Over the holidays, I had the privilege to be flown to China to speak to a conference of Chinese energy industry professionals about clean energy. I was treated extremely well and enjoyed the chance to see some incredible sites in Beijing and nearby. But most importantly, I valued the chance to throw my two cents into the conversation the Chinese are having about the next five to ten years of energy development. China is about to embark on its next five year plan and people are already discussing what the country’s energy future will look like. In my short time in Beijing, I could see that the country is at a critical crossroads as it relates to its (and the world’s) energy future.
The first thing that hits you when you arrive in Beijing is the air pollution. I’ve heard talk of it, but until you actually experience it, it’s hard to fathom. The air is literally thick. It’s smoky, as if there are a thousand campfires burning in your area. The other thing that hits you pretty quickly in Beijing is the traffic. It is the worst I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve lived in New York, DC, Atlanta and Miami. The roads are clogged with all kinds of cars and trucks, many of them looking fairly new.
China’s challenge, and it’s opportunity, in the next five year plan is to minimize the traffic and air pollution problems it faces by leaping forward to a clean energy economy. Specifically, it should invest heavily in electric vehicles and the infrastructure they need, mass transit and smart growth, and clean energy production.
The first step is to build more wind, solar and other renewable energy generation plants, along with transmission capacity to deliver the power. Even with increased efficiency and better conservation, China’s energy demand is only going to go up. Meeting that new demand with clean energy resources would be a major first step towards a cleaner environment.
The opportunity for electric vehicles in China is enormous. They are just now developing their infrastructure for gas powered vehicles. It is a great time to instead build out electric charging stations. Electric vehicles obviously would greatly contribute to cleaning up the air in cities like Beijing. But because they charge up at night and can put power back on the grid during the peak demand (daylight) hours, they also reduce the need for fossil fuel based peak power generation units.
Smart growth is a concept whereby communities build in urban centers, with work, play, and amenities all in a walkable community. Instead of building cities out, you build up. In China, it seems that most urban dwellers are already used to the idea of living in apartments, but in Beijing they’ve been building the city ever more outward to the point where it spreads out for miles in each direction. Rebuilding the city’s urban core and attracting new residents there will do much to alleviate the traffic problem.
At the energy conference, I spoke about much of this. The audience seemed receptive and frankly, many in China are already thinking about these ideas. There seems to be increasing recognition that China needs to drastically change its development course. Just a few days after I left, the government announced proposals to reduce the number of cars allowed in Beijing.
China is a very fascinating country and I hope to explore it more one day. We in the west have certainly made our share of mistakes in terms of energy choices and urban development. It would be a shame for China to follow those mistakes. Instead, they can learn from what we did wrong and move directly to the solutions phase. Not only would the Chinese people be better off, but so would the rest of the world.
