CHINA SECRETS

This is one of those “don’t believe everything you read” stories but don’t miss the allegations in the last quote at the bottom of the post.

Promises of a bright future hide current problems in the energy field
Maurizio d’Orlando, May 30, 2007 (AsiaNews.it)

WHO
China’s energy industry
China consumption (click to enlarge)
WHAT
While much is made of China’s development of renewable energy, it continues to rely on coal and oil (sometimes ill-gotten)

WHEN
- This report is on present conditions and foreseeable realities.
- Nuclear now 9.1 gigawatts, going for 40 gigawatts by 2020.
- Chinese goal: 16% of the country’s energy from renewables by 2020.
- Wind developing fast. Major solar after 2040. Gas production in 2010.

WHERE
China.

WHY
- Nuclear: State Nuclear Power Technology Corp (SNPTC) developing 3G (3rd generation technology), less costly, safer, and built faster. Older technology in partnerships w/Westinghouse Electric/Toshiba and France’s Areva. A fourfold increase in capacity, 20% of electric by 2020.
- As stated at last weekl’s second Chinese-American Strategic Economic Dialogue: carbon capture and sequestration technology is being explored w/the US.
- Wind: The goal is 5 gigawatts by 2010 but development is on pace to double that.
- Solar: Longer term goals. Reportedly too expensive compared to dirty coal right now.(?)
- Gas: Aggressive development. New deposits in Puguang found by PetroChina and Sinopec w/potential production by 2010.
- Coal: 70% of China’s electric, with severe pollution problems. China National Coal announced an 85% increase in profits over last year. Tens of thousands of small companies, many of the fatal accidents (4,746 counted last year, probably not more than half of actual number). The government is forcing small enterprises to merge to control losses.
- Oil: China will take all it can get. This situation of tension around the availability of African crude oil has led to the development of a parallel market. (See the last quote, below)
Appetite for oil (click to enlarge)
QUOTES
- A political bias to this report may be revealed in this quote: “Communists regimes have always held themselves up by pointing to future conquests and marvels. Instead, from the unfounded and often even useless enthusiasm of this flow of technology news, one can perhaps catch sight of increased nervousness about the present and in particular about the need to cover a voracious hunger for the energy and raw materials required by Chinese development.”
- “According to rumours in international petroleum business circles…which, however, AsiaNews is not able to confirm, tankers from obliging countries are anchored at about 60 miles off the coast of Nigeria, out of the bounds of the country’s navy. At night, small barges are ferrying supplies to these other ships from the delta of the Niger River. Accompanied by counterfeit documents, the loads are then sold, through a chain of intermediaries, to small- and medium-sized refineries in China (but also in other countries) that can count on the good offices of the customs officials of destination terminals. It appears that all parties are earning a tidy sum from this trafficking, to the detriment only, of course, of the Nigerian government’s coffers.”