Ocean Renewable Energy in China – Challenge and Opportunity
2010 is the last year of China’s 11th Five-year Plan. The targeted goal of the plan has been comfortably reached. It is possible that the long-term goal set in the Medium and Long-term Development Plan for Renewable Energy could also be reached, or even exceeded. At the third China Environmental Investment Conference, which was held from 25th to 26th April, 2010, some experts revealed that the national departments of energy were discussing amending the renewable energy development plan, with the 2020 target proportion of renewable energy in total energy consumption expected to be raised to 17% from 15%.
It should be noted that a large proportion of China’s current renewable energy comes from hydroelectricity and nuclear power, and the impact on the environment caused by these two sources of energy needs re-evaluation. Because of the impact on the environment and ecosystem caused by dam construction, and safety and disposal of nuclear waste, neither hydropower nor nuclear power are regarded as truly renewable sources. The Chinese Government is more and more cautious about the development of these two kinds of energy, so it is necessary for the Government to strive to develop alternative kinds of renewable energy to nuclear power and hydroelectricity. In the period of the 11th Five-year Plan, wind energy and solar energy account for an increasing percentage in the energy structure of China.
Power consumption on the southeast coast of China is much higher than the other areas due to its developed economy and large population density, but the reserves of wind energy and solar energy in
China are mainly located in the western and northern areas of China. In terms of the distribution of energy resources, although wind energy and solar energy could raise the proportion of renewable energy in China’s overall energy production, they could do little to help solve the power shortage of Southeast China.
In order to continuously increase the proportion of renewable energy in the whole energy mix and achieve the targeted goal, China must strengthen efforts to develop and utilise other kinds of renewable energy as well as wind energy and solar energy. Liu Qi, deputy director of the National Energy Administration (NEA), revealed at the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on 8th March, 2010, that the NEA is working on a new energy development plan, adjusting the medium and long-term development planning for nuclear energy, making great endeavours to adjust the energy structure and speed up the development of renewable and nuclear energy, especially the rising sectors of energy such as solar energy, biomass energy, geothermal energy, ocean energy, tidal energy, etc.
Developing Ocean Renewable Energy – A Necessary and Rational Choice
Energy shortage has been the bottleneck that restricts the sustained rapid development of the coastal regions of China. According to statistics, the coastal provinces create 70% of China’s gross domestic product (GDP) with a proportion of energy resources less than 20%. The total energy production of coastal provinces and cities is about 25% of the whole country, but the total consumption has a
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