- 4 reads
The United States House of Representatives passed a bill last week that mandates the creation of renewable sources of energy, including the cap-and-trade requirement that will introduce a market for excess carbon emissions. However, China began work on renewable energies in earnest almost two years ago, and recently, they have become the global leader in wind turbines and plan to introduce a new swath of solar arrays to take advantage of the great expanses of sun drenched Gobi desert.
Coal remains, and will for quite some time, the dominant source of electricity for the country of over 1 billion, but the Chinese government is attempting to become the foremost authority on wind and solar technology. The Chinese have doubled their production of wind power in each of the last four years. They are currently in the process of constructing six new massive wind plants around China that each has the capacity of more than 16 coal-fired power plants.
While the production is a welcome sign of a global shift in perception as to the sources of energy, some speculate that the Chinese may be moving a bit too fast. Some companies may be underbidding for the contracts to build these plants with the assumption that they will be able to go back to the government for more money when the enterprises begin to lose money. As with many other large projects in China, there is a risk of shoddy workmanship and poor results.
Regardless of the success of the operations, China has clearly marked off Southeast Asia as the foremost frontier for renewable energies. Only time will tell how efficient the Chinese will be able to tackle the growing energy crisis, but it seems, as of now, that they are firmly headed in the right direction.
