High growth for renewable energy in China

Strong demand for electricity to drive renewable energy surge.

Besides the increasing demand for electricity, a drop in the use of coal and its goal of reducing its carbon emissions are the factors set to spark a renewable energy boom in China this year, said the China Renewable Energy Report.

China’s demand for energy and its capabilities in energy production are now positioning China to take the lead in the development of renewable energy technologies. China, however, has to overcome a number of challenges in key sectors such as hydro power, wind power, solar and biofuels.

China’s investment in renewables has grown around 80% per annum since 2004, indicating that the country is committed to become the global leader in developing renewable energy and to building a sustainable support structure for the continued growth and development of its national economy, the report said.

Hydro power installations continued to rise until 2011, accounting for 22% of the total global installed hydro power capacity. China also dominates the global wind energy market with 25% of total global installed wind capacity.

It is now the fastest growing solar panel market in the world and is targeting a total installed capacity of 21 GW by 2015 and 50 GW by 2020. Key potential future growth area for renewable energy are utilizing biomass and biofuels; exploring second generation biofuels such as ethanol and producing energy from feed stock sources.