Biggest clean energy producer, biggest polluter: What’s behind China’s green contradictions?

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He Jijiang, executive deputy director of Tsinghua University’s Research Centre for Energy Transition and Social Development, described this programme as “one of China’s signature energy transformations”.

“(Photovoltaics) are built in the poorest villages, and income generated from the power stations is reserved for the villagers to address poverty issues,” he said.

SEPAP has benefited more than 400 million people, according to China’s National Energy Administration. And by 2020, the programme increased national solar power capacity by 26 gigawatts, exceeding the initial target of 10 gigawatts.

This April, China’s solar capacity reached 430 gigawatts, which is triple that of second-placed United States, with 142 gigawatts.

China has invested heavily in other renewables too. In 2012, the country saw US$67.7 billion (S$90.2 billion) of clean energy investment. A decade later, this shot up to US$546 billion.

Today, China is the world’s biggest producer of renewable energy, and not only solar energy.

It has more than 4,300 wind farms in operation or development. Last year, these generated 46 per cent more wind power than all of Europe, the second-largest wind generation market.

Despite these achievements, there are inherent contradictions. China is the world’s biggest climate polluter and permitted more coal power stations last year than any time since 2015.

Why is this the case? The programme Insight finds out the true story of China’s green energy revolution and whether the world has something to worry about.

WATCH: China’s contradiction: World’s biggest clean energy producer and biggest polluter? (45:21)

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Amid a battle to break China’s grip on metals powering earth, Southeast Asia counts the cost

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But isolating neodymium from its mineral is when things get tricky. Rare earths tend to occur together — often, all 17 in the same ore — and as they are chemically similar, they are harder to process than other metals.

“What makes (them) so ‘rare’ is the complexity of extracting them,” said Sahajwalla.

While rare earth projects are spread across the world, China stands out, with 70 per cent of production last year. The US makes up 14 per cent, followed by Australia, Myanmar and other countries, US Geological Survey data showed.

And even the US must export its rare earth raw materials to China before they can be used in the manufacture of magnets.

“There are enough deposits in the world that can supply rare earths. But … the critical point is who controls the processing technologies,” said Marina Yue Zhang, an associate professor at the Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney.

“China is the only country in the world that’s developed the capacity to cover the entire value chain of 17 rare earth elements. … China has developed the advantages in not just technology, but also waste management.”

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Save money, be cool: Indonesian project shows how ‘cool’ roofs can help Asia beat the heat

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The project will set aside 10 per cent of production for corporate social responsibility purposes, which would cover about 14,400 sq m annually, she shared. The product is free for public buildings like schools, orphanages and religious institutions, she said.

For commercial customers, the product, marketed under the BeCool brand, is still cheaper than other brands on the market, she added. “We just want the product (to be widely adopted) in Indonesia and … at an affordable price.”

A set of 20 kg of primer and 20 kg of coating costs 2.73 million rupiah (S$247), which can cover 120 to 160 sq m in area, depending on the absorbency of the roof material.

A low-cost housing unit in Indonesia — at an average of 36 sq m — with a clay roof would need 13 kg of primer and coating each, estimated Beta.

With the US$750,000 prize money to be disbursed in five tranches over three years, the plan is also to set up a national laboratory to study the properties of building materials, such as how much heat they reflect and absorb, she said.

AIR CIRCULATION, BUILDING DESIGN ALSO MATTER

Since the Money Mind video appeared on YouTube, more people have visited BeCool’s website and contacted the manufacturer, which is a company registered under UPI, she said.

Purchases in Indonesia are usually made via WhatsApp, and the company also receives requests to distribute the product overseas and is looking into it.

Although the BeCool coating has been well received, Beta has had some less positive feedback from journalists who said indoor temperatures have not dropped as much as desired.

She cautioned that cool roofs may not be a surefire way to significantly reduce indoor temperatures as other factors are also at play, such as the building’s design, orientation and quality of air circulation.

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