China is open to renewable power

Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday 1/10/2008 Page: 7

THE solar energy magnate and Chinese-Australian billionaire Zhengrong Shi has not made his fortune by being pessimistic. While China's attitude to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions loomed large over Ross Garnaut's climate change report, Dr Shi believes China is well on the road to becoming a renewable energy superpower.

Dr Shi, an Australian citizen, last night returned to the University of New South Wales, where he used to teach, to address graduating students. He said he would not be surprised if China did commit to binding targets for reducing its soaring emissions at the United Nations climate negotiations in Copenhagen next year. "I think China will be heavily involved. It is already very high on the Government agenda," he said.

Dr Shi said China's President, Hu Jintao, personally intervened in his nation's climate change debate. "He has called for action from every company, he said every family should act. So I think there is substantial discussion and understanding of the issue in China," he said. "I think Australia is actually very powerful on this, because China relies on the export of iron ore and coal. I think these things can perhaps help convince China to move forward." Dr Shi called for the Federal Government to heed Professor Garnaut's suggestion that a national feed-in tariff be introduced to encourage people to adopt renewable energy.

The tariff works by paying people with rooftop solar panels more than the market rate to feed electricity back into the power grid. Similar schemes in several European nations have fuelled a boom in renewable power. Dr Shi's solar panel manufacturing empire, SunTech Power, could benefit handsomely from a tariff, but he insists any government subsidy would only need to last a few years because solar costs will soon be competitive with coal.