08-11-05
Chinese President Hu Jintao and US and European
officials called for a sharp rise in the world's use of solar and other
non-polluting power sources as they opened an international meeting on renewable
energy.
Some 1,200 delegates from 80 countries joined Chinese leaders at the Great Hall
of the People, the seat of China's legislature in central Beijing, to discuss
using solar power, wind energy and hydropower instead of coal and oil.
"Strengthening the development and use of renewable energies is a must for us
to address the increasingly serious energy and environmental issues," Hu said in
a statement that was read to the conference by Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan.
Participants in the conference included European Cabinet ministers and US Energy
Department officials.
China, the world's second-biggest producer of greenhouse gases after the United
States, has promoted cleaner and renewable energy in hopes of reducing air
pollution from its surging fossil fuel use and the potential security risks of
growing dependence on imported oil. The government says China relies on
renewable energy for 7 % of its needs but wants to raise that to 15 % by 2020.
"With this Beijing conference, one of the world's boom regions is sending an
important signal for sustainable development worldwide and a signal for global
climate protection," said Jurgen Trittin, Germany's environment minister.
Worldwide, hydroelectric dams and other renewable sources account for 4 % of
power generation, with a total generating capacity of 160 GW, according to
Trittin. A TerraWatt is 1,000 GigaWatt.
By 2050, that generating capacity is expected to grow by more than eight
times to 1 TerraWatt, said Dan Arvizu, director of the US Energy Department's
National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
"But what we need is 20 TerraWatt," Arvizu said in a speech at the two-day
conference. "We all need to do much more than any of us is currently doing."
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a statement read out at the conference,
cited the potential economic benefits of renewable energy for poorer countries.
"Oil price increases which hit importing developing countries especially hard
highlight the need for alternate energy supplies," Annan's statement said.
China is trying to promote cleaner energy even as it constructs dozens of new
power plants to meet the demands of a booming economy that is expected to grow
by 9 % this year. Areas throughout China suffer from chronic power shortages,
prompting many cities to schedule blackouts in summer to reduce the strain on
their generating stations.
"China attaches great importance to... renewable energy and takes it as one of
the most important instruments for promoting social and economic development,"
Hu's statement said.
The government says it plans to build 31 nuclear power plants by 2020 and is
constructing clusters of windmills off several areas of its east coast. In
China, oil and inexpensive but dirty coal still account for most energy
consumption.
"It is a pressing need for China's electricity sector to use renewable energy,"
said Zhou Dabing, president of China Guodian Corp., a government-owned power
company. "Compared to developed nations, we are lagging behind in terms of
technical progress and our speed of progress," Zhou said.
Arvizu called China's target of obtaining 15 % of its power from renewable
sources by 2020 "pretty aggressive."
But he said Beijing should consider setting an even higher target.
Source: Associated Press