China to Restrict Polysilicon Production (GreenTech Media)

China to Restrict Polysilicon Production

Solar demand is growing, but China wants to prevent a bust.

China will issue detailed entry standards for domestic polysilicon companies, a measure designed to prevent a production boom/bust cycle.

In 2009, China's estimated polysilicon production output skyrocketed by 300% against 2008 levels to reach 18,000 tons, fulfilling half of domestic demand. These data were reported by Li Baoshan, secretary general at Beijing-based Chinese Renewable Energy Society, on March 16 at Shanghai's 6th China SoG Silicon and PV Conference (CSPV).

Thanks to a flood of new entrants in 2008, Chinese polysilicon production output broke into the five-digit numbers for the first time. However, that surge has also brought worries about oversupply, as capacity for the country's completed projects, under-construction projects and planned projects reached about 44,000 tons, 68,000 tons and 126,700 tons respectively as of September 2009, according to Wang Bohua, deputy counselor of China's Industry and Information Technology Ministry.

Meanwhile, Mr. Wang reported that the upcoming entry standards will follow the government plan issued last September, restricting new polysilicon projects with less than 3,000 tons of annual capacity and high power consumption. However, Mr. Wang declined to disclose the issue date and other details.

Another variable that will impact China's polysilicon production is the central government's plan to set up silicon products standards based on market demand and producers' technical levels, he added.

Statistics from China's Industry and Information Technology Ministry show that mainland China produced over 4,000 megawatts of PV cells in 2009, using about 32,000 tons of polysilicon in the process.

Asia Challenges U.S. Innovation Leadership, New Report Shows

Originally published at LeadEnergy

A major report released last week by the National Science Board concludes that U.S. global leadership in science and technology is declining as foreign nations – especially China and other Asian countries – rapidly develop their national innovation systems.

“U.S. dominance has eroded significantly… The data begin to tell a worrisome story,” stated Kei Koizumi, assistant director for federal research and development in President Obama’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The Director of the National Science Foundation, Arden Bement, noted that "China is achieving a dramatic amount of synergy by increasing its investment in science and engineering education, in research, and in infrastructure, which is attracting scientists from all over the world.”

The report, “Science and Engineering Indicators 2010,” is published every two years by the National Science Board, a 25-member expert council that advises the National Science Foundation, President, and Congress on science and technology policy, education, and research. Koizumi called it a “State of the Union on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.”

This “state of the union” for science and technology comes amidst growing concern that Asia is out-competing the U.S. in the burgeoning global clean-tech sector. According to the “Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant” report I recently co-authored with the Breakthrough Institute and Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, China, Japan, and South Korea have already surpassed the U.S. in the production of nearly all clean energy technologies, and these governments are expected to out-invest the U.S. three-to-one in this industry over the next five years. As U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu recently said, "The world is passing us by. We are falling behind in the clean energy race."

“Asia’s rapid ascent as a major world science and technology (S&T) center—beyond Japan—is driven by developments in China and several other Asian economies,” states the introduction to the report. “Governments [in Asia] have implemented a host of policies to boost S&T capabilities as a means to ensuring their economies’ competitive edge… the United States continues to maintain a position of leadership but has experienced a gradual erosion of its position in many specific areas.” According to Jose-Marie Griffiths, a member of the National Science Board, "While the US is the largest R&D performing nation — representing one-third of total world investment — Asia has narrowed the gap due to the sustained annual increases by China."

Read the full overview here.