ON RENEWABLE ENERGY IN RURAL CHINA - Economics of Sustainable Energy in Agriculture - page 194

The remainder of this chapter is organized as follows. In Section 2
we analyze the present situation of sustainable energy resources and
development. Section 3 deals with the structure of energy demand in rural
China. In Section 4 we show some projections for renewable energy in
rural China, based on some alternative assumptions on income elasticities
for renewable energy. In Section 5 we discuss a number of problems for
further development of sustainable energy and the potential role of
international cooperation for the development of renewable energy.
2. THE PRESENT SITUATION OF RENEWABLE
ENERGY
China has abundant renewable energy potential and the resources are
mainly found in rural areas. The hydropower potential is 378 million
kilowatts, of which 11 percent has been developed. Biomass energy
potential, including firewood stalks and other kinds of organic wastes,
equals In China, there are about 6 million square kilometers of
land on which the level of total yearly solar radiation exceeds 600,000
Joules per square centimeter, which offers scope for solar energy. The
potential of wind energy is 1.6 billion kilowatts, of which about 10 percent
can be developed. Geothermal resources need further exploration. So far,
the reserves of geothermal energy resources explored equal the equivalent
of about 462.6 billion tons of standard coal (China Government 2000b). In
addition to extending supply of sustainable energy there is also scope for
energy efficiency improvement.
Progress has been made in the development of renewable energy in
rural China in the recent past. In 1995, renewable energy production
reached 2.6 Mtce, excluding hydropower (25.1 Mtce) and traditional
biomass (19.9 Mtce), see Table 14.1.
There are 5.25 million methane-generating pits in China, mainly in
rural areas (China Government 2000b), where methane is produced below
the soil surface. Methane production dominated renewable energy
production in rural China, accounting for 51.5 percent of total renewable
energy production 1995 (Table 14.1). Comprehensive utilization of
methane occurs in ecological agriculture in rural areas. This reflects the
availability of methane resources in rural areas and the comparative
advantage of methane production in rural China.
Solar energy in rural China includes two categories: the utilization
of solar heat and the use of solar-cells. Solar heat includes solar energy
water heaters, solar stoves, passive-type solar houses and solar energy
dryers. Solar-cells are used in telecommunication systems and in the