Blog of RENAULT NISSAN Alliance

China is turning to natural resources to generate electricity. In 2012, the country’s wind farms generated more electricity than nuclear power plants for the first time. And while the difference – two per cent – was small, it is likely the gap will widen dramatically over the next few years as wind surges ahead.

Since 2007, nuclear power generation rose dramatically in China, with 10,200 megawatts of installed capacity and a further 28,000 megawatts under construction by March 2011. But the tragic events of March 2011 in Japan, when a massive earthquake spawned a tsunami that hit the nuclear facility of Fukushima, caused the Chinese authorities to suspend new reactor approvals and conduct stringent safety reviews of all current and future plants.

Since then, China has embraced wind power. Output from this most natural and sustainable source has grown by 80 per cent since 2007, with developers connecting 19,000 megawatts of wind power to the national grid in 2011 and 2012 alone. Currently the country generates 75,600 megawatts of wind power with a target of 100,000 megawatts by 2015… and a remarkable 200,000 megawatts by 2020.

And that bodes well for the take up of electric vehicles in China – with electricity generated from a totally sustainable and plentiful source and zero tailpipe emissions, the often badly polluted air in cities might finally become fit to breathe.

Find out more on Earth Policy Institute website

Picture: Wind power plants in Xinjiang, China. Creative commons