The United States is frequently
deemed the worst in terms of energy consumption compared to population (worst
as in consumes the most). It is bittersweet to learn that the U.S. is not the
bad guy for once; China is the world’s highest emitter of greenhouse gases.
Last year China consumed more than 400 million tons of coal. This high rate of
greenhouse gases being released in China had lead to a gray haze being noticed
over many parts of China, which has raised the issue of air quality.
A recent study shows that
coal-burning and motor vehicle emissions make up 60 to 70 percent of the air
particles. The government and the Chinese population both need to take
responsibility and initiative to reduce their negative effect on the
environment. An increasing amount of government attention has been put into the
renewable energy sector. Solar energy is being explored as an alternative
energy source. Wang Zhifeng (the chairman of State Solar Thermal Energy
Alliance) stated that this new technology is totally environmentally friendly
and has unique advantages over photovoltaic systems, “During bad weather or at
night, the heat storage system allows electricity output to continue even if
the sun isn’t shining. Also, this new technology doesn’t need expensive solar
panels so the cost is comparatively low”.
Despite his optimism Wang explains that solar thermal projects in China
are still in the experimental stages, it faces the problems of low efficiency
and maintaining stability. The lack of an industrial supply chain is also a
problem.
China has
already set a target goal of increasing their total renewable energy
consumption to 478 million tons of coal equipment, which would represent about
9.5% of the overall energy consumption in the country by 2015. In an effort to
support the use of alternative fuel vehicles the government has enacted tax
exemptions. Consumers are weary of hybrid cars because they think that it will
be too expensive to charge the battery and that the cars will have high
maintenance costs. Despite the pessimism
the country has a target of five million cars on the road by 2020. China is
making steps towards a cleaner environment and the rest of the world should
follow suit. As the population reaches the Earths carrying capacity we need to
be sensitive towards the earths resources, including the atmosphere, by
reducing pollution as much as possible.
Caroline Schenck
SOC202-01 blog 7
March 20, 2013 4:00 p.m.
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