Abstract
This chapter explores alternative energy development in rural Chinese communities. Access to energy has been a critical issue for rural communities and local industry development, especially in remote mountainous regions due to inconsistent power supply, lack of modern energy services and supporting infrastructures. The rural poor are often disproportionately dependent on fuel wood and solid biomass, causing environmental degradation, reduced productivity and the eventual discount of income generating opportunities. While the United Nations declared 2012 to be the ‘International Year of Sustainable Energy for All’, previous case studies reveal that socio-economic growth is driven by the bundle of useful energy works and service systems rather than by simple raw energy input. The chapter provides the backdrop of world energy access and Chinese renewable energy situations, with a literature review concerning the inter-relationship of energy, poverty and development. The fieldwork in China’s mountainous regions exposed practical challenges for rural development starting from basic energy service delivery to poverty alleviation. Finally, the chapter proposes to deepen the current framework for energy development in the rural context, addressing energy, poverty, and development issues with synergistic green entrepreneurship and business models to improve community livelihood and social capitals.
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Notes
- 1.
“450 Scenario: A scenario instated in the World Energy Outlook, which sets out an energy pathway consistent with the goal of limiting the global increase in temperature to 2 °C by limiting concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to around 450 parts per million of CO2” (http://www.iea.org/publications/scenariosandprojections/).
- 2.
“New Policies Scenario: A scenario which assumes broad policy commitments and plans announced by countries, including national pledges to reduce GHG emissions, plans to phase out fossil-energy subsidies, and other measures to implement these commitments which are yet to be identified” (http://www.iea.org/publications/scenariosandprojections/).
- 3.
China’s energy consumption in 2011 accounted for 20.3 % of the world’s total (IEA, 2011), from the composition of its domestic primary energy production; coal power took up 81.3 %, crude oil 10.4 %, natural gas 4.5 %, hydro 3.2 %, nuclear and others 0.3 % (China National Bureau of Statistics, Department of Energy Statistics, 2011).
- 4.
SH in China defines installed capacity ≤ 50 MW with an extension hook on local grid networks to balance additional power generated or emergency power supply. The salient benefits include off-take tariff and low construction costs with an investment return usually less than 10 years. In Zhejiang, from the period of 1994 to 2002, a total of US$1.33 billion was invested for 1,058 MW, more than 70 % shareholdings from private enterprises. The benefits include scalability, cost effectiveness (ROI 10 to 15 % p.a.), the off-take tariff, cheaper construction costs, longer service life and operating hours (i.e., 3,000–4,000 h annually in Zhejiang Province) (Zhao & Zhu, 2004, ICSHP).
- 5.
& 6 Source: Complication of China policies and Regulations on New Energy And renewable Energy (1986–2011).
- 6.
Golden Sun PV subsidy program ran through from 2000 to 2011 on a project-by-project approval base. The objective of the program is to boost PV industry through fiscal subsidies, scientific and technological support and market incentives. The program offers 70 % capital subsidies for off-grid installations in remote areas and 50 % capital subsidies for grid-connected installed capacity >300 kWh.
- 7.
Mtce is the abbreviation of million tons of coal equivalents and 1 Mtce is equal to106 tce.
- 8.
& 9 Source: Complication of China Policies and Regulations on New Energy and renewable Energy (1986–2011).
- 9.
Universal energy access covers basic services but not productive uses for income-generating activities (basic service includes cooking, heating, lighting, and other household electric appliances such as TV and radio sets.).
- 10.
From an open seminar by Prof. Von Weizsäcker in March, 2009, Tokyo, about resource management and the 3Rs for a sustainable Asia with a focus of decoupling consumption from growth in the context of sustainable resource management.
- 11.
REPI (Resource and Environment Performance Index) was developed by the Chinese Academy of Science following the principle of eco-efficiency (see UNESCAP, 2010). The ‘REPI’ indicator system measures regions’ (or the country’s) level of resource use, by quantifying the intensity of resource consumption (or pollutant discharge performance of resource) in relation to GDP output).
- 12.
For more SHP information, check http://www.hrcshp.org, http://www.inshp.org
- 13.
Community participatory elements are items derived from the CBD (Community-based development) targets such as empowerment, income generation, and shared value.
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Zhu, Y. et al. (2015). Alternative Energy Development in Rural Chinese Communities. In: Transforming Rural Communities in China and Beyond. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11319-7_5
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