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Architectural use of large scale
photovoltaic panels in China
The PR
China became the third largest energy user in the world, and its coal-dominated
energy structure implies high CO2 emissions. The amount of CO2 emissions
from China may surpass
that of the United States
within 20-30 years, making China
the world's largest source of greenhouse gases by around 2025. Currently,
renewable energy sources (except for hydro power) account for only a
fraction of China's
total energy consumption. However, China has abundant solar energy
resources: 66% of the national geographical area has more than 2200 solar
hour equivalents per year, annual radiation is greater than 5020 MJ/m2, and
solar insolation with 50,000 EJ (50,000 x 1018J) absorbed at the surface
annually.
In
particular, the PR China advanced with 940 to 1.300 billion kwh installed
generation capacity to one of the largest producers of electric power in
the world. According to official statistics, 67% of China’s electric power is
generated from coal, 24% from oil, 3% from natural gas, and 7% from
hydropower. Chinese coal is often unrefined and has high sulphur content.
Accordingly each year ca. 20 mil t sulphur and 18 mil. t. dust are emitted
to the atmosphere. Although the per capita consumption of electric power in
China is only around 1/6
of developed nations, China
is already the second largest emittent of sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide
(CO2), currently 2.5 billion. t, in the world.
As China’s
industrialisation, the mechanisation of agriculture and its urbanisation
are continuing together with an improving quality of life and mobility a
further dramatic increase in energy consumption is inescapable. Actually,
the annual increase of primary energy consumption is around 3.4%. Until
2020, China’s
CO2 is expected to reach around 5.7 bill. t. Until 2010 China’s increase of
CO2 will overcompensate by 5 times the agreed CO2 reduction under the
Kyoto Protocol. Hence, it is in the vital interest of the signatories to
the Kyoto Protocol to mitigate the Chinese CO2 emission increase.
According
to China’s
actual economic 5-year plan, each region shall generate at least 5.5% of
its electric power from renewable sources. Regions, which cannot comply
with this planning, shall purchase electric power from renewable sources
from other provinces.
This planning will from 2006 onwards be supported by
the Chinese Renewable
Energy Law.
Within this framework, China’s State Development
and Planning Commission (SDPC) decided to support the application of solar
energy, in particular PV with 2 bill. US$ within the next 3 years. It also
supports the produce polycrystalline PV cells and applications. The
additional planned production capacity of 3 MW p.a. is equivalent to the
existing production capacity in China, which shall lead to a
price reduction. According to the China Energy Study Society, the
application of PV will rise with 30% p.a. over the next decade.
EFEC developed a consortium comprising
of Chinese official Institutions, Chinese and European companies, which
will in early 2006 produce a feasibility study to evaluate the
technical and economical viability of large-scale PV façades in Kunming. EFEC
managed the successful bid for support from the EU's Asia ProEco
Programme
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Quality
Standards for Solar PV and Thermal Equipment
This
project was co-developed with our Chinese Partner CECP – China
Standards Certification Centre. Based on the new Chinese Renewable
Energy Law CECP intends to develop technical quality- and test
specifications for solar energy equipment, in particular photovoltaic.
Objective
of the Chinese Renewable Energy Law, which will be enforced from 1st
Jan 2006, is to increase the share of renewable energy from currently
1% to 10% until 2020.
Germany is the leading
country in the development and application of Solar Electricity Systems.
Hence, EFEC sourced the required competence and identified the German DGS
as project partner. DGS already published in March 2005 Quality- and Test
Standards for Solar Energy Systems und the RAL-SOLAR umbrella. Discussing
project possible content and activities it became apparent that
transferring the German specifications – requirements adapted to
Chinese technical, professional, and climatic environments - would indeed
make sense.
Therefore,
EFEC volunteered to prepare a PPP Proposal to the German SEQUA agency.
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Promotion of
sustainable utilisation of Biomass Energy Sources in Asia
Fuelwood and other biomass energy are the main sources of
energy in developing countries, representing between 60% and more than 95%
of national fuel consumption. Households and small enterprises use
fuel-wood and charcoal as their main fuel for firing, cooking and heating.
In some regions fuel-wood and charcoal consumption add to deforestation,
affecting the environment, whilst also having a detrimental effect on human
health as acute and chronic respiratory diseases, eye diseases and infant
mortality from indoor air pollution. On the other hand remain firewood and
other biomass very important fuels for the poor in the target countries.
Forests and wooded lands are particularly valuable in dry or
seasonally dry land regions. They provide fuelwood and timber, as
well as other forest products. Tree cover helps to moderate local climate
conditions and reduce potentially damaging runoff from torrential rainfall.
Forests may occupy fragile ecosystems and, once lost, they may never be
recovered, resulting in erosion and desertification. Nevertheless forests
are increasingly cut for fuelwood and timber, resulting in a continued
decline and degradation in woodlands. Firewood is mostly taken from natural
forest. In the past for example Cambodia
and Vietnam
had abundant natural forests. Unfortunately since 1973, forest resources
have significantly declined by up to 40% due to conflict, illegal logging,
and population growth. Annual demand for fuelwood is still increasing or
stable with more than 6 million m³ extracted annually in Cambodia and Laos,
and around 20 million m³ in Vietnam
As a consequence significant forest cover that has been lost
in the last two decades for timber, fuelwood and because of clearance along
strategically relevant routes and sites. Resulting from the collapse of
traditional livelihoods after decades of conflict in some of the target
countries, local people depend on the forest sector to earn their living.
Nevertheless, many local communities have lost control over their
resources, and forests are being consumed for immediate profit by a small
minority. It is obvious that the economic benefits of clear-cutting have
overwhelmed most of the beneficiaries of this illegal industry, and have
resulted in cutting of valuable trees within most of the accessible areas
the forests to the extent that their restoration may take more than a
century of hard and systematic effort, if possible at all. Deforestation
has economic and environmental consequences. It leads to firewood
shortages, and adversely effects living conditions, especially of those in
the rural area. Since the countries faces the problem of forest
degradation, governments made an effort to ban or reduce forest cutting.
Meanwhile, reforestation and alternative programs including improved cooking
stoves were launched to address those issues.
With these developments in mind a long term capacity building programme to
sustainably sensitise local stakeholders towards the benefits of improved
biomass utilisation involving local organisations and trainers was designed
and proposed to the EU Environment & Forest Programme.
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Business to Business Meetings in
the RES Sector between Bangladesh'
and European SMEs
According to the Government of Bangladesh „Energy is one
of the most important ingredients required to alleviate poverty, realise
socio-economic and human development. “
The
primary objective of the project is to improve the access to electric
energy in Bangladesh,
which currently stands as low as around 30%. Bangladesh has only few fossil
energy resources in the form of natural gas and bituminous coal.
Current electric energy is mainly produced from imported fossil fuels.
If one relates this fact to sustainable development, the inherent
limitations become evident:
· Fossil fuels currently play
an important role in the electric energy generation of developed countries
with the respective generation and distribution infrastructure already in
place and will do so for some time to come. It may however not be
advisable to build a countries energy infrastructure on resources with a
remaining commercial lifespan of a few decades only .
·
Because of the limited supply and rising demand for fossil fuels in the
develop and developing word alike the respective prices for fossil fuels,
already in the range of around 60€ per barrel the foreign currency
reserves needed to finance Bangladesh’s electric energy supply become
itself a limited factor for economic development. Even if electric
energy from renewable resources will not be cheaper, the related expenses
for products and services will benefit the local economy more than the
importation of fossil fuels.
· Building
economic development of fossil fuels contributes to climatic change via
additional CO2 emissions. It is in the vital interest of developed
countries and developing countries alike, especially countries with vast
low-lying areas exposed to flooding at rising sea levels.
The activities of the consortium to address these issues consist in the
mobilisation of the targeted participants, a joint seminar in Dhaka,
Bangladesh, which will inform participating companies and organisations
about:
· the current state of renewable
energy utilisation in Europe;
· adapted technologies for
successful application in Bangladesh;
· operation modes, -cost,
performance and maintenance of such adapted technologies;
· explanation of co-operation
modes, including financing options, with European companies to introduce
advance and adapted renewable energy solutions into Bangladesh.
In addition to this seminar Bangladesh companies and
organisations will learn via direct B2B meetings about the capacity and
performance of European technology and service providers in the renewable
energy sector. Following this meeting interested and capable Bangladesh companies will be invited to
visit reference sites in Europe to
evaluate renewable energy technologies on site. By establishing
direct company to company links via technology licensing, equipment import,
staff training and the development of financing schemes –utilising EU
Member States export financing support - the limitation to
Bangladesh’ economic development resulting from the limited
availability of electric energy shall be tackled.
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