Experts call for China-US cooperation on renewable energy

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-04-21

A solar farm in Hubei province. (File photo/Xinhua)

As a new study on China's renewable energy by 2050 was released here Monday, experts called for more cooperation between China and the United States to pursue the development of renewable energy.

By 2050, renewable energy could meet more than 60% of China's energy demand, according to the report "China 2050 High Renewable Energy Penetration Scenario and Roadmap Study," which was completed by the Energy Research Institute of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China in cooperation with other institutes.

"We hope our study can influence the (Chinese) government's 13th five-year plan and 2030 energy strategy. That's very important," said Wang Zhongying, deputy director general of the Energy Research Institute at the launch of the report.

Experts said to realize the ambitious goal of renewable energy development, China needs the cooperation of the United States, which could provide "a really good future" for the world.

"For this target we need to work together, especially the US and China," said Li Junfeng, director general of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation under the NDRC, given the fact that the two countries are the world's two largest economies with huge population and big energy market as well as large renewable energy market.

"Thirty years ago, when I traveled to the US, I learned a lot from the US," said Li, adding that if China and the US can solve their energy problems by 2050 through working together, it will set "a good example" for other countries to follow.

"It's very exciting to see the study of China. I am eager to see the details of it. It's tremendous hard work but it really opens up enormous opportunities," said Samuel Baldwin, chief science officer of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in the US Energy Department.

Chinese enterprises and scholars now have "frequent exchanges and cooperation" with their US counterparts on renewable energy, Wang told Xinhua.

The Chinese version of this study was published in Beijing on April 16.