China steams ahead on clean energy

BBC News, by Richard Black, Environment correspondent

Projects like Donghai Bridge wind farm in Shanghai have pushed China ahead

China overtook the US during 2009 to become the leading investor in renewable energy technologies, according to a new analysis.

Researchers with the Pew Charitable Trusts calculate that China invested $34.6bn (£23.2bn) in clean energy over the year, almost double the US figure.

The UK emerges in third place among G20 nations, followed by Spain and Brazil.

The most spectacular growth has come in South Korea, which saw installed capacity rise by 250% in five years.

Globally, investment has more than doubled in the last five years, Pew finds, with the recent economic turmoil generating only a slight dip.

TOP FIVE INVESTORS 2009

• China - $34.6bn
• US - $18.6bn
• UK - $11.2bn
• Spain - $10.bn
• Brazil - $7.4bn

"Even in the midst of a global recession, the clean energy market has experienced impressive growth," said Phyllis Cuttino, director of Pew's campaign on climate change.

"Countries are jockeying for leadership.

"They know that investing in clean energy can renew manufacturing bases, and create export opportunities, jobs and businesses."

The US still holds a marginal lead in the total amount of installed capacity, but will be overtaken by China during the course of this year if existing trends continue.

Diversification nation

China's target of having 30GW of installed renewable capacity in place by 2020 will soon be exceeded through wind alone, and new targets are in the process of being set.

"The government has taken a strategic decision that diversifying its energy supply should be a national priority," commented Steve Sawyer, secretary-general of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), who was not involved in the Pew report.

FASTEST GROWERS

• South Korea - 249%
• China - 79%
• Australia - 40%
• France - 31%
• India - 31%

(growth in installed capacity over last five years)

"It is now the world's leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic cells, and more wind turbines are made in China than anywhere else."

However, China's use of fossil fuels is also expanding fast.

So far, renewables account for a small share of its energy supply, although the overall target is a 15% share of total energy by 2020.

Wind was the dominant sector in most of the high-investing countries, the exceptions being Spain, Germany and Italy where solar technologies commanded a majority share.

US investment fell by 40% during from 2008 to 2009.

"The US's competitive position is at risk in the emerging clean energy economy," said Ms Cuttino.

Spain's investment also dropped due to the recession, following several years of rapid increases driven by the desire to cut greenhouse gas emissions very quickly in order to reach its Kyoto Protocol target.

Pew notes that the UK achieved its third place through "large offshore wind deals, backed by the government", and by being "at the forefront of marine energy investments."

Pew based its analysis on the database maintained by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the international analysis and consultancy group.

Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

Govt clears forest in Wallacea line: Study

Adianto P. Simamora ,   THE JAKARTA POST ,   JAKARTA   |  Mon, 02/23/2009 9:40 AM   

Most of the tropical forest covering the Wallacea Line in eastern Indonesia have been cleared in the last half century, thanks to government programs. 

A recent study found that besides clearing forests, the government-sponsored transmigration program had put dozens of rare bird, mammal and amphibian species in danger of extinction. 

A study by Conservation International found that the remaining forest currently measured only 50,774 square kilometers, down from an initial 338,494 square kilometers. 

“A deforestation problem that is somewhat unique to this region was caused by the transmigration program,” the study, titled “Warfare in Biodiversity Hotspots” and published on Saturday, read. 

The transmigration program, launched during former president Soeharto’s era, was aimed at tackling overcrowding on densely populated islands by moving large numbers of people to sparsely inhabited areas. 

The report said there were currently about 1,500 endemic species of plants, 49 of threatened birds, 44 of mammals and seven of threatened amphibians in the Wallacea area. 

The Wallacea line, named after naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace who explored the area between 1854 and 1862, runs between Bali and Lombok to Borneo and Sulawesi. 

The world’s largest lizard, the Komodo dragon, is restricted to the islands of Komodo, Padar, Rinca and Flores in the Wallacea hotspot. 

The area is one of 23 hotspots to have experienced “warfare” in the second half of the 20th century, said the study published in the scientific journal Conservation Biology. 

The study identified a hotspot as a region containing at least 1,500 species of vascular plants as endemics, which has lost at least 70 percent of its original habitat. There are 34 hotspots around the globe. 

The study said more than 80 percent of the world’s major armed conflicts, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths from 1950 to 2000, occurred in regions with the most biologically diverse and threatened places, from the Himalayas in Asia to the coastal forests of East Africa. 

Conflicts often play out in the hotspots as fighters take advantage of the cover provided by deep forests and high mountains. 

The use of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons has increased their impact on the environment. 

The study said that during the US war in Vietnam, the use of the defoliant Agent Orange by the US had destroyed forest cover. Timber harvesting also funded war chests in Liberia, Cambodia and Congo. 

“In those and countless other cases, the collateral damage of war harmed both the biological wealth of the region and the ability of people to live off of it,” the report said. 

It also found that refugees from wars in and around biodiversity hotspots could add to the problem by hunting for food, cutting trees for firewood and building camps in the endangered environments. 

“This astounding conclusion — that the richest storehouses of life on earth are also the regions of the most human conflict — tells us that these areas are essential for both biodiversity conservation and human well-being,” Russell A. Mittermeier, Conservation International president, said in its statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Sunday. 

“Millions of the world’s poorest people live in hotspots and depend on healthy ecosystems for their survival, so there is a moral obligation — as well as political and social responsibility — to protect these places and all the resources and services they provide.” 

Indonesia, the world’s third largest forest nation with about 120 million hectares of rainforest, has long been under pressure to protect the forest and its biodiversity.