International news


China begins clean industrial revolution to power new economy


The Chinese government’s decision to put a ‘clean industrial revolution’ at the heart of the nation’s 12th five year plan (FYP) will deliver real carbon savings that will curb national emissions, unlock new investment opportunities and ensure that China is seen to be pulling its weight on international climate change targets. This is according to a report from The


Climate Group commissioned by the HSBC Climate Change Centre of Excellence, which was published as China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) met to finalise agreements on the government’s econom- ic roadmap to 2016. The report, Delivering low carbon


growth –a guide to the 12th five year plan, shows how the country’s new nation- al development strategy will combine ambitious growth targets –including a7% GDP annual growth goal –with a need to rapidly decarbonise its coal-based econo- my. The country is now the world’s second biggest economy and biggest greenhouse gas emitter. For the first time in a FYP, China has set a


national carbon intensity reduction target of 17% and intends to cut energy intensity by


16% by 2015. The FYP will also boost invest- ment for strategic new industry sectors vital to national competitiveness and sustainabil- ity, paving the way for a more efficient economy and creating higher value indus- tries in alternative energy, low carbon transport and energy efficient products, says The Climate Group. The report concludes that, although real challenges remain, the pace of deployment of low carbon energy compares favourably with International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2010 scenario for stabilising atmospheric concentrations of carbon diox- ide at 450 parts per million by 2100. The authors state that this suggests that China is ‘pulling its weight’ relative to international expectations in this regard. Mark Kenber, CEO of The Climate Group


said: ‘It is hugely symbolic that China is put- ting green growth at the core of its national development plan and should be a wake-up call to Europe and North America policy- makers that a clean tech race is well under way.’


The report finds that:  China’s low carbon energy plans will start to bend the nation’s carbon


2010 a record year for PV


In 2010, solar photovoltaic power was the leading renewable energy technology in terms of new capacity growth by almost 13 GW in Europe, according to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA). The energy output of new PV installations in Europe now corresponds to the electric- ity production of two large coal-fired power plants. At the end of 2010, the cumulative


installed capacity of PV in the EU amount- ed to more than 28 GW, with an energy output that equals the electricity consump- tion of around 10mn households in Europe. ‘Decreasing cost, new applications,


strong investor interest and continued political support have contributed to this development, making PV the number one green technology in terms of capacity addition in Europe,’ said Ingmar Wilhelm, EPIA President. For the second year in a row, Germany


has been the global PV market leader, adding over 6.5GWof new installations to its already existing 9.8 GW of PV systems. For the first time, the yearly installations in Italy and Czech Republic surpassed 1 GW. These countries were followed by Belgium, France and Spain, all of which saw very sig- nificant volume increases in 2010. According to the latest EPIA estimates,


over 3 GW of new PV installations were outside Europe in 2010. The main contrib- utors come from Japan, where almost 1 GWwere installed, followed by the US and China. The data also show that, despite the huge PV potential, especially in the ‘Sunbelt’ countries, lack of political support still hampers the growth of these markets. The EPIA and Greenpeace International


have also jointly produced a study which predicts that global investments in PV tech- nology could double from €35–40bn to over €70bn in 2015. The study estimates that


Ireland’s first geothermal plant


Planning permission has been granted for the development and operation of the first geothermal electricity generation plant in Ireland. SLR Consultung, working on behalf of Newcastle Energy, obtained the permission, scoping, preparing and submitting the plan-


Energy World April 2011


ning application alongsideanenvironmental impact statement. Planning permission was granted by South Dublin County Council. Based at Greenogue Business Park,


Rathcoole, CountyDublin, the development will consist of the initial drilling of two wells to an approximate depth of 4,000 metres.


The wells will be used for the extraction


and reinjection of natural hot geothermal water. The heat from the water will then be used to operateageothermal electricity gen- eration plant that will generate up to 4.5 MWof electricity, which will be fed into the national grid.


5 emissions growth curve;


 the country’s approach to managing energy is becoming more market-ori- ented;


 the 12th FYP sets out aggressive growth plans for strategic emerging industries, including electric vehicles, next generation information tech- nology, energy efficient products and renewable energy;


 strong pressure will be maintained on energy-intensive, industrial sources of carbon;


 significant barriers to success still remain. Despite ongoing efforts to modernise energy-intensive activi- ties, growth in coal generating capacity will continue to outstrip aggressive alternative energy roll- out plans, and real capacity issues remain in government at the local level; and


 China’s low carbon sector will gradu- ally open up for foreign owned enterprises, but competition is inten- sifying.


Visitwww.climategroup.org to access the report.


investments in the EU alone would rise from today’s €25–30bn to over €35bn in 2015. The report on the global PV market out-


look, Solar Generation 6, foresees that PV could account for 12% of European power demand by 2020, and up to9%of the glob- al power demand by 2030. PV prices have dropped some 40% since 2005 and by 2015 the cost of PV systems is expected to drop by an additional 40% compared to current lev- els. As a result, PV systems will be able to compete with electricity prices for house- holds in many countries of the EU within the next five years, says the report. Current global solar PV capacity could


grow fromover 36GWat the end of 2010 to close to180GWby 2015. EuropeanPV capac- ity is expected to increase from over 28 GW in 2010 to nearly 100 GW by 2015, and has the potential to reach up to 350 GW on a global basis by 2020, according to the report. For more information on the


2010 European PV market, or on the market outlook for PV, visit www.epia.org/publications


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32