Impacts Of Renewable Energy Regulation On The Structure

Issues in the Chinese energy sector

Discuss about the Impacts Of Renewable Energy Regulation On The Structure.

In modern day and age, energy makes almost all forms of human activity possible. Without it, most things would come to a standstill, economies would crash, and all forms of crises would ensue. Such is the importance that energy has on today’s society. Its bearing felt across the board from national security to world economy (Jiang, 2008).

Due to this, there exists a need for all countries to be able to provide safe, sufficient and reliable energy to its residents. This is done by exploitation of various energy sources that are available to the country in different proportions. This is called energy mixing.

Because of the developing total populace, riches and the high energy interest for both household and business utilize. The requirement for power has expanded by a current study the 1.3 billion individuals don’t connectivity to power. As of now the greatest supporter of the National framework in China is coal control. As indicated by World Coal Association It represents 41 %. Coal isn’t a clean energy source, this is a direct result of its propel contamination impacts both air and water contamination .consequently we can make a determination this isn’t an enduring energy answer for the nation as we move to interest for all the more clean energy(Chen and Chen,2011).

Supportability of an energy source might be investigated at with a few measurements. Therefore this turns into an unpredictable adjust of profitable in deciding the most important energy source (Wang et.al 2011).

The economics of manufacturing and goods consumption require the utilization of energy, and the utilization of energy influences nature in the types of water contamination, air contamination and discharge of CO2 that causes a worldwide temperature alteration. Moreover, the utilization of energy from expendable assets can make energy deficiency later on(Yuan et.al 2001). The answers for the issues of energy and ecological corruption incorporate diminishing the utilization of energy underway and utilization, expanding the utilization of energy-sparing and earth amicable strategies underway and utilization and advancing mechanical advancements that will lessen the utilization of energy per unit of yield (decrease energy force or increment energy effectiveness) or diminish contamination per unit of yield to accomplish and later on. To accomplish and given the condition of innovation, we can manage the utilization of energy by law or by monetary impetuses to confine the discharge of contaminations (Chen and Chen, 2011).

Intervention Measures And Their Justification

China was vastly affected by the global oil crisis which happened in the year 1973. (Ian, 2011). The crisis upset the political and economic landscape throughout the world. The crisis led to the creation of the International Energy Agency.

Some of the issues that still the Chinese energy sector include;

• Over-reliance on coal energy which is generally considered to be an environmental pollutant.
• Hiking of the per capita energy consumption due to economic development and a growing middle-class population. As it stands, china is the second highest consumer only after the United States of America and the third largest importer of oil in the world.
• Over dependency on the importation of oil from Oil Producing and Exporting Countries, since almost half of its oil consumed comes from the Middle East. There is a need for self-reliance in terms of energy production.
• China lacks an adequate oil reserve to serve its needs when fluctuations occur in the global oil marker.
• China has also been affected by rampant fluctuations in oil prices, which has resulted in slow economic growth due to losses made from high energy costs.
• Climatic changes have also adversely affected water levels in hydro-electric power producing plants increasing energy costs in the country.

The characteristic elements of the Chinese energy sector can be as follows; (Jiang, 2008)

• Aims at energy consumption minimization
• Extreme efficiency
• Environmental protection
• Diversification of energy sources
• Technologically advanced
• Compliance with international statutes

In China, the following are different sources of energy can be well utilized to alleviate her energy problem;

1. Commission more coal power plants.

Over the years, coal has been the country’s largest source of energy. China is also a major coal and coke exporter in the world. Coal is only imported for metallurgical reasons in China. New coal reserves being found could potentially make coal a reasonably reliable power source for China.

However, its future is highly dependent on technological advancements in the field of carbon capture and storage. This is because; coal is a carbon-based fuel which releases undesired carbon (IV) oxide gas into the atmosphere. The gas has been proven to contribute to global warming adversely affecting global climatic zones (Yuan et.al 2001)

Advantages of Coal as an energy source	Disadvantages of coal as an energy source
Coal is arguably well geographically distributed in China.	Generating power using coal involves the release of excessive amounts of carbon (iv) oxide to the environment and other pollutants.
Production costs can be relatively easily predicted and they do not fluctuate dramatically.	Should not be used for energy generation units that operate at a peak capacity.
Carbon capture and storage technology have the made this resource a cleaner source of energy over the years.	Carbon capture and storage technologies adversely affect plant thermal efficiency.

1. Explore and exploit more Natural gas reserves.

Natural gas is touted to be one of the cheapest, sustainable and safe energy sources in the world. China could accelerate its strides into natural gas consumption. The advent of shale gas exploitation will only increase China’s available options in energy.

Advantages of Natural gas	Disadvantages of Natural Gas
It is a clean source of energy	Its accessibility is a huge hindrance since it is mostly situated in very remote areas or offshore
It is a high-efficiency fuel and is also flexible in terms of use.	Its exploitation requires a substantially high investment cost in  distribution and transport
More reserves are being found due to reassessments and the advent of shale gas.	Its exploration usually involves uneconomically long supply routes and expensive infrastructure

1. Construct more Hydro-electric power producing plants.

China is the third largest hydro-electricity market in the world (Council, 2013). It is one of the most utilized sources of energy in the world accounting for about 15% of the global power produced. This source has flourished all over the world in terms of its exploration due to policies that support utilization of renewable energy sources and huge penalties for carbon (IV) oxide emitters.

Identification of more strategic hydro-power plant sites should be done to support the effort (Junfeng and Runqing,2003).

Advantages of Hydro- electric energy	Disadvantages of Hydro-electric energy
It incurs very low operational expenditures	Has a huge capital expenditure required to set up.
It is a clean source of energy since there is no carbon (iv) oxide emissions. In addition, no energy is wasted hence is highly efficient.	One requires having a considerably large tract of land for installation of hydro-electricity plants and dams.
It is surprisingly a very simple technology that has been proven to work over time.	It is often subject to resistance by the public due to relocation and effects of microclimates.

1. Build a nuclear power plant

Over the years, since the commissioning of the first nuclear reactor in 1954, the world, in general, has slowly been drifting away from this source of energy. This is due to the long approval periods that come along with such projects and also huge installation costs.

However, if meticulously planned and safely executed, it can prove to be a highly reliable cheap source of energy.

Advantages of Nuclear energy	Disadvantages of Nuclear energy
It is a very efficient energy source	It’s accompanied by uneconomical compliance costs and inhibitive capital expenditure.
The costs of electricity are very predictable and also moderately cheap over the entire service period of the plant.	Negative perceptions from the public due to past calamities are very inhibitive. There are also strong concerns in regards to the mode of final waste disposal.
It’s a carbon-free energy source	There is a high liability costs in cases of nuclear calamities.

1. Install solar farms across the country.

It is basically the largest energy resource available on earth. It can be harnessed in different forms either, directly via solar radiation or indirectly through wind energy, hydro-electricity, and bio-energy and wave energy in the oceans.

Sources of renewable energy

It is expected to grow immensely due to increasingly cheaper technologies that are making energy production costs more economical. High-efficiency solar cells are expected to completely revolutionize this subsector of energy generation. China should capitalize on this emerging market to reap the immense benefits.

Advantages of solar energy	Disadvantages of solar energy
It is very reliable since it does not dependent on moving parts for electricity generation.	Power may not be continuously generated, especially during periods of very low or low sunlight,
It’s easy to install and dismantle and the process consumes very little time.	It cannot be integrated to the national grid.
It is an excellent solution for very isolated regions.	Poisonous materials are used to make solar cells that make up solar panels.

1. Set up more onshore wind turbines

China has the highest capacity in the world in wind energy production with 62 GigaWatts annually at 2011. (Council, 2013). This source of energy is known to be so huge that if only 1% of the resource globally was utilized, it would surpass the energy production in all generation plants combined. It is, therefore, a high potential resource that is severely under-utilized.

If the previous success that China has had on this sector is anything to go by, more wind power farms should be commissioned and placed under operation.

Advantages of Wind Energy	Disadvantages of Wind energy
It employs a very simple technology. Onshore installations and dismantling take a very short period of time.	Its interment energy generation is a huge drawback since it might fail to be a reliable source.
It’s a free source of energy and hence there a zero fuel costs. There are also no waste costs.	It’s hard to integrate it into the national grid.
It is a clean source of energy suitable for remote regions.	It can only work reliably when integrated with other systems of power generation.

1. Build a  bio-energy plant

This is an energy source that mainly involves the conversion of the chemical energy stored in the biological material to produce heat energy, mechanical power or liquid/gaseous based bio-fuels.

Materials like fuelwood, pulp, paper, wood chips, and black liquor fall in this category. In China, these materials can be easily and economically locally sourced. It is, therefore, an attractive sub-sector that should receive a proper share of investments for its advancement.

ADVANTAGES OF BIOENERGY	DISADVANTAGES OF BIOENERGY
No need to import the resource since it is locally available.	Operational costs like transport and biological material processing can prove to be highly inhibitive
It employs simple and time-tested technologies for combustion.	Energy generation involves the release of poisonous nitrogen and sulfur based gases like Sulphur (iv) Oxide
Bio-fuels can be used in the transport sector hence have a ready market.	It seems counter-intuitive to use water and food for energy consumption as opposed to using it for human consumption.

1. Increasing the budgetary allocation in the energy sector for development of infrastructure

A better infrastructure translates to faster and efficient energy transmission network. This improves the reliability of some sources of energy like natural gas and crude oil.

1. Strive to reduce the per capita energy demand

This can be done by increased energy efficiency Resources could be invested in Research and development to come up with high-efficiency power generation and consumption systems. For instance, losses that occur during electricity transmission account for up to 12% and at other times, the figure is higher. High-efficiency systems could make energy cheaper which would definitely positively affect the economy

1. Invest in the installation of offshore turbines

China has a vast area of land with shallow shorelines. She is also a world leader in wind power generation. These can be utilized to increase the amount of energy the country produces in a single year. The past success that the country has had in this sector should act as the impetus to more investments in the sector. (Fichaux, 2009)

1. Explore the option of carbon capture and storage.

Carbon capture and storage is a technology that involves trapping carbon (IV) oxide in large quantities, for safe disposal in locations that cannot be adversely affected by the greenhouse gas. These locations could be naturally occurring geological formations like oil fields.

It is a promising effort to prevent excessive stocking of the atmosphere with the gas.

For calculation of the weighted scores for the different intervention measures, different weight factors were assigned for various selection criteria.

• Low energy cost was assigned a weight factor of 20%. This can be owed to the fact that it leads to improvement of the economy due to reduced production costs.
• Global warming is a real global concern, and as such, there is a need for countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For that reason, clean energy sources had a weight factor of 20%.
• Raw material availability, reliability, the simplicity of technology, ease of installation and the time it would require for installation were all assumed to have a weight factor of 10%.
• The efficiency of the energy production system was, on the other hand, assumed to have a weight factor of 20%. Since low efficiency but high-cost, systems are considered wastes of valuable resources energy

The following formula was used to obtain the weighted score for each alternative,

Weighted score= Cumulative score of (Weighting Factor * Score of the alternative)

The score of an alternative against a performance measure was estimated on a scale of 1 to 10.

The table below shows the weighted scores for both countries

Weighted Decision Matrix
WEIGHT	20%	20%	10%	20%	10%	10%	10%
Option	LOW COSTS	CLEAN	AVAILABILITY	HIGH EFFICIENCY	RELIABILITY	SIMPLICITY OF TECHNOLOGY	EASE AND TIME OF INSTALLATION	WEIGHTED SCORE	NO.
Invest in new infrastructure	8	2	5	0	6	0	4	4	xi
Reduce Demand	7	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	xii
Build a Nuclear Power plant	8	4	5	9	9	1	2	6	iv
Install onshore wind turbines	9	9	9	4	2	7	8	7	ii
Install offshore wind turbines	4	4	8	4	2	7	5	5	ix
Build a Coal Power plant	8	2	7	6	6	5	3	5	ix
Invest in Carbon Capture and Storage	3	10	5	6	5	4	4	6	iv
Increasing the budgetary allocation	4	6	7	7	7	5	2	6	iv
Install solar farms across the country	9	10	9	4	4	4	7	7	ii
Build a  bio-energy plant	6	6	8	5	5	5	3	6	iv
Explore and exploit more Natural gas reserves.	6	6	7	6	7	7	5	6	iv
Construct Hydro-electric power plants	8	10	8	8	9	9	3	8	I
FOR CHINA

China is still considered to be a developing nation, and therefore we shall compare it with a developed country like the united kingdom

The United Kingdom is a developed country and as one would expect, it has higher per capita energy consumption than the world average. In the year 2014, the average per capita energy consumption of the United Kingdom was 34.82 MWh. The global per capita consumption in 2010 was 21.54 MWh. (WBG, 2014)

Due to their high energy consumption tendencies, The UK has over the years explored various sources of energy both renewable and non-renewable to arrive at an arguably sustainable energy mix. It has

Decision Matrix
WEIGHT	30%	20%	10%	20%	20%
Option	LOW ENERGY COSTS	CLEAN ENERGY	AVAILABILITY OF RAW MATERIAL	HIGH EFFICIENCY	RELIABILITY	WEIGHTED SCORE	NO.
Invest in new infrastructure	9	6	6	8	7	8	ii
Build a Nuclear Power plant	7	3	6	9	9	7	iv
Install onshore wind turbines	9	9	9	5	1	7	iii
Invest in Carbon Capture and Storage	2	8	7	6	4	5	viii
Increasing the budgetary allocation	5	6	7	7	7	6	vi
Install solar farms across the country	9	10	9	4	4	7	v
Build a  bio-energy plant	5	6	6	5	5	5	viii
Explore and exploit more Natural gas reserves.	6	6	6	6	6	6	vi
Construct Hydro-electric power plants	7	10	9	9	9	9	I
FOR THE UK

Discussion And Conclusion

For China, the best alternative would be the Construction of a hydro-electric power generation plant with the highest weighted score of 8. China is still considered to be a developing country despite the strides in the world economy that she has made. For the United Kingdom, the best alternative was also calculated to be Hydropower with a weighted score of 9.

Energy goals of China are to enhance a holistic approach in the international arena to rebuild power generation, exploitation, distribution, organization, and its knowledge systems.

Energy Goals of the United Kingdom are to generate one-fifth of its energy from renewable sources.

Hydro-power seems to be the best alternative for both the countries. The cost per KWh   ($/KWh) of Hydro-electricity in China is estimated to be eight cents while in the UK. It is projected to be to be twenty cents.

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