We could be doing this here as well
From
Next Big Future:
China's Nuclear Energy Target for 2020 is 86 Gigawatts and Wind Energy Target of 150 GW
China Daily reports: China is planning for an installed nuclear power capacity of 86 gigawatts (gW) by 2020, up nearly 10-fold from the 9 gW capacity it had by the end of last year, two people familiar with the matter said. the new target is higher than targets earlier this year of 70-75 GW and higher than two-three years ago when the target was 40 GW.
The goal, which is part of an alternative energy development roadmap covering 2009-20, seeks to have at least 12 gW of installed nuclear power capacity by 2011.
The plan "will call for the government to accelerate nuclear power development in coastal provinces and autonomous regions, namely Liaoning, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangxi, Jiangsu, Shandong and Hainan," the sources said.
In order to achieve the goal, the government will also set up a "reasonable number of nuclear power plants in inland provinces in Jiangxi, Anhui, Hunan and Hubei", they said.
The government is also planning to have 150 gW of installed wind power capacity by 2020, of which 30 gW will come from offshore wind farms. Installed wind power capacity should reach 35 gW by the end of 2011, of which 5 gW will come from offshore wind farms.
The [Energy] industry would attract investment worth 2.97 trillion yuan by 2011, creating 5 million jobs. And, total investment in the sector would touch 13.5 trillion yuan and create 20 million jobs by 2020.
That is how you do it... None of this NIMBY shite when it comes to off-shore wind farms (Paging Senator Kennedy, Senator Kennedy to the white courtesy phone please).
As a point of reference, the electrical generation capacity of the United States (
2007) is 1,087 GigaWatts. China is talking about adding 25% of this power in about ten years. Considering that China's energy production per capita is one of the lowest for major nations, this shows that they see cheap energy as being crucial to economic growth and prosperity for its citizens.
Instead, we are dinking around with feel-good alt.energy bullshit that only addresses a fraction of a percent and has serious unintended consequences. Bleagh...
Posted by DaveH at July 6, 2009 8:53 PM