DALI, China — In the mountains above the southwestern Chinese town of Dali, dozens of new wind turbines dot the landscape -- a symbol of the country's sky-high ambitions for clean, green energy.
At an altitude of 3,000 metres (9,800 feet), Dali Zhemoshan is the highest wind farm in China, where renewable energy has become a priority for a government keen to reduce its carbon emissions and which has taken full advantage of the global trade in carbon credits.
"Wind resources in Yunnan province are not the best in the country," says Zhai Cheng, a project manager at the farm for the Chinese group Sinohydro.
"But at altitude, it becomes more interesting," he adds, gesturing at the line of 48 metre-high turbines.
China, which relies on coal for more than 70 percent of its energy, is the world's largest emitter of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
But it has set a target of generating 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources -- mainly wind and water -- by 2020.
In Yunnan, the wind turbines -- which operate at full tilt between October and April -- are there to boost the region's enormous hydroelectric power resources when productivity falls during the winter months.
"China is redoubling its efforts, with the 2020 target for wind power generation rising from 30 to 100 gigawatts," said Zhai.
The rapid boom in wind farming in China -- where installed capacity doubled in 2008 for the fourth year running to sit at 12.2 gigawatts -- places it behind only the United States, Germany and Spain.
Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gXfqmEFPDztUFBaRUFU0nxmNZkjQWant to help with Global-Warming? Please visit http://www.whiteearth.org
Please become a fan of the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarthorg/119367692642 and http://www.facebook.com/pages/WhiteEarth/165767310764
Become a friend on Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/christopherbeau
Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/christopherbeau
Become a follower of this blog
When you buy art on http://www.artsymphony.com 100% of your investment goes to sponsor WhiteEarth
No comments:
Post a Comment