Chinese President
Calls Renewable Energy 'A Must' To Battle Pollution, Energy Shortages
November 08, 2005 — By Alexa Olesen, Associated Press
BEIJING — Chinese President Hu Jintao
and U.S. and European officials called Monday for a sharp rise in the
world's use of solar and other nonpolluting 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
U.S. 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 percent of
its needs but wants to raise that to 15 percent 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
percent of power generation, with a total generating capacity of 160
gigawatts, according to Trittin. A terawatt is 1,000 gigawatts.
By 2050, that generating capacity is expected to grow by more than eight
times to 1 terawatt, said Dan Arvizu, director of the U.S. Energy
Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
"But what we need is 20 terawatts," Arvizu said in a speech at the
two-day conference. "We all need to do much more than any of us is
currently doing."
U.N. 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 percent 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 percent of its power from
renewable sources by 2020 "pretty aggressive." But he said Beijing
should consider setting an even higher target.
Source: Associated Press
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