Wind energy

More and more Chinese citizens are using small windmills to generate electricity. Since fuel prices began to go up in China, an investment of just a few hundred euros can help those who are not connected to the electricity network: thousands of people, who live in remote villages or on ships, or who work in makeshift buildings and storage houses.

"Typically, the wind suffices to power lights, refrigerators and other household appliances here on the coast," said Bai Fengpen and Wang Lianjun, who live on their boat in China's biggest deep-sea port in Tianjin. "We have already saved a lot of money in these last three years."

Coal dust still darkens the sky

New windmills have been set up in the port. But the coastal wind still blows a fine dust of coal through the air, covering the cars with a black film.

"In general, the air here is not very good," said Chen Guanyi, professor of ecology at Tianjin University. The dust and pollution in the air come primarily from coal processing plants.

In order to quell China's increasing energy demands, coal is burned here all day. It is still China's most important energy source. So it is no surprise then that China is the second biggest CO2 producer, after the United States.

Water and wind instead of coal?

Meanwhile, China is searching for different, renewable energy sources. The country already derives a significant amount of water power from the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in Central China.

In countless smaller facilities, biomass is also being used to generate power. Methane gas, for example, can be produced from grain waste or by burning trash. Various housing areas use geothermal energy. However, experts see the greatest potential for developing renewable energy in wind power.

The Chinese have already used wind power for more than 30 years in wind parks. Unfortunately, the wind does not always blow the way the Chinese would like: in the sparsely populated western region, the wind blows the strongest. But the energy is especially needed in the industrial east, where the wind is notably weaker.

Yet, it is still strong enough for China's ambitious energy plans, according to a decision reached by the government. It has promoted a massive increase in the use of wind energy in east China since 2003. Since then, the number of installed windmills has doubled.

Wind power - an uncertain force in the future

China has seen a genuine boom in wind power. At its universities, new engineers are specializing in wind turbine technology, Chinese companies are building turbines under foreign contract, and the biggest foreign turbine producers have opened factories in China.

Andreas Dubois from Germany's technical cooperation agency GTZ said he hopes that this burst of excitement will not suddenly die out.

"There are already a few cases where wind parks could only supply half of their energy because people failed to think about certain issues, like the extension of power networks," Dubois said. Power outages were also not uncommon because there were not enough qualified people to serve as maintenance personnel, he said.

Experts throughout the world are waiting intently to see how effectively China's wind parks will be in the long term. After all, China's energy system is ultimately not just a question of economic interests. It will also have a noticeable effect on greenhouse gasses worldwide.

Author: Ren Yanchao/Mathias Boelinger
Editor: Sabina Casagrande