Developing green economy necessary, achievable

English.news.cn 2010-08-16 20:10:05

by Zhang Xiaojun, Liu Ying and Liu Zan

BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Developing a green economy based on sustainable development is necessary for our world that is short of energy.

While many have suspected that the financial crisis will discourage the costly green projects, more countries are committed to continued investment in the sector.

Oil-rich Gulf countries and fast-growing Asian economies are likely to continue to invest on renewable energy.

Western powers also pledged to increase their green spending despite the looming budget squeeze.

U.S. President Barack Obama, who has long said renewable energy sources will play a vital role in the nation's future, has asked the Congress for 9 billion U.S. dollars in loan guarantees for renewable energy projects.

Analysts say global spending on the green economy has bounced back and is likely to exceed 2008 levels and reach 200 billion dollars in 2010.

What motives these governments to invest boldly in green economy is obvious -- whoever builds the first efficient and effective economy will lead the global economy in this century.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said striving for the green economy is "an ambitious goal, but it is achievable and is necessary."

The question is, how can we reach this goal?

The governments should focus on at least two areas: developing renewable energy and improving energy efficiency.

Renewable energy, which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind and tides, has its pros and cons.

On the one hand, it has great potential. For instance, solar power can provide as much as 1000 times the total world energy consumption in 2008, but only 0.02 percent of the total energy consumption that year came from the Sun.

But the return from investment on renewable energy would not be seen in short term. For example, although the commercialization of solar cells started almost 50 years ago, solar power still cannot compete in the market with fossil fuels that generate electricity more cheaply.

For quick benefits, improving energy efficiency is a good choice. The governments may urge enterprises and individuals to improve building insulation or replace obsolete heating and cooling equipments.

Besides, long-term projects can also be carried out in an effort to develop green economy.

Fossil fuels, which produce considerable greenhouse gases, remain the stable sources of electricity in the foreseeable future. The International Energy Agency predicts that the demand for coal will increase 53 percent between 2007 and 2030.

Some governments began to support the development of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) demonstration projects to reduce the effects of fossil fuel emissions on global warming. The idea is to make coal burn cleanly by injecting millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the ground.

From a historical perspective, Germany has set a good example in developing green economy. It has not only lowered its dependence on fossil fuels, but also created a new economic engine, which is cleaner and provides more jobs.

Since the oil crisis in the 1970s, Germany has begun to cut energy consumption and look for alternative resources. In 1986, Germany set up a federal ministry to regulate issues on environment and energy policy. In 1991, Germany introduced feed-in tariff to further support the development and use of renewable energy technologies.

Consequently, by 2008, renewable energy sources have accounted for 15.1 percent of total German power consumption and helped cut greenhouse gas emission by 112 million tons. It employed over 280,000 people and had a turnover of 30 billion euros (38.2 billion dollars).