Renewable energy got a big boost this week when China raised its target from 10-15% by 2020 for the amount the field will contribute to national energy consumption.
Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan made the announcement at an international conference on renewable energy, the Beijing International Renewable Energy Conference.
The largest proportion of “renewables” will come from hydropower, an area of contention for the environmental community. And the country will continue to rely on coal as its main power source. In terms of pure renewables, the largest amount will come from biomass, followed by wind and then solar energy.
In February China’s parliament passed a renewable energy law that will take effect in January and set tariffs in favour of non-fossil energy.
Coal currently provides 70% of China’s electricity. The country is the world’s second-largest energy consumer and greenhouse gas emitter.
“Such a coal-based power structure will remain unchanged for a long time,” said Zhou Dabing, president and chief executive of state-owned China Guodian Corp., one of the country’s “big five” generation groups, adding that China had enough coal for only another 100 years.
According to China Daily, 1.5 trillion yuan (US$ 184 billion) will be needed to reach this goal. The government expects the business sector to play a leading role in this investment.
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