Energy

Wed, 08/11/2010 - 19:03

On a tour organized by the Expo media center in July, Interfax energy reporter Terry Wang witnesses the efforts to develop Chongming Island, one of Shanghai's most important ecological areas, in a sustainable and energy-efficient manner.

Wind turbines line the horizon on Chongming Island. (Photo by Terry Wang)

Shanghai. August 5. INTERFAX-CHINA - Shanghai Municipality has historically been one of China's most important manufacturing bases. Against the backdrop of a nationwide campaign to reduce energy intensity and clean up the environment, the municipality has recently endeavored to expand its energy service industry. Nearby Chongming Island is poised to be a beneficiary of the green initiatives.

Indeed, Shanghai has made some significant strides in developing the renewable energy sector. Like the rest of the country, its greatest challenge will be to balance the relationship between GDP growth and environmental protection. Preserving the ecological balance on Chongming Island in the face of development presents the municipality with a green challenge.

According to an ancient tale, the boot-shaped Chongming island, China's third largest, came into being after an immortal tossed a shoe which landed at the mouth of the Yangtze River. The legend lives today, as shoes made from a locally grown gourd are hawked as souvenirs.

A newly-built tunnel and bridge link the island to the Pudong New Area of Shanghai, drastically cutting travel time to the island. A trip that formerly took several hours can now be accomplished in thirty minutes.

Upon crossing the bridge, 10 towering 1.5-megawatt (MW) wind turbines on neighboring Changxing Island come into view. The wind farm is administered by the Chongming County government. Recently, the county government banned large heavy industry projects from Chongming Island. Changxing Island was designated as the county's manufacturing hub. Shipbuilding is the primary industry.

Arriving on Chongming, it's a 20 hop to Qianwei Village, located in the northern part of the island. The local villagers' eagerness to showcase their clean agricultural development is palpable.

On a farm in Qianwei, about 1,500 hogs produce a goodly quantity of manure, which is processed into organic fertilizer and used by local farmers.

A local guide, an amiable fellow named Zhao, says the village uses no chemical fertilizers and that recycling waste is common throughout the island, one of China's largest organic rice producing areas.

In addition to recycling agricultural waste, the village boasts a 1-MW photovoltaic (PV) power plant. Numerous PV modules line the roof of the plant, which feeds the city's power grid. The project receives RMB 4 ($0.59) for each kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity it produces.

By encouraging clean energy development and environmental protection, Chongming hopes to fashion itself into a tourist destination as well as a green residential area.

Over the past 10 years, Shanghai Industrial Dongtan Investment Development Co. Ltd. has worked to restore the island's Dongtan wetlands and build a park Qiu Zhonghong, general manager of the company, says that wetlands are typically regarded as the "kidneys of the earth" due to their ability to filter impurities from the environment. As such, the wetlands are vital to the flocks of birds from Siberia and Australia that visit the wetlands during their annual migrations.

Just outside the wetlands stand thirteen 1.5-MW wind turbines which transmit clean energy to Shanghai.

The town of Chenjia on Chongming hopes to capitalize on its proximity to the bridge linking the island to Pudong New Area, as well as plans to build a new bridge connecting it to Jiangsu Province. The town aspires to develop its residential and resort potential - and to become a place where people can learn about and explore wetlands.

In October 2009, Shanghai Chenjia Town Construction Development Co. Ltd., the town's developer, completed an office building which features wind and solar power, geothermal pump air conditioning units and an energy-efficient ventilation system. Liang Jun, deputy general manager of the company, says that the clean energy facilities are essentially able to satisfy all of the building's power requirements.

Liang also notes that the town will see the construction of a large residential area which will house some 30,000 people.

According to Liang, the local government will require real estate developers to build with the aim of cutting carbon emissions by between 30 and 50 percent. In addition, the government wants 20 percent of its energy consumption to be derived from renewable energy sources.

But although Chongming is on an eco-friendly course of development, some obstacles remain.

For example, even though Chenjia's government is contributing its PV and wind power output to the power grid network, it receives no revenue from the power grid company.

Liang of Chenjia Town Construction noted that the installation of PV modules and wind turbines require additional policy support in order to encourage developers to apply clean energy technologies to residential structures.

Moreover, Chongming's government may also have to begin considering whether the island's ecology will be able to support an increasing number of tourists.

During a three-day holiday in April, the island hosted around 60,000 tourists, six times the number from the previous year.

Only time will tell if Chongming Island can remain an ecological Eden just a stone's throw from the hustle and bustle of modern Shanghai.

-TW