In today’s talking points, China continues to dominate investment in the renewable energy sector, and the world’s largest waste-to-energy plant is in development in Shenzhen. Australian and Chinese Universities continue strong collaboration to solve household energy issues, and Australia’s largest solar plant is in construction using Chinese tech.
China is the world’s biggest investor in renewable energy for the seventh year in a row
According to the latest report by the UN’s renewable energy advisory body, REN21, China continues to lead the world in renewable energy investment. China made up a third of global renewable energy investment in 2018, investing $US91.2 billion ($AUD130.2 billion).
China is also the world’s greatest producer and seller of electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines.
This comes with the news that Shanghai will today enact new strict recyclable laws to reduce waste, including limiting disposable utensils.
From 2017 to 2018, clean energy consumption increased from 20.8 percent to 22.1 percent of China’s total energy consumption, while coal consumption decreased from 60.4 percent to 59 percent.
Source: ABC News
World’s largest waste-to-energy plant set to open on the outskirts of Shenzhen
The world’s largest waste-to-energy plant is set to open outside Shenzhen. Considered a “dual-purpose solution”, the plant is designed to process up to 5,000 tonnes of waste each day, reducing the waste problems of cities and simultaneously generating electricity.
China already has more than 300 waste-to-energy plants in operation across the country. The global waste-to-energy technologies market is estimated to be worth $40 billion by 2023, according to the World Energy Council.
While there are concerns from residents that the plant may emit dangerous toxins, the plant is designed to combust around a third of the city’s daily domestic waste and will have 40 000 square metres of solar panels on its roof to generate renewable energy.
Source: World Economic Forum
Australian and Chinese Universities are collaborating on solutions for sustainable energy supply.
A new research centre led by professors from The University of Sydney and Tianjin University received a $900,000 grant from the Australian Government to help solve the energy supply and demand conundrum.
Through computer science and engineering, the Australia-China Joint Research Centre for Energy Informatics and Demand Response Technologies aims to manage household energy usage more effectively.
With a population just shy of 1.4 billion, China is the world’s largest energy consumer and the need for a solution to the energy problem is immediate.
The collaborative group have already begun a pilot testing program of their smart energy metres in China and Australia and have already developed a patent for an efficient data collection system for the distributed energy grid.
Source: University of Sydney
Chinese Technology to be used for Australia’s Largest Solar Plant
A deal to build Australia’s largest solar plant with Chinese funding and technology would signal the beginning of new age of economic and political cooperation, suggests British businessman Sanjeev Gupta.
Gupta owns Whylla Steelworks in South Australia, which recently agreed to the 280 MW Cultana Solar Farm project to be built by a Chinese energy company, Shanghai Electric. The solar farm will power Whylla Steelworks, and seeks to revive Australia’s industrial and manufacturing sector with low energy pricing through renewable energy.
The Cultana Solar Project, located approximately 380 km north of Adelaide, will employ 350 people and power 96,000 homes with the utilisation of 780,000 solar panels.
Source: Australian Financial Review