One world, one dream’ was the theme of the Beijing Olympics. It could also, and maybe should, be the mantra of the environmental lobby for promoting climate change awareness.
Throughout August the word’s focus was on China as it sought to use the hosting of the Olympics to present itself as a global player, and to be fully accepted by the global community. But the ‘coming out’ party put on by Beijing at the opening ceremony of the Olympics told us little of the real China of today, yet from an energy and climate perspective the country should be loudly proclaiming its undoubted successes. That it chooses not to may be due to the country focusing more on its own energy/climate issues than dictating policies to the global community.
At July’s G8 summit China was again cited by the US as the stumbling block to its acceptance of clear and unambiguous carbon constraints. Yet a report from The Climate Group following the summit hailed China’s clean energy revolution. Not only does the report confirm that China’s transition to a low carbon economy is well underway, it notes that the country is
already the world’s leading renewable energy producer, adding that China is ‘overtaking more developed economies in exploiting valuable economic opportunities, creating green-collar jobs and leading development of critical low carbon technologies.’
The report dispels the myth, propagated by the West, that developing a low carbon economy is not as attractive to developing nations, such as China, as it is to richer countries like the US and UK. As Steve Howard, chief executive of The Climate Group, observes: ‘For too long, many governments, businesses and individuals have been wary of committing to action on climate change because they perceive that China – the world’s largest emitter – is doing little to address the issue. However, the reality is that China’s government is beginning to unleash a low carbon dragon which will power its future growth, development and energy security objectives.’
For too long China’s example has been used as an excuse for energy and climate actions by the West. It’s unquenchable thirst for energy to fuel its economic growth has been blamed for pushing up energy prices, and as the UK government sought to defend its coal policy last month, energy minister Malcolm Wicks played the ‘China card’ on carbon capture and storage (CCS), saying: ‘Once we can develop those technologies, we can help the Chinese, the Indians and others to retrofit power stations and make CCS a component of new coal-fired power stations. That is the only way we are going to tackle this problem.’
These are very charitable comments, but does China need the UK’s help in developing clean energy technology? While China’s clean energy revolution is well advanced the UK’s renewables revolution, announced in a big fanfare in July, has yet to commence. The UK has cost its renewable policy at £10 bn by 2020, equivalent to £1bn/year assuming full development does not commence until 2010, yet China invested almost $12bn (£6.5bn) last year in renewable energy which is almost level with renewable energy world leader Germany as a percentage of GDP. The UK government proclaims it will be the world leader in wind energy by the next decade, yet it is China that is set to become the world’s leading manufacturer of wind turbines with production capacity set to reach 10 GW per year by the end of 2009. Placed in perspective, China will produce enough wind capacity within three years to meet the UK’s 2020 target.
And it is not just wind power where China is forging a global lead. It is already a world leader in the manufacture of solar photovoltaic technology and is aggressively competing in all other low carbon and renewable technology markets. Clearly, then, China does not need the UK’s help.
Of course, comparing China with the UK is like comparing chalk with cheese. China’s labour costs are a fraction of the UK’s and it doesn’t suffer lengthy planning delays. But where China scores heavily against the UK, and the West in general, is in its clear policy framework and a highly entrepreneurial business environment.
Consider China’s policy framework towards nuclear power and then compare with the UK’s. China’s approach to nuclear has been to make significant investments in nuclear technology expertise and to plough similar investment into its universities so that future generations gain the necessary nuclear expertise. And what did the UK do? The government not only dodged making a decision on nuclear power in its 2003 Energy White Paper, it then sold Westinghouse, its only company capable of constructing new nuclear plants. So when the government belatedly woke up to the need for new nuclear build it became dependent on foreign companies to develop its nuclear programme and now finds itself trying to sweet-talk EDF into making a renewed bid for British Energy.
China’s clear energy policy framework simply serves to expose the disjointed and incoherent policy of the UK government. While China’s policy is moving forward at significant pace the UK’s policy takes two steps forward and then one step back. But it should not be this way. For too long the UK has been far too preoccupied with the regional and global energy picture when it should have been addressing its domestic requirements.
The UK has long since ceased to be a global power, and some would argue its regional (ie, EU) powers have similarly waned, so why cling to past glories and act as if it is trying to save the world by associating its clean energy policies with helping China and other developing nations? Commendable as such a policy is, the UK should try and secure its own clean energy future first. China is.
Britain sent a sizeable delegation to the Beijing Olympics to learn from China’s hosting of the Games in preparation for the Games coming to London in four years time. But it should also learn from China’s development of clean energy policy. Given China’s current clean energy progress, how much further ahead of the UK will it be in 2012? Of the two economies, which is more likely to have made significant progress on CCS technology?
When the Mayor of Beijing handed over the Olympic flag to London Mayor Boris Johnson at the end of the Games it signified London was now the official Olympic city. The government is committed to leaving a long-lasting legacy after the London Olympics and has promised meticulous planning to achieve these aims. But will it be in a position to leave an energy legacy in 2012?
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