BP’s 60th annual Statistical Review of World Energy, released in June, showed China as the largest consumer of energy in 2010. Last year the country consumed 20.3% of the world’s total energy use, overtaking the energy consumption in the United States. The Chinese economy is growing quickly, with a growth of 9.7% in the first quarter of 2011. The country is building and developing while a lot of the world, hit by recession, is biding its time. Not surprising then that Chinese energy consumption grew by 11.2%, but perhaps slightly worrying.
Can a country growing at this rate avoid having a detrimental effect on the environment?
The answer is probably not. Most energy production will be associated with some negative environmental consequence. Perhaps a better question is will China be able to continue to grow and ensure that the energy the country consumes is produced in an environmental fashion? Will providing for the large increase in energy consumption overshadow the need to also make the energy consumed ‘green’?
Here the question looks likely to have a more positive answer.
In Ernst & Young’s latest Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index, China is leading. The Index provides scores for national renewable energy markets and renewable energy infrastructure. This year China climbed to its highest ever score, helped by The National People’s Congress voting through the 12th Five Year Plan (FYP) 2011 – 2015 for National Economic and Social Development, which has been celebrated as the greenest in China’s history. A third of the FYP targets relate to environmental issues, including an increase in the proportion of primary energy generated by non–fossil fuels to 11.3% by 2015, from the current 8.3%. China also overtook the US at the end of 2010 to become the world leader in wind power installations and has pledged to increase investment in solar thermal power.
How China handles energy production and use at this time is crucial. As the world’s largest consumer of energy, a whole different future for climate change looms between the country getting it right and getting it wrong.
Rebecca has an MEng in Architecture and Environmental Design and is currently on an internship at Corporate Citizenship.
Energy -related carbon dioxide emissions were the highest ever in 2010
According to the latest estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA) carbon dioxide emissions relating to energy were the highest in history in 2010. Emissions are now estimated to have reached 30.6 Gigatonnes, which is 5% higher than the previous record year in 2008, where emission levels reached 29.3 Giggatonnes. At the UN global climate talks in Cancun in 2010, global leaders agreed to target limiting temperature increase to 2°C by 2020. For this to be achieved, global energy-related emissions in 2020 must not be greater than 32 Gt, meaning that over the next ten years, emissions must rise less in total than they did between 2009 and 2010.
New feed-in tariff levels for large scale solar projects announced
On the 9th June 2011 the Government confirmed that they will cut subsidiaries for large scale global solar projects. The new tariffs for all stand alone solar and anaerobic digestion projects will start from the 1st August for all new installations, causing outrage with some solar campaigners. Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said “We have carefully considered the evidence that has been presented as part of the consultation and this has reinforced my conviction of the need to make changes as a matter of urgency. Without action the scheme would be overwhelmed.” Installations between 50 kW and 150kW will now get 19p per kilowatt-hour, down from 32.9p, and bigger installations will have their subsidies more than halved.
Renewable study published by Arup and the Department of Energy and Climate Change
The study undertaken by Arup and published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change projects costs and deployment potential for different renewable electrical technologies, at with different limitations, up to 2030. It aims to provide data that will support a consultation this summer on support levels for a range of renewable energy technologies for the period 2013 – 2017 under the Renewables Obligation. Charles Hendry, Minister of State for Energy said: “This study provides a detailed picture of generation costs and deployment potential for a wide range of technologies to inform our work in this area.”
Ashden award winners for sustainable energy announced
The Ashden Awards aim to celebrate sustainable energy solutions in the UK and developing world and increase their use. This years winners were announced at a ceremony in London addressed by Greg Barker the UK Government Winner for Climate Change. The four international winners are awarded £120,000 prize money to be spent on expanding their work across the globe and runners-up were awarded £6000 in cash prizes. This year’s four international winners included Husk Power Systems (HPS) an India-based rural electrification company, which generates electricity through the gasification of rice husk and Toyola Energy Ltd. from Ghana which makes efficient charcoal stoves accessible to low-income families.
Over 2010 China became the world’s largest energy consumer, over taking the USA according to figures from the annual BP Statistical Review of World Energy. Chinese energy consumption grew by 11.2% however globally, energy consumption grew more rapidly than the economy. Demands for all forms of energy grew in 2010. BP Chief Executive, Bob Dudley, put the increase down to structural and cyclical factors stating “The cyclical factor is reflected in the fact that industrial production rebounded very sharply as the world recovered from the global downturn. Structurally, the increase reflects the continuing rapid economic growth in the developing world.”
Over 70 companies have signed the Joint Business Declaration which urges the European Union to reduce its carbon dioxide levels by 30% by 2020. The joint business declaration was organised through the cooperation of The Climate Group, The Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership and WWF/WWF Climate Savers. The 72 companies that have signed the declaration so far want the EU to adopt a 30% emissions reduction target by 2020 below 1990 levels, preserving the European Union’s competitiveness, and building a low-carbon economy. Together, the signatories of the call account for more than 3.8 million employees with an annual turnover of more than €1 trillion. Businesses supporting the declaration so far include; Allianz, Centrica, The Coca-Cola Company, Google, H&M, IKEA and Marks and Spencer.
Small gas and electricity suppliers will benefit from new policy
Firms with 250,000 customers of less will be exempt from participating in two government programmes the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) and the Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP). The new policy follows a consultation originally considering the guidelines for a threshold of 100,000 customers. The government decided that participating in these schemes was placing too much of a burden on small suppliers, giving an advantage to their larger competitors. It is hoped that the new policy will allow small companies to expand and new players to enter the market, encouraging customers to move form the six big companies currently used by 99% of people for gas and electricity supplies.
New research by Sandbag Climate Campaign has shown that big polluting companies are set to make 5.6 billion euros from Europe’s Emissions Trading Scheme. The study, Carbon Fat Cats 2011, reveals the top ten companies that are profiting from this scheme, all of whom are steel or cement companies and all of whom are major members of trade associations lobbying to prevent the system from being reformed. AcelorMittal, Lafarge and Tata Steel are included in this list. Between all ten, the companies own surplus carbon permits of 240 million tonnes which could grow to a value of over 5.6 billion Euros by the end of 2012. The oversupply in permits threatens to damage the Emissions Trading Scheme, which puts a price on carbon emissions and aims to increase investment in low-carbon technology.
The Climate Change Committee has agreed to back proposals by the European Union that will improve the security of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). As a result of the fraud with emission allowances earlier in 2011, the security of the registries has become a main concern of the Commission. The new proposals, which include strengthened know-your-customer checks and a trusted account list, will bring the security of the future Single Register in line with measures used by the financial sector. Authorities will also be able to act more quickly in the case of fraud and the market will be less disrupted if fraud did occur.
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