Extract of a winning article by student for Independent, UK
China plans to spend 78% more on emission reduction in order to meet its 2010 targets. By closing inefficient coal-fired power units and steel plants, China will spend 9 million Yuan to become more energy efficient country. By 2020 China wants 15% of its power to come from renewable energy sources.
We hear a lot nowadays about 'being green', 'energy efficiency', and 'carbon footprints', all phrases that were sounded like scientific nonsense. Today all of us around the world are doing their best to help the environment. Call it a world wide wake up call. The techncology is available and made it simple enough to get a wind and solar power generation system installed at your home as a hobby project.
Possible by new technology advances in energy saving products. Solar power is a major part of China's plan for environmental success. China is he world’s biggest consumer of solar energy and the largest producer of solar water heaters. Sunny climate has a potential solar energy reserve amounting to 1,700 billion tons of coal. That's a lot of smoke one will save to be Eco Friendly.
Even the Olympic games were using solar energy this year. Li Zhonghai, senior official with the China Association for Standardization and member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), proudly stated "80% of streetlights at the Olympic venue were using solar power, and 90% of water heating at the event utilized solar energy".
China’s majority of future “Green Energy” or “Renewable Energy” will be using hydro-power. The world's biggest dam built in China smashing ten world records in 2006. Thousands of people had to relocate to give way for 'The Three Gorges Dam'. The world's biggest man-made producer of electricity from renewable energy, and undoubtedly the key China needs to unlock its hydro-power potential.
'Eco-city' in other words, 'Dongtan' is the brainchild of Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation and 'Arup'. They envisage, "The world's first eco-city, which will be sustainable not just environmentally, but also socially, economically and culturally. It will be located on the third largest island in China, and will be responsible for producing its own energy, through wind, solar energy, bio-fuel and 'recycled city waste' ".
The technology will make it work and provide an environmental model for the rest of the world to follow. What does any of this have to do with technology and engineering? One of the main criteria for any new product, any new building, or any new piece of technology is that it must be green. It must be a renewable source. It must protect the environment.
It is not enough for us to simply use coal or oil to generate power; something all countries are still adjusting to, having been consumer of coal over the past few decades. The new ways of harvesting renewable energy, and the technological breakthroughs and its implementation is must.
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