Some highlights from The Climate Group’s newly published “China’s Clean Revolution III: Cities” Report

 

Low Carbon Cities

In 2008, early mover cities had already began to specialized in certain low carbon industries: Baoding in Hebei province focussed on renewable energy technology, while Nanchang in Jiangxi Province specialized in green lighting.

In July, 2010, China announced eight cities and five provinces as its ‘low carbon economy pilots’.

 

City Stories

 

Greening through Regulation

Shenyang in Liaoning province uses several tools to promote a low-carbon economy. This includes “ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems in its building codes, subsidies of solar PV installation, and investment subsidies to green multinationals corporations.

 

Government-Business Partnerships

In Wuxi, Jiangsu province, the municipal government works with Chinese solar PV manufacturer Suntech  to install 100 megawatts of solar generating capacity within three years.

 

China’s Solar Energy City

Through extensive industrial expansion in Dezhou, Himin Solar Group has created the largest solar-powered city in China, with solar-powered water heaters in 90% of its residential buildings.

 

Reducing Landfill Emissions

Shanghai’s Laogang landfill biogas project processes 8000 tonnes of municipal waste a day, generating biogas that can satisfy the electricity demand of 100,000 households and save 37,800 tonnes of greenhouse gases.

 

Renewable Energy Innovation

Cities are even exploring less mainstream types of renewables, including marine energy in Qingdao, Shandong province, and geothermal energy in Shenyang. Geothermal energy has been installed in a quarter of Shenyang’s building area, reducing 1.5 million tonnes of coal equivalent consumption.

 

Green Transport

 Learning from the Velib cycle scheme in Paris, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province has launched a bicycle rental system with 50,000 bicycles rented in 2000 stations across the city. Similar systems are being replicated across China. Across China, there are also half a million liquefied natural gas (LNG) busses in over 80 cities and more than 2000 new energy vehicles.