China Takes Step with Renewable Electricity Provision

Weeks after China and other nations met in Copenhagen to discuss plans for reducing emissions and combating global warming, the world's largest carbon polluter is taking a major step toward greater energy sustainability.

A new Chinese law requires power grid operators to buy the electricity produced by renewable energy generators, a rule that will boost the percentage of energy from renewable sources in the coal- and oil-dependent nation.
The amendment to the 2006 renewable energy law also gives the State Council energy and finance departments, along with the state power authority, to "determine the proportion of renewable energy power generation to the overall generating capacity for a certain period."

In addition to mandating the purchase of renewable source electricity, China must also develop more efficient "smart grids" to strengthen its clean energy economy, according to Xiao Liye, director of the Institute of Electrical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Published: January 5, 2010