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China's new strategy is to switch economic growth from energy consuming and polluting industries to sustainable energy saving industries meeting strict new environmental protection standards. Sustainable development in China is at a crossroads turning from growth with high energy consumption and pollution to growth in clean air, reported Hu Shaowei in a recent press release in the China Daily. The new industrial policy is to save energy and reduce waste discharge. The old 1990 policy was about raising the quality of economic growth and closing enterprises in sunset sections. Development was encouraged in the then newly emerging high energy consuming sectors of machinery, electronics, information, chemicals and construction. The service sector has also grown considerably along with this industrial growth. It is now clear to China that the outcome from the old industrial strategy has failed. The energy consuming and polluting imbalance in economic growth with high resources consumption and environment degradation needed to be addressed. Energy consumed producing a given amount of GDP in China | 2003 | + 4.9% | | 2004 | + 5.5% | | 2005 | + 0.2% | | 2006 | – 1.2% (target was 4%) |
- China consumes 30% of the world's total oil production
- China uses 54% of the world’s cement
- China's GDP is 5.5% of the world total
Clearly the high resource consumption and worsening environmental conditions under the old policy had to change. New industry will have a high content of advanced technology. The new focus will be on energy saving and waste discharge reduction. It is now crystal clear that water/air/land resources are extremely valuable. Energy saving and waste reduction is critical. The new policy is to fast track energy saving and waste reduction enterprises. All industrial projects must now pass strident energy consumption and environmental evaluations standards. Under the new policy existing polluting or high energy consuming enterprises must be shut down if they fail to meet energy saving and environmental protection standards after undergoing upgrades.
A survey by Johnson Controls in March 2007 points to business leaders adapting to energy efficiency measures in a big way. 75% of business executives believe that energy prices will continue rising. 60% of businesses will soon implement energy efficiency measures in their offices and operations said David Myers – President of the Johnson Controls building efficiency business. 52% of leaders said that money was the primary reason for implementing energy efficiencies. 13% said that environmental concern was the main motivator. 35% said that both economic and environmental factors are the drivers. 70% educated employees on how to save energy. 67% switched to energy efficient lighting. 60% took greater control over their heating and cooling needs. 46% installed light control sensors to turn off lights in empty rooms. 28% of companies installed energy saving glass windows. 11% of companies recycled their operations waste energy. 10% of companies adopted self-generating power to use during periods of peak demand in the energy cycle. 64% said a payback period of two to five years was acceptable for energy saving investments. 18% of companies would allow longer payback periods than five years. Very large organizations were willing to accept a longer payback for projects. Johnson Controls is auditing efficiency projects for the international $5Bn Clinton Climate Initiative involving 40 of the world's largest cities monitoring of carbon emissions. Effective energy management strategies can help mitigate costs and improve a country's self sufficiency, company President Myers said.
This project is the world's biggest in terms of numbers of people involved said the Vice Minister for Agriculture Wei Cheoan in a press release to the China Daily. Wei said that rural areas have a huge potential for energy saving and emission reduction. The Clean Countryside project will help farmers raise living standards. 1.4 tons of coal is needed to produce 1 ton of nitrogenous fertilizer he said. A 1% rise in the utilization of fertilizer can save 2.5M tons of coal. 600M tons of straw for livestock and poultry produces 2.5 billion tons of dung and droppings. That waste can be used to produce a lot of clean energy. Marsh gas currently provides 22M rural households with clean energy equivalent to 13.5M tons of coal. 100M households using energy efficient cooking ranges saves 50M tons of coal. These projects involve more people than any other energy saving project in the world, said Wei. The Clean Countryside project initiated in pilot areas saw 30,000 rural households improve living conditions by 90% by treating 90% of household refuse and waste water and turning 90% of straw into energy resources, Wei said. Outback Queensland is getting a 40MW hot rocks/zero emissions energy supply thanks to a Russian inventor and Geodynamics Ltd. It is now economic to convert to low grade heat from hot materials such as underground geothermal hot rocks and other waste heat sources into renewable energy, mechanical power and electricity. A thermodynamic process known as the Kalina Cycle now makes this clean energy source commercially possible. The Kalina Cycle is named after it's inventor the Russian Engineer Aleksander Kalina. Kalina showed that when the ratio of a mixture of a working fluid of ammonia and water is varied at constant pressure, then heat transfer in a power cycle can be increased considerably more than if the working fluid was just water and steam. When this improved thermodynamic fluid process is used in conventional power generation gas and steam turbines, then considerably more heat, energy and power can be extracted than if ordinary water and steam was used as the working fluid in the system. Also, the required power plant size is much smaller when using the Kalina Cycle. At the outback power station site near Innaminka in the Cooper Basin, Queensland, Geodynamics is now drilling down to reach hot granite rocks located over 3km underground. The company will extract heat from the hot rocks, then transfer the heat by circulating naturally occurring 250 degree superheated water through the hot rocks acting as an underground heat exchanger. Another heat exchanger on the surface then transfers the heat from the high pressure underground water supply to the working fluid in the power generation system. Conventional power generation equipment operating with ammonia-water working fluid mixtures in the Kalina Cycle then produces the electric power supply. Geodynamics expects to be economically supplying 40MW of additional base load electricity from hot rocks to the national grid by 2010. Geodynamics CEO Adrian Williams said, “We are absolutely excited. We will have completed a drilling and circulation test by the end of this year and once we launch into the 40MW commercial development, there is no stopping us.” Talking on the ABC Television's 4 Corners program, Adrian Williams said that the Cooper Basin hot hocks geothermal resource was potentially the biggest in the world equal to 15 large Snowy Mountains hydro schemes. He added that the resource could be rapidly exploited by 2020 and would be capable of generating 10% of Australia's power supply with zero emissions by 2030. United Nations figures show that the cost of electricity production from geothermal plants around the world is comparatively low and the proposed Geodynamics power plant is expected to be no exception. Logically, this means that low cost electricity will also be produced at the Geodynamics power station site. However, outback Queensland is a long way from the bulk of it's potential consumers and that means that major transmission infrastructure will be needed to link this electricity supply into it's main consumer grid. Now if Geodynamics had to provide a major transmission system as well as produce the power it would not be a viable proposition for them. It would seem to be in the national interest for Australia's Government to invest at least in part in providing the country's electricity infrastructure network. However, it is believed that neither Federal nor State Governments will commit to construct, guarantee or underwrite any major new electricity transmission infrastructure project until the Geodynamics pilot plant is proven, up and running and a strong case is presented for such a project. With that caveat, Geodynamics, and other alternative energy observers, are quite confident that Australia will be getting an important zero emissions major energy supply from Queensland's geothermal hot rocks in the future. Possibly, this will become the biggest hot rocks electricity scheme in the world. - Take a shower rather than a bath and save water. A typical shower uses only one fifth of the energy of a full bath.
- Configure your computer to the 'energy saving' mode in which it will automatically change to the state of low consumption.
- Switching off the screen can save even more than just letting the screen saver run.
- Turning your computer off at night instead of leaving it on will save on average 25% of it's annual energy bill. Remember you should turn off your computer whenever you are not going to use for more than an hour.
- A television in standby mode can use up to as much as half the electricity as when it is switched on.
- Don't let frost build up in the freezer compartment as this increases energy consumption. Remember to defrost and clean the inside of your refrigerator and freezer at least every six months.
- Check that the door seals on the refrigerator and freezer are tight fitting. The seals should hold a E5 note in place when the door is closed.
- Don't put warm or hot food straight into the freezer. Let it cool down first.
- Put lids on pots and turn down the heat when the water starts to boil. The lids not only keep heat in the pot but also reduce condensation in the kitchen.
- At a certain point in cooking, turn off the electric rings and use their residual heat.
Q..Can my house be entirely powered by solar energy? A..Yes. Many houses in remote areas are powered by stand alone solar systems. This usually goes hand in hand with adapting to an energy efficient lifestyle and having an alternative means to power certain high load items. A composite rural solar system may also include solar hot water, windmills or small hydro generators and a small back-up generator. Q..Are solar panels hot to touch? A..Yes. Solar heating and solar electricity panels are hot during the day and they cool off at night. Q..What is a 'bread box' solar hot water heater? A..A 'bread box' solar heater is a simple plastic or vinyl bag with a hose attached hung out in the sun and used for taking hot showers whilst out camping. Q..When will the world run out of oil petroleum? A..In the next 50 to 100 years according to the American Petroleum Institute. Robert is a chartered engineer living in Sydney, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineers, Science & Technology and he is passionate about saving energy, saving water and saving the planet. Solar and Heat Tips - a collection of energy saving and money saving ideas from around the world Electricity Make It Don’t Buy It - are you tired of outrageous electric utility bills? This book shows you how to set up your own power station in your back yard Renewable Energy Solutions - find free solar panels, wind towers and batteries! Complete guide - understand and install wind generators, solar panels, micro hydro and more ... 14 years experience living off the grid with renewable energy Solar Power Design Manual - teach yourself all about solar power with this comprehensive manual by a genuine expert (spreadsheet included)
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