China’s renewable energy plans are leading the way in sustainable power generation. With a focus on offshore wind turbines, China aims to replace fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions. This shift towards cleaner energy is expected to peak coal consumption by 2026.
China’s Renewable Energy Plans
MingYang Smart Energy president Qiying Zhang outlined how floating and fixed offshore wind turbines are replacing fossil fuels in China. In August the company installed the world’s largest single-capacity offshore wind turbine, the MySE18.X-20MW, in Hainan, which can generate 80 million kWh annually, offsetting 66,000 tons of CO2.
Kubik’s Low-Carbon Building Material
Kidus Asfaw, founder and CEO of Kubik, an Ethiopian construction company that creates a low carbon, low-cost building material rivaling cement using just recycled plastic, had two positive messages. His company’s energy was very cheap, he explained, because Ethiopia’s energy supply is almost 100 percent renewable.
A Lesson from History
Kraftwerk Berlin, the venue for the Energy Tech Summit with Octopus Energy, offered delegates a powerful lesson from history. Built by the East German government in 1961, the same year construction on the Berlin wall began, the vast turbine hall was hastily assembled to manage a crisis—the wall forced the Communist east and capitalist west to build grids that were not connected. Obsolete at reunification in 1989, it was a stark warning that walls and divisions are a choice the world can’t afford to make when faced with the urgent need to transition from fossil fuels to renewables.
The Biggest Risk for Europeans
Martin Schulz, former president of the European Parliament, told the room, “The biggest risk for Europeans is political parties who tell citizens that lone nations are the future in a globalized, interdependent world.”
Solutions from Around the World
Ukraine’s energy supply was described as vulnerable by Yuliana Onishchuk, CEO and founder, Energy Act for Ukraine Foundation. She explained how losing one nuclear power plant this summer resulted in 20 percent of their generation capacity being lost.
Innovations in Building Design
Francis Kéré, a Pritzker Prize–winning architect, described innovations devised in building a primary school in Burkina Faso that overcame poor lighting and ventilation through creating bricks from local clay mixed with cement that kept the heat out, and using a clay and brick ceiling to circulate cool air without needing air conditioning.
Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing Air Taxis
Dirk Hoke, CEO of Volocopter, picked up on this point. The German company builds electric vertical take-off and landing air taxis. “They are quiet, safer than a helicopter, and sustainable,” he explained. “When the Kaiser saw a car, he said it was temporary and would never replace the horse. And we know how that ended.”
Formula One Driver Kevin Magnussen
Formula One driver Kevin Magnussen recalled that when he started driving just over 10 years ago, the engines were 2.4-liter naturally aspirated V-8 fuel-guzzlers. “Today, it’s hybrid engines, and we’ve actually got more horsepower than we did when I started.”
Julia Poliscanova
Julia Poliscanova, senior director at clean energy lobby group Transport & Environment, pointed out that electric vehicles are the biggest opportunity today, because cars are the vastest bulk of emissions in the transport sector, the emissions are still growing, and the replacement technology is already there.
Martin Schulz
Martin Schulz, former president of the European Parliament, told the room, “The biggest risk for Europeans,” he explained, “is political parties who tell citizens that lone nations are the future in a globalized, interdependent world.”
A Powerful Lesson from History
A Sobering Moment
Sitting in the turbine hall of the derelict power station built because of political isolationism, it was a sobering moment. Then Kidus Asfaw, founder and CEO of Kubik, an Ethiopian construction company that creates a low carbon, low-cost building material rivaling cement using just recycled plastic, had two positive messages.
A Message of Hope
His company’s energy was very cheap, he explained, because Ethiopia’s energy supply is almost 100 percent renewable. Coming from the global south he had faith in the younger generation. “I recently had a client sign up who’s a cement manufacturer—so they are a competitor and yet he took our product,” he recalled with a smile. “I asked him why he did it. He said, “because my kid would kill me if I didn’t.” That does make me very optimistic, that young people want a better future.”
A Warning from Ukraine
Yuliana Onishchuk, CEO and founder, Energy Act for Ukraine Foundation, described how vulnerable a modern nation’s energy supply really is. Up next, explorer and entrepreneur Bertrand Piccard is preparing to fly around the world in a hydrogen-powered plane.
China’s Solutions
China seems to offer many solutions. Although coal consumption is climbing, it will peak in 2026 as renewables come online, with MingYang Smart Energy president Qiying Zhang outlining how floating and fixed offshore wind turbines are replacing fossil fuels.
