China's wind power capacity to increase five-fold by 2020 Beijing (AFP) Oct 13, 2010 China's wind power capacity will increase more than five-fold over the next decade from 2009, a report forecast Wednesday, as the country steps up its drive to develop clean energy. Total installed wind power capacity will reach at least 150 gigawatts by 2020 compared with 25.8 gigawatts at the end of 2009, according to the China Wind Power Outlook 2010 report. A more ambitious forecast by the publishers of the report -- Greenpeace, the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA) and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) -- is 230 gigawatts over the next 10 years. That would be equal to 13 times the capacity of the Three Gorges Dam and could cut 410 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, or 150 million tonnes of coal consumption, said Yang Ailun of Greenpeace China. In a more optimistic forecast, GWEC itself predicts China's wind power capacity could reach 253 gigawatts by 2020. "China is at a crossroads," said Yang, head of the Climate and Energy Team of Greenpeace. "It can choose between the dirty, dangerous world of coal and fossil fuels, or the new, clean future promised by wind. The answer is obvious." China now depends on coal for nearly 70 percent of its energy consumption. Experts see the growth of the wind power industry in China as a bright spot in the country's efforts to curb growth in its world-leading greenhouse gas emissions. China, which ranked second in the world in installed wind generating capacity in 2009, pledged last year to slow the growth in those emissions by reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 40-45 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. That is essentially a vow of greater energy efficiency that would likely, however, see emissions continue to increase. Officials have so far rejected suggestions that Beijing commit to emissions cuts and outside verification.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Wind Energy News at Wind Daily
Findings About Wind Farms Could Expand Their Use Champaign IL (SPX) Oct 13, 2010 Wind power is likely to play a large role in the future of sustainable, clean energy, but wide-scale adoption has remained elusive. Now, researchers have found wind farms' effects on local temperatures and proposed strategies for mediating those effects, increasing the potential to expand wind farms to a utility-scale energy resource. Led by University of Illinois professor of atmospheric ... read more |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |