Slashdot Mirror
China Is Now the World's Largest Solar Power Producer (digitaltrends.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Digital Trends: Not only is it the world's most populous country, it's now also the world's biggest producer of solar energy. On Saturday, the National Energy Administration (NEA) noted that the nation officially claimed the title after doubling its installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity last year. By the end of 2016, China's capacity hit 77.42 gigawatts, and while this is great in terms of raw numbers, it's a lot less impressive relative to the country's massive population. As it stands, solar energy represents only one percent of the country's energy output. But this may soon change as China devotes more and more of its attention towards clean energy. The NEA says that China will seek to add more than 110 gigawatts within the next three years, which could help the nation up the proportion of its renewable energy use to 20 percent by 2030. Today, it stands at 11 percent.
At least they're working toward solving the problem, unlike Australia and USA, who would rather bury their head in the sand, deny there is a problem or spread FUD on renewables.
China certainly gives a fuck about itself, and it's moving as fast as it economy can manage towards more sustainable energy production and reducing pollution. I realize it is popular nowadays to blame China for all the woes of the world, particularly in Trumpmerica, but the reality is that the US's navel gazing is going to mean China begins to take the bull by the horns. In the greatest of ironies, it is China who is claiming it will promote free trade.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
I love it when trolls just invent claims that they can provide no evidence for. I'm assuming it's done because they know they have no real response, but attacking any jurisdiction moving towards renewables is necessary to keep investment in oil and gas up.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
No, this is a gnat fart's less in hurricane of China's carbon emissions, I'm always amused China's foreign coal ramp up that is in progress to support their manufacturing plants in other countries is also conventiently ignored
Trump, by by cozying up to Big Coal and Big Oil, has thrown China a glaring opportunity to get well ahead in the race to a post-fossil-fuel-future.
John_Chalisque
Those shallow little potshots... Why bother? You need to confirm your prejudices and hatreds? You think it makes your beliefs stronger because you get to read them again?
"Reality? Bah! What a concept!"
At least that seems to be the new motto of #PresdientTweety's administration, and if so, it goes far towards explaining why they [mostly Bannon and his cronies] seem to be imitating so many of China's authoritarian government techniques and even policies.
Of course the reality is rather more complicated. Perhaps the deepest underlying reality is that petrochemicals are limited, and the Chinese government is only being realistic in moving away from oil and they can't help being authoritarian in how they are doing it. When your only hammer is "authoritarianism", then everything looks like a nail, eh? The coal reserves are much larger, but still limited and the externalities are much larger, again making it realistic to move away from coal and once again the Chinese government can't help but do things in an authoritarian way. Yes, climate change is a real concern, but I think the Chinese government doesn't really care that much. They just want results and if "climate change" helps ratchet up the pressure for the results they want, then that's okay.
Even if they are successful, to my mind that does not justify remaking America in China's authoritarian image. However, from the Chinese perspective things look quite different. Only when there is a strong authoritarian government (with the "mandate of heaven") does anything get done, and the alternatives are chaos and anarchy and even civil war. You know how it is, but even China has a few bad centuries now and then. From their long-term perspective, the normal situation is a strong dictatorship (normally emperors, but now communists) and under that "normal" dictatorship China is "normally" the most civilized and most advanced and most peaceful civilization in the world.
Or else. Troublemakers will be disposed of. Drop that mandate on 'em. Hard.
In this particular case, they are actually right to be pushing for renewable energy as fast as they can.
And if they were wrong? Well, that's the problem with dictators. "Wrong" is not in their dictionary. At least not as regards themselves.
P.S. I'm still expecting the Chinese to invade North Korea and Taiwan this spring. Opportunity beckons, this offer expires soon, and so they are going to make the Donald an offer he can't refuse... The Art of War versus The Art of the Deal .
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
Yes, you are missing something. Solar energy is NOT the only form of renewable energy.
Old version is hydroelectricity.
New versions include solar, but wind power is probably larger. I'd need to check the stats. (Then again, wind power is also an old technology. It's just the electric part that is newish.)
If you really have mod points and use them so aggressively, then it explains quite a bit about the state of moderation on Slashdot. Can't recall the last time I had a mod point to bestow.
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
Technically, China is converting more than 80 percent of all coal plants to modern (as in 1980s) tech clean scrubber cogeneration coal plants. This allows them to double output from the coal plants, but use only as much coal as they were using in 2010, and reduce emissions 80 percent by 2020.
So, while they are investing quite a bit in solar and wind power, it will take a few years until they clean up their act.
Remember what Detroit and LA and NYC used to look like, covered in brown choking haze? That's where they are.
The main problem they have is continued conversion of bicycle and transit commuting to cars, even if some are plug-in electrics (average cost in China for a plug-in electric car is $6000 USD and around $8000 UDS for a plug-in SUV).
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
China has higher emissions per capita than India per GDP. If they continue to leapfrog to clean energy rapidly, they may be able to keep it under control.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
By the end of 2016, China's capacity hit 77.42 gigawatts,... As it stands, solar energy represents only one percent of the country's energy output...The NEA says that China will seek to add more than 110 gigawatts within the next three years, which could help the nation up the proportion of its renewable energy use to 20 percent by 2030
Adding the 110 gigawatts of "capacity" is a drop in the bucket. Capacity doesn't mean much actual power generated when it comes to solar.
Wouldn't that be the sun?
Have gnu, will travel.
At least China does long term planning, we throw away all our work every election cycle when chickenshit voters elect anti-science idiots full of fake promises.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
The air quality in Guangdong is certainly improved over what it was the first time I came to the region, roughly ten years ago. Don't let "perfect" be the enemy of "better".
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
China has already hit its peak coal consumption and it's now in decline.
https://www.theguardian.com/en...
https://www.carbonbrief.org/an...
https://www.eia.gov/conference...
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
And so are coal and petroleum.
(I'm reading your "hydro" as "hydroelectric" rather than "hydrocarbons".)
(And I still think the moderation system is badly broken to the point of meaninglessness. My comment certainly wasn't intended as "funny", but I might be missing the joke again.)
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
Did you mean "by the yuan", perhaps?
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
They also recently cancelled the construction of over a hundred coal plants.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/world/asia/china-coal-power-plants-pollution.html