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Renewable Energy in Western China – Part I:
Potentials
Abstract-- This paper is the first in a two-part series that
present an overview of the development in the renewable
energy sources (RES) in the Western region of China. In the
first part, we present the RES potentials of Western China, and
in the second part, we propose some recommendations for RES
policy development for the region, based on the European
Union experience and international best practice.
In this paper, we analyze the abundant renewable energy
resources in WRC with different energy specifications. Despite
of its size, China is a developing country with rapid economy
growth. Consequently, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels
are increasing rapidly, so their reduction is of great
importance. Development of renewable energy sources (RES) is
a key to the sustainable development of China while pursuing
the low GHG emissions goals. We focus on China’s WRC as
the most important region for development of renewable energy
in the future years.
Index Terms— biomass, China, EU, geothermal, renewable
energy sources, solar, wind.
I. INTRODUCTION
NERGY efficiency improvement and development of
E
renewable energy sources (RES) are key to sustainable
development. For example, the European Union now
imports 50 % of its energy needs, while in 25 years, the
share is forecast to rise to 70 %. Coupled with the increasing
share of fossil fuel, this situation makes EU vulnerable
economically, politically and with regard to the environment.
As an attractive option to diversify the EU’s energy supply,
RES are available locally, they bring environmental benefits
and they contribute to employment and the competitiveness
of the European industry. By the year 2010, the EU set the
goal to double the share of renewable energy in national
gross energy consumption to 12 % (White Paper “Energy for
the future”, [1]) and to provide 21 % of the electricity from
RES (RES-E). The Directive on the promotion of renewable
electricity (RES-E Directive) on the internal market, is
aiming at reaching a 21% share of renewable electricity by
the year 2010 for the EU-25 and specifying indicative targets
for all 25 member states [2].
The Kyoto Protocol made strict requirements on GHG
emission levels and their reduction for developed countries.
European Union has committed the member states to reduce
This work was supported in part by the Slovenia-China cooperation in
science and technology, under the Grant ARRS-MS-CN-03-2005.
Xu Xiangyang is with China University of Mining and Technology,
Beijing, 100083, China (bluesky_xu@yahoo.com.cn)
Su Zhengmin is with Energy Research Institute, National Development
and Reform Commision, Beijing, 100038, China (suzm@eri.org.cn)
Andrej Gubina is with University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical
Engineering, Ljubljana, Slovenia (andrej.gubina@fe.uni-lj.si)
Xu Xiangyang, Su Zhengmin, Andrej F. Gubina
GHG emissions by 8 % in 2012, compared to 1990 level.
The EU countries have listed renewable energy development
as an important measure to reduce GHG emissions. To
follow-up on its commitment to reduce its dependency on
fossil fuel imports, as highlighted in the Commission’s
Green Paper on Security of Energy Supply [3], and to reduce
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a joint strategy for
promotion of renewable energy sources in EU has been set
up.
II. RES IN CHINA
As a developing country, China does not have GHG
mitigation obligations in Kyoto Protocol. At the same time,
due to China size and its quick economy growth in the recent
two decades, Chinese GHG emission levels are increasing
rapidly, so their reduction is of great importance.
Development of RES is a key to the sustainable development
of China while pursuing the low GHG emissions goals, so
China is taking steps to increase the share of RES. We
investigate the RES potential of WRC as the most promising
region for RES development in China.
The WRC includes 12 provinces and the municipality
directly under the Central Government of Chong Qing,
Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shanxi, Gansu, Qinghai,
Ningxia, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and GuangXi, Fig. 1.
The total area of WRC is 6.85 Million km 2 , occupying 71 %
of China. By the year 2005, the total population of WRC
was 369.866 million, some 28.29 % of total population in
China.
In year 2005, the GDP value in WRC was 3,317.255
billion Yuan (RMB), accounting for 16.98 % of China
mainland GDP. (Taiwan, Hongkong and Macao are not
included). While the average GDP per capita in China in
2005 was 14,954.889 RMB, in WRC the GDP value per
capita was only 8,968.79 RMB, some 59.97 % of the
average level of China, and only 34.318 % of the most
prosperous Guan Dong province of China.
The difference between East region and WRC is striking.
There are vast expanses of land and beautiful scenery in
WRC, but the steep mountains and torrential rivers occupy
most of the area, such as Himalayas, Pamir Mountain,
Nujiang River and west Yunnan Rivers. Arable land is
scarce and poorly inhabitable, and the population income is
very low, especially with the farmers in WRC. In the year
2001, among the 12 provinces and municipalities, in nine of
them the annual average income of farmers was some 1500-
2000 RMB, and in the other three it was lower than 1500
RMB. In Tibet, it was only 1404 RMB. In 2001, the average
income of farmers in China was 2366 RMB. [4]. The
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