China's Energy Crunch

With oil prices and pollution levels soaring, China is on a mission to reduce its dependence on oil and diversify its energy supplies. While a few hinterland villages are warming up to compost-fueled stoves and solar-powered ovens, most of the country still relies on industrial-age resources such as coal (to produce electricity) and low-quality gasoline and diesel (to power the nation's transport systems). But alternative energy sources are under development:

NATURAL GAS:
Current Percentage of overall power production: 2.9%
Percentage by 2010: 5%
MAJOR PROJECTS: The 4,000-km West-East gas pipeline is expected to begin delivering 5,000 cubic meters of gas annually from next year from the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang to Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta area. Anxious to clean up its sooty air in time to host the 2008 Olympics, Beijing has purchased some 1,800 buses that run on compressed natural gas.

NUCLEAR POWER:
Current Percentage: 1.2%
Percentage in 2010: 2-3%
MAJOR PROJECTS: China is adding capacity faster than any other country in the world, and plans to build about two reactors per year for the next 16 years, at a cost of up to $2 billion per reactor. By 2020, China's energy mandarins estimate that there will be enough nuclear power capacity to generate 36,000 megawatts—sufficient to meet peak summer electricity demand for New York.

HYDROPOWER:
Current percentage: 7.7%
Percentage in 2010: 24-29%
MAJOR PROJECTS: The controversially gargantuan Three Gorges Dam will be the biggest power plant in the world when it is completed in 2009. China is also building another major hydroelectric project, the Longtan hydropower station on the Pearl River, which is slated for 2009 completion.

WIND AND OTHER RENEWABLES:
Current Percentage: 1.5%
Target for 2010: 10%
MAJOR PROJECTS: The nation's biggest wind farm will be built in Pingtan county in Fujian province. The first phase started in 2000 with a capacity of 6 megawatts. Most of China's wind farms currently provide electricity for remote villages in the far west. The west is also home to the country's largest solar power station, which is located on 3,000 sq m of a livestock farm in Xinjiang. When fully operational it will provide electricity for more than 10,000 local farmers. Although scientists say China has the potential to meet a significant portion of its electricity needs through wind power harnessed in the western deserts, making such an enterprise commercially and practically viable is a huge challenge.

AUTO INNOVATIONS:
By 2010, gasoline and diesel for cars, trucks and buses are expected to account for nearly half of the country's oil demand. China is beginning to respond. Last month, Beijing approved its first fuel-efficiency standards for passenger vehicles, which will begin to take effect in 2005 and will be more stringent than those in the U.S. Last month Toyota announced plans to manufacture the Prius, its hybrid gasoline-electric car, in China, where it hopes the clean vehicle will find a significant market. Beijing's government, meanwhile, is working to develop electric cars before 2008, and GM is working with the Shanghai Automotive Group on a hybrid bus design.