 years.

   In 2013, for the second consecutive year, China has led in the top specialists drafted for investments in green energy sources. Last year, authorities in Beijing have invested 54 billion dollars in renewable energy, while the United States has allocated only 36.7 billion dollars. Analysts are categorical: the pace of investment in this sector in China will continue in the coming years so that the Asian country is an interesting market for those who want to invest in green energy.

   According to international reports, spending made by China in this area represents 61% of the total investments in all developed countries, and Beijing has funded the sector with higher amounts of money than all European countries combined did.

   Investments in renewable energy in China are part of a comprehensive development plan, which provides spending 473 billion dollars by 2015 for green energy. The stated goal of Beijing officials is to have 20% of the energy consumption demand covered from renewable resources. And that by 2020.

   And on the ground, things are seriously put into practice. Last year, China got 14 GW of energy from wind turbines and 12 GW from solar systems. In comparison, the United States had only 1 GW of energy from wind and 4.3 GW from solar energy.

   For China, the main form of renewable energy is aeolian, which is the most rapidly developed technology from those available. Although more expensive than energy produced by burning coal, the authorities have promoted this form of green energy over the last 10 years, encouraging factories to use it, by offering a price adjustment and by requiring companies to get a share of their energetic consumption from wind power or other forms of renewable energy. We must not forget that in China there are already 50 factories producing wind turbines, and in addition to them there is a significant number of foreign investors, sign that this sector is growing.

   Using solar energy is still at the beginning in China, but is steadily growing, especially in some rural areas. However, there isn't an extensive network of photo-voltaic systems yet, because of maintenance and production costs, although China is the third largest producer of solar panels, after Japan and Germany, and investment in this sector is increasing. Moreover, China is the world's largest market for water heated by solar energy, with two-thirds of the global capacity. According to statistics, 10% of Chinese households use water heated by the sun's power, which means about 40 million of such systems nationwide.

   Other sources of renewable energy used by China are biomass and biofuels, but they enjoy less attention from the authorities. The biogas, on the other hand, is increasingly used as a power source.

   welinkbusiness:     The biggest polluting country in the world, China, can quickly become a "green" country, with an economy based on strong, clean, renewable energy sources.

   (S.N.)