New energy production and use leading world

China leads the world in the production and use of wind turbines, solar photovoltaic power systems and smart grid technologies.

Due to the burning of coal, it is recognized throughout the world that China has become the largest electricity producer. But compared to fossil fuels and nuclear energy, Nature magazine’s special author recently pointed out that China’s renewable energy systems have developed faster. China leads the world in the production and use of wind turbines, solar photovoltaic power systems, and smart grid technologies. The generated water, wind, and solar energy are equivalent to the combined production capacity of French and German power plants. Since 2005, the production of solar cells in China has been expanded by 100 times.

The article points out that with the increase in the size of China's manufacturing industry, the cost of renewable energy equipment has dropped significantly. Innovation has played an important role. However, the main reason for the cost reduction is the expansion of the market. Germany and South Korea are also taking a similar path. In summary: Industrialization can go hand in hand with decarbonization.

Many countries have not noticed this yet. The United States and the European Union are implementing counterproductive policies, such as increasing tariffs on imported solar photovoltaic panels in China. Restricting global trade in renewable equipment will only slow down the cost reduction and reduce the rate at which the world abandons fossil fuels.

As a result, the global renewable energy utilization rate has been stalled, which has had a negative impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and coping with climate change. Over the past 15 years, due to the vested interests of the fossil fuel industry and the concern that alternatives are expensive, many countries have failed to meet their emission reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.

The awareness of renewable energy needs to change. "Nature" believes that in China, renewable energy is regarded as a source of energy security, not just reducing carbon emissions. Today's discussion on energy security is almost exclusively focused on the continued use of fossil fuels. Unlike oil, coal, and natural gas (whose supply is limited and subject to geopolitical conditions), renewable energy equipment can be built anywhere as long as there is enough water, wind, and sunlight.

Green Growth With the increase in the scale of manufacturing and the use of renewable energy, market forces will make them more accessible, more affordable and more efficient. Therefore, energy policy should focus on promoting competition in manufacturing, trade, and low-carbon technologies, rather than supporting more expensive, dangerous, and hard-to-access fossil fuels.

"Nature" pointed out that China produces more than 5 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, which is about 1 trillion kwh more than the United States. Since joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, the rapid development of the Chinese economy has been based on fossil fuels: China consumes approximately 23% of the world's coal production for power generation. However, only fossil fuels cannot support China's rapid industrial growth.

According to the "Nature" data, China has been pursuing a low-carbon energy strategy since the 21st century. From 2008 to 2012, investment in hydro, wind, solar and nuclear power generation facilities increased by 40% - from 138 billion yuan (about 22 billion US dollars) to 200 billion yuan. At the same time, the proportion of investment in fossil fuel power facilities fell from 50% to 25% during the same period.

As a result, China’s wind power capacity has increased five-fold in the past four years. In 2013, for the first time, the power generation capacity of hydropower, wind power and solar energy exceeded the power generation capacity of fossil fuels and nuclear facilities. In China, zero-carbon energy contributes 9.6% of production capacity, an increase of 5.6% over 2000. This is a considerable achievement.

In 2013, China achieved its established goal two years ahead of schedule - 30% of its electricity comes from renewable energy sources. The Chinese government hopes that the production capacity of renewable energy will reach 550 gigawatts (GW) in 2017, or 48% compared with the level in 2013. No other country has invested so much in renewable energy.

Economies of scale, "Nature," pointed out that China is upgrading its power grid to prevent power supply instability. In a demonstration project, the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) invested RMB 9.4 billion to integrate wind energy and solar photovoltaic power generation and storage equipment into the main grid. The SGCC is developing international product standards for smart grid elements to support the export of these technologies to other countries, such as Brazil.

How can China's energy security be improved? In 1993, China became a net oil importer. In 2007, it became a net natural gas importer. In 2011, it became a net importer of coal. If China meets its goal of achieving wind, hydro, and solar power in 2017, China will save at least 45% of the current costs of importing oil, coal, and natural gas.

"Nature" believes that China has two key successes in the renewable energy field: First, centralized policy-driven investment, such as power grid repurchasing; Second, with the expansion of the global market, industrial dynamics reduce unit costs, such as By learning to gain economies of scale and efficiency.

Renewable energy power generation requires the manufacture of many components such as wind turbines, solar photovoltaic panels, batteries, energy storage systems, and the like. From 2010 to 2013, the global PV installation capacity has more than tripled - from 40GW to 140GW, China's installed PV capacity has increased 22-fold from 0.8GW to 18GW. Since 2008, the supply of international markets and the domestic market has helped reduce the cost of solar photovoltaic panels by about 80%. Global solar users all benefit from their lower prices.

Some other countries also adopt similar strategies. South Korea is committed to the "green growth" path - expanding smart grid coverage and focusing on emerging clean energy production, such as zero-emission vehicles. Since the beginning of the 21st century, according to the Energiewende energy transformation project, Germany has been expanding the use and construction of solar and wind energy with the goal of replacing nuclear power with renewable energy.

The same principle applies to the industrial production of the United States, which also created a U.S. position in the auto manufacturing industry a century ago. From 1909 to 1916, Henry Ford reduced the cost of the Ford Model T by approximately 62% - from $950 to $360. Every year, sales are doubled – from less than $6,000 in 1908 to more than $800,000 in 1917.

The U.S. energy policy emphasizes the development of domestic CBM and shale oil by innovative means such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. However, there have been problems of diminishing returns and high environmental costs of fossil fuels. The United Kingdom also tends to use hydraulic fracturing to build coal seam supplies and expand nuclear reactors to learn about the technologies of other countries.

Changing Thinking From the point of view of energy security, reconstructing the debate on emissions has a profound impact on the international negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In December, representatives of various countries will gather in Lima, Peru to prepare for the 2015 Paris conference. The agenda mainly includes voluntary reduction of carbon emissions by countries through consultation, rather than promoting the renewable energy industry (the fastest decarbonization route).

However, the government that has established a strong renewable energy sector can achieve these emission reduction targets while strengthening energy security and establishing manufacturing. Another advantage of market-oriented instruments is that some critics point out that technology-based solutions will bring problems such as availability of industrial raw materials and sites for the construction of solar and wind energy equipment. However, calculations show that on the basis of the existing industrial scale, an additional 10 TW of power generation capacity can be produced using the existing global renewable energy in the next 20 years. By that time, the global energy system may undergo a tremendous transformation. The use of renewable energy to generate an additional 10 TW of electricity needs to change the global power situation – this requires the installation of about 3 million wind turbines and 14,000 concentrated solar power on over 5 million square kilometers of land (which is twice the size of Kazakhstan) Power generation facilities. These technologies may be set in the desert and semi-desert regions of the world. Despite its ambitious goals, it is actionable—for example, the world’s annual mobile phone production is about 175 million units, and the car’s production is about 84 million vehicles.