CHINA'S CLEAN REVOLUTION
BLOGPOST, Thu 21 October 2010 10:35, Jim Walker
The clean revolution is underway in China
My latest experience of participating in the judging panel of the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge already seems like a distant memory. It was, as ever, an inspiring experience and the third time I have been lucky enough to participate. In addition to meeting the 2010 contestants I caught up with previous winners Igor Kluin (Qurrent, 2007) and Dean Gregory (Power Collective, 2009) both of whom seem to be developing their businesses apace. I've also recently been back in touch with Eben Bayer from Ecovative (the 2008 winner) who is branching out in unexpected directions with Greensulate, the highly innovative styrofoam substitute derived from fungal and organic waste material. I'm often asked about what's 'cool' in the world of clean technology, and can immediately recite the list of Green Challenge winners as examples in point.
Right now I'm in a cramped airplane seat on my way back home from China. I've spent the week with our Beijing team discussing the exciting plans and programmes The Climate Group has underway in the Middle Kingdom, particularly building up climate policies and strategies for some of the major companies and cities. This year's Green Challenge winner Scot Frank (SolSource) won over the judges with a solar heater designed for deployment in remote regions in China. This week I spent time in some of the less remote parts – the cities of Wuxi and Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province (close to Shanghai), both of whom are driving the implementation of highly energy efficient LED lighting in their streets and public areas. I was bowled over by Wuxi's plan to convert 10% of its streetlights to LED by 2015, until I met the Yangzhou delegation and learned that they are shooting for 100% in the same time frame...
Our LightSavers programme is working with ten other cities worldwide on LED street lighting and many are still at the 'try out' stage, where we are assisting their lighting managers in identifying the best products and working out how to finance their scale-up – from FDR driveway in Manhattan via Blackfriars Bridge in London to downtown Kolkata. But there's no shortage of ambition in Jiangsu Province. That's not to say the 'clean revolution' is a done deal in China – as the government drives subsidies and policy support for low carbon technologies, it is often the performance of the technology that becomes the bottleneck. This presents opportunities for North American and European companies who sometimes have the better technology to set up in China, and many are doing so directly or through joint venture with State-owned companies.
For those of you not tracking the minutiae of UN climate negotiations, there is an international debate about 'technology transfer'. How can developed countries provide access to low carbon technology for emerging economies, protect their own IP and meet local aspirations for clean economic development? This debate has a very real face in places like Wuxi and Yangzhou, whose policymakers want to encourage the local LED economy but need their citizens to have access to functional lighting at the same time.
By the way, in case I am falsely encouraging you to despair in the West, I should point out that Los Angeles deserves an honourable mention. It now has the world's largest LED pilot project with 30,000 units. We toured our other city partners around the pilot on a 'LED Safari' in late September – many went home with a significantly revised world view on what is possible.
Meanwhile, in other sectors, transfer is already happening in the opposite direction – Wal-mart is installing Chinese Suntech solar panels (incidentally also made Wuxi – do you see the pattern emerging?) on its American roofs and Coda is bringing Chinese lithium ion battery technology to its Californian electric vehicles. At the Shanghai Expo earlier this year I was given a tour of the pavilion owned by Broad, China's leading green air conditioning manufacturer. In just a few months Broad's enigmatic CEO, Zhang Yue, started a green building subsidiary and built a few prototype buildings, then Broad assembled a five storey, energy efficient, earthquake-proof building at the Expo in 24 hours. This is innovation on Chinese time.
So, every time I leave China I come back daunted and optimistic in equal measure. It's important to keep that optimism. In our remarks from the judging panel in Amsterdam we pointed out that in a downbeat, post-Copenhagen world we need to keep Green Challenge's green entrepreneurs in mind as we weigh up our children's odds on climate change. There are enough smart, dedicated and ambitious people out there and they're generating significant momentum towards a better future. There are positive stories from government as well – even in unlikely locations like Wuxi. These stories are important. Doubters in the clean revolution, beware.
Jim Walker
