China urges Myanmar to restart $3.6B dam project

China is not only eager to develop its own hydro resources; it has also moved aggressively into neighboring countries, with mixed success. In Myanmar, for example, the Chinese government-backed developer, China Power Investment Corp., was scheduled to construct a multi-million dollar dam projcet on the Irrawady River, to be finished in 2017. The Myitsone project was abruptly suspended in September, however, because of domestic criticisms. (The dam would displace a large number of rural residents, and has also been criticized by environmentalists.) Additionally, although the dam is located in Myanmar, 90% of the electricity would be exported to China. According to this article, the Chinese government is urging Myanmar to restart the project, but it is unclear how successful they will be.

This article gives an interesting glimpse into how China's ambitious plans for hydro are affecting its regional relationships. Capitalizing on the ample water resources in the rest of Southeast Asia would be great for China - but can China navigate the political hurdles necessary to secure these resources? At least in the case of Myanmar, this is proving more difficult than expected.

For the full article, read here: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2012/03/10/china_urges_myanmar_to_restart_36b_dam_project/

Solar Panel Sales Seen Dropping First Time in Decade in the World, but Chinese Demand will help make up for the losses worldwide

This article, published in Bloomberg News Online. The article indicates that due to subsidy cuts in both Germany and Italy, worldwide demand for solar panels is expected to decline this year, for the first time in a decade. However, China is expected to double its installation of solar photovoltaic cells this year (approximately 4-5 GW!) which could help to alleviate the demand shortage. It is also expected that demand in China may even be higher if the "government in Beijing" can stimulate this growth to help their Chinese solar companies thrive. (I assume this means that if the Chinese government can create financial incentives in China, they believe demand will increase, though the article is not clear about this and I don't know of any current plans for new financial incentives for solar PVs in China).

To read more, this article can be found here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-09/solar-panel-sales-seen-dropping-first-time-in-decade-feeding-glut-energy.html

China energy plan more favorable for nuclear

On Wednesday, premier Wen Jiabao outlined his plan for energy reform - optimizing the energy structure, promoting efficient use of traditional energy, developing nuclear, and increasing "new" energy (e.g. alternative energy) to the NPC. This marks a step into the direction of gradually including market pricing for oil, gas, and electricity in 2012-2015, but it still looks like the government can (and will) still adjust prices as it sees fit. According to this article, Jiabao's plan also indicates that the government is much more supportive of the centrally owned grid and nuclear facilities as opposed to more private and fragmented thermal coal plants. Though coal is obviously really important to the country's electricity, apparently they aren't too favored by the government. Plans by the government to expand nuclear power as well as favorable on-grid pricing for nuclear power mean that the government really favors this tech. The gradual market pricing inclusions will help gas to become more competitive and is also good for the oil industry too.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/07/markets-ratings-chinaenergyplan-idUSWNA181720120307

China to roll out tiered residential power pricing

China plans tiered power pricing for homes in H1 -paper
- Reuters


A government official was reported to have said that China is planning to begin a tiered power pricing program for residential power users in an effort to ease tight power supplies. Peng Sen, deputy director of NDRC, reported that a proposal for charging higher tariffs on power to heavy users has been approved by the State Council. "Experts" say that as residential users account for a relatively small amount total consumption this will do little to "ease power producers' pain."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/08/china-power-idUSL4E8E80MR20120308

~Ryan Triolo

China reveals 25tn cu meters of shale gas

China recently announced the results of the “most extensive official appraisal” of its natural gas reserves finding that “potentially recoverable reserves” amount to 25.1 trillion m^3 which is “less than previous estimates.” Still China is making shale gas recovery a high priority of energy policy and is still believed to have “some of the largest reserves of shale gas in the world.” This article estimates that this is enough gas to meet China’s current consumption for the next 200 years. Shale gas recovery in China is not highly developed due to lack of technical expertise and challenging geological features but it is expected to ramp up in the near future.

- Ryan Triolo

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/8b45584e-63a1-11e1-b85b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1oO5QDenS

Why EV's are not a good idea right now for china..

following our discussion earlier in class today, here is a paper that argues why EVs should not be a prominent solution..there were a few good points raised in class however such that at least they serve as a lunching platform to shift to alternatives later on after adopting EV

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/es100520c

Trucks Power China's Economy, at a Suffocating Cost

This article tells the story of the externalities associated with trucking in China, which is their most heavily used mode of freight transportation. As mentioned in class today, trucks in China burn diesel ful with 130 times the amount of sulfur than diesel in America. Since the Chinese government forces diesel prices to remain low (often lower than the costs of refining), refining companies like Sinopec buy the cheapest possible crude oil which happens to be the most sulfur-rich as well. The obvious solution to this would be to increase the price of diesel for the truckers, but the PRC is hesitant to do this as it would put many of the small trucking companies out of business. Another issue with trucking is that while emissions standards are increasing for new trucks, old inefficient trucks are left on the roads. The government is hesitant to ban old trucks, again, for the same reason - they do not want to slow down the economy.

Ironically, those facing the worst of the damage - truckers, who breathe the thick black clouds of diesel exhaust for their job - are the ones who do not want the industry to change: “That would be too much for me, I would be put out of business. I might as well stay home.”

Full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/08/world/asia/08trucks.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all