China is planning to reduce its carbon footprint by 40-45% from the 2005 level and until 2020 to generate 15% of its electricity from low-carbon technologies. According to Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration, a national program consisting of billions of dollars of investments in solar, wind and nuclear energy would be launched very soon.
Zhang claims that this project will stimulate fast and dramatic action in the renewable energy field. “Power projects take a long time to get up and running, and we are basically allowed five years to complete them although it is a 10-year programme. Otherwise, the facilities cannot be put into use by 2020.” he said.
Recently, in China, the renewable energy law has been changed so now the power grid companies can buy 100% of the electricity obtained from renewable energy generators. Besides this, IBM announced the opening of a new $40 million “Energy & Utilities Solutions Lab” in Beijing.
IBM’s vice president Brad Gammons said that their interest in the Chinese market is due to the fact that China is “pursuing smart grids as aggressively or more aggressively than any other country in the world right now.”
[Source: Cleantechnica/BusinessGreen]
