China has surpassed other countries to become the lead producer of wind turbines and solar panels, and is poised to move into the lead on nuclear energy and “energy-efficient” coal power plants, writes The New York Times. According to the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Assocation, renewable energy jobs in China now reach 1.12 million, up 100,000 per year.
According to The New York Times, multinational corporations are now moving their clean energy product factories to China. Denmark’s Vestas just built the ”world’s biggest wind turbine manufacturing complex here in northeastern China, and transferred the technology to build the latest electronic controls and generators.” The low-cost of Chinese labor is a primary driver: Vestas will pay its assembly line workers $4,100 per year.
Currently, renewable energy accounts for four percent of total energy in the U.S. and China. China is aiming for 8 percent of its energy to be renewable by 2020. U.S. President Obama recently called for the U.S. to increase the share of renewable energy in total energy production, as well as a 28 percent reduction in government-generated CO2 emissions by 2020, which is expected to increase domestic demand for renewable energy. Government agencies will be asked to put their enormous buying power towards renewable energy.
However, a recent estimate from Black & Veatch, an engineering and energy consultancy, argues that the U.S. energy mix will largely remain the same in the near future unless there are significant regulatory changes at the federal and state levels and new investments in a national smart grid. “The outlook for renewable energy is cloudy over all. Much depends on green energy targets set by the states – or possibly by the federal government – and resolving technological and infrastructure issues, including building transmission lines to carry wind and solar energy from remote locations to population centers.” In the new budget, Obama calls for an end to fossil fuel subsidies, which cost $40 billion per year, new subsidies for renewable energy, as well as investments in the smart grid.
As Thomas Friedman recently noted in an op-ed, in the future, the world may soon be importing its renewable energy products from China instead of oil from the Middle East unless local manufacturers become more competitive. Andrew Brandler, the C.E.O. of the CLP Group, Hong Kong’s largest power utility, told Friedman: ”By the end of this decade, China will be dominating global production of the whole range of power equipment.”
Also, check out the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)’s “In My Backyard (IMBY)”, a new site appraisal tool which enables homeowners and businesses to calculate the amout of renewable energy that can be produced through either a solar photovoltaic (PV) array or wind turbine on any given site. According to NREL, “IMBY uses a map-based interface to allow you to choose the exact location of your PV array or wind turbine. Based on your location, system size, and other variables, IMBY estimates the electricity production you can expect from your system.” FreshKills Park blog adds that IMBY will also calculate the cost. “For solar energy, this includes the initial cost of the system, amount of cash incentives expected and the approximate number of payback years.”
Image credit: Center for American Progress
