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China Ups National Renewable Energy Goal

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. […]

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Green Building Report Shows Growth of the Industry

A report from McGraw-Hill Construction (MHC) concludes the green building market will reach $10-$20 billion over the next five years. According to the report, Green building accounted for 2% of nonresidential construction starts in 2004, valued at $3.3 billion, and projects it to grow to 5-10% of this sector by 2010, valued at $10-20 billion. Over 70% of a representative sample of architects, engineers, contractors, and building owners anticipate sales growth from green building. 60% of this group are are specifying green building products now. The report notes that pperating costs of green buildings are expected to be 8-9 lower than in conventional buildings, and have increased value by 7.5%. The report is part of MHC’s effort to take a leadership position in the green building movement. The group is launching a green construction website, “GreenSource” at www.greensource.construction.com, offers custom green building research, and plans to launch a green building publication in 2006. In conjunction with trade association US Green Building Council (USGBC), MHC has organized a pilot workshop at a top university to identify ways to introduce green building into the curriculum. “Green building is a tremendous growth area in design, construction, and building products, and McGraw-Hill Construction is […]

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