Unwavering Determination: Low-Carbon Reconstruction after an Earthquake
Ever imagine an airport that serves only one route with only one flight that only operates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday? Welcome to Guangyuan in Sichuan Province, a city with 2200-plus years of history. Situated on a flattened top of a mountain, the Guangyuan Airport only serves one flight between Beijing and Guangyuan on three weekdays per week. You cannot fly to anywhere else from this airport.
(The Guangyuan Airport)
When I first landed at the airport, I was amazed at the simplicity and tininess of the airport. Two hours before, I had just taken off from the splendid Beijing Capital Airport. Far beyond my imagination, the Guangyuan Airport was more like a Greyhound bus station in comparison. Although I had been told of how underdeveloped Guangyuan is, it still took me some time to realize the reality. With an area of about 16,300 square kilometers and a population of 3.1 million people, Guangyuan’s per capita GDP is only one third of China’s national average, with 80 percent of Guangyuan’s population engaged in agriculture. During the earthquake that struck Sichuan on May 12, 2008, nearly 90 percent of the urban and rural structures in Guangyuan were damaged to various degrees, and more than 2.4 million people were affected. For example, in one of Guangyuan’s counties, Qingchuan, many buildings were completely flattened and 250,000 people became homeless overnight. While GDP growth rates in Guangyuan reached 13.5 percent in both 2006 and 2007, the 2008 GDP growth rate was reduced sharply to 3.3 percent due to the destruction caused by the earthquake. Guangyuan’s direct economic loss from the earthquake amounts to RMB 120 billion (about $17 billion USD).
(A damaged building under repair)
Bumpy and muddy, the road to Guangyuan city was an instant reminder of the catastrophic impact that the earthquake had last year in this area. Facing a massive post-earthquake reconstruction challenge, the city government is aiming to seize the opportunity to transform Guangyuan into a low carbon city. Personally, I believe, it takes just as much unwavering determination for the Guangyuan city government to brave the challenge of reconstructing the city on a green plan as it does for the Obama administration to redirect the American economy during a crisis towards a greener economy.
Go with wind: China to dramatically boost its wind power capacity, again
China keeps revising its renewable energy target for 2020–so frequently and dramatically that just when you feel you finally managed to track all the target numbers and to put them on paper, the numbers become history. China first announced its 2020 target for renewable energy in 2007, and then revised the numbers in May 2009. With the stimulus package injected into renewable energy investment, China is now reported to be revising the 2020 target plan again, which is even more ambitious (as shown below). It should be noted that China interchangeably uses the terms “alternative energy” and “renewable energy”; its portfolio includes large amounts of hydropower and nuclear power.
| . | Installed Capacity by the end of 2008 | The 2020 Target set in 2007 | The 2020 Target revised in May 2009 | Proposed plan to revise the 2020 Target |
| Wind | 12.17 gW | 30 gW | 100 gW | 150 gW |
| Solar | 140 mW | 1.8 gW | 10 gW+ | 20 gW |
| Nuclear | 9.1 gW | 40 gW | 60~75 gW | 86 gW |
| Total power supply | 793 gW | 1000 gW | 1400~1500 gW |
In the newly proposed 2020 renewable energy plan, wind power would become dominant, accounting for 10 percent of the total power supply and increasing from an initial 30 gigawatts (gW), which was less than nuclear power (40 gW), to 150 gW. This would be double the nuclear power target of 86 gW. Solar energy capacity would also be significantly increased, from the original 1.8 gW, to 20 gW, 142 times the installed capacity at the end of 2008.
Another Look at Beijing’s High Polluting Vehicle Phase-out Plan
Air quality of Beijing was a major focal point before and during the Olympic Games. After the Olympics, the issue became less visible even as Beijing continued its quest for blue sky days. According to the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB), from January 1, 2009 to June 9, 2009, the number of days that the air quality met Grade 2 standards or better accounted for 81% of the days. As a matter of fact, the Beijing residents are enjoying the best air quality for the same period of time since 2000, partly thanks to its high polluting vehicle phase-out plan (the “yellow-label” policy).
The Ministry of Environment Protection has categorized air quality into five grades. Grade 1 is the best with an Air Pollutant Index (API) less than 50, and Grade 2 is considered “good” with the index ranging from 51 to 100. High-polluting vehicles are a major source of air pollutants in Beijing. By the end of 2008, there are about 353,800 yellow mark cars that account for only 10% of the total cars in Beijing but emit half of the total pollutants by the vehicles in Beijing.
In addition to the yellow label vehicle phase-out incentives, Beijing has provided up to two-year discount car loan to public service driving contractors who purchase green label cars in 2009, based on the purchase date.
Measuring Temperature: LEED grows hotter in China
Nine years ago, I participated in a series of workshops organized by NRDC and Carnegie Mellon on designing China’s first green building (now called the Agenda 21 building). At that time, the term “green building” carried little meaning in China, and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building rating system had just taken shape a few years before. In its push for green buildings, NRDC and the U.S. Department of Energy invited a group of more than 100 Chinese building officials for an unprecedented gathering in Pittsburgh.
Today, “green” has become a trendy word in China’s building industry. LEED has gained enormous momentum in mainland China in recent years, thanks in part to NRDC’s pioneering work. Architects now rush to the LEED-AP training sessions, eager to pay hefty fees running as high as $1000 for a two-day course. Developers desperately chase LEED certification and pay $5-6 per square meter for LEED consultants, plus $15,000 to $45,000 for the LEED project registration fee. LEED consulting firms have blossomed in Beijing and Shanghai. China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) released its own green building rating system last year.