China has rapidly become the world’s manufacturer. But due to reliance primarily on coal to generate the energy that has powered its staggering and rapid growth, the unwelcome side effects include wresting the banner of number one emitter of carbon dioxide away from the U.S., and image after image depicting shockingly fouled air.
A study published in the September 11 edition of the journal Science prepared by scientists at Harvard in collaboration with an engineer at Beijing’s Tsinghua University indicates that wind as a solution to these problems is not merely hot air.
The growth China is experiencing in its wind energy sector along with the potential energy contained in its available wind resources combine to indicate that China could meet most and possibly all of its electricity needs by 2030.
The Science article is discussed at length in articles at LiveScience and Scientific American, both underscoring that whereas China derives only a fraction of 1 percent of its energy from wind, their wind energy sector has been growing by about 50 percent annually for the past decade. China is now, as a result, the world’s fourth biggest generator of wind power.
Relying upon a broad array of data ranging from NASA satellite imagery, topographic analysis, climatological data, and even regulatory and financial information, the study concludes that wind could provide all of the electricity at the projected 2030 demand levels, currently twice their current demand.
The findings steer clear of placing odds on the likelihood that this will happen, but in light of the fact that new coal-fired plants flip on the switch daily, that’s one of the key points according to Harvard researcher and co-lead author Michael McElroy, as quoted by Live Science:
“China is bringing on several coal fire power plants a week. By publicizing the opportunity for a different way to go we will hope to have a positive influence.”
image courtesy of Xmhaoyu via Wikimedia Commons
