XPost: alt.stupidity, rec.arts.dance   
   From: No_email_for_you@wahoo.com   
      
   Tracey12  wrote in   
   news:Xns9FF3DAFF174AEiif@94.75.214.39:   
      
   > (Always trust ignorant right wing regressive luddites to fall behind.   
   > You can always keep them content by giving them a gun.  It's like a   
   > pacifier for a baby.  They would rather believe propaganda from Muslim   
   > owned Fox News than scientists)   
   >   
   > Is clean tech China's moon shot?   
   > Gerard Wynn   
   > DAVOS, Switzerland   
   > Wed Jan 27, 2010 7:21pm EST   
   >   
   >   
   > DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - So far, wind turbines are not Sputnik.   
   > But one day they could be.   
   >   
   > Davos: China  |  Davos   
   >   
   > The global race to develop clean technology is not just about who can   
   > build the best solar parks or wind farms. It is also shaping up as a   
   > contest between Chinese-style capitalism and the more market-oriented   
   > approach fancied by the United States and Europe.   
   >   
   > The question comes down to this: will China's highly capitalized   
   > command-and-control economy trump laissez-faire in a low-carbon shift   
   > that is widely portrayed as the next industrial revolution?   
   >   
   > The failure in Copenhagen to agree to replace the Kyoto Protocol with a   
   > new global climate treaty when it expires in 2012 has thrown the focus   
   > on national measures. And by almost all accounts, the Chinese are coming   
   > on strong.   
   >   
   > Beijing's top leaders have made clear their intention to have their   
   > nation dominate this new industry, up and down the value ladder. And in   
   > their quest for the prize, they are not burdened by concerns facing   
   > their Western counterparts -- such as the impact of wind turbines on   
   > landscapes, higher energy prices for consumers, or investor returns.   
   >   
   > "Developed markets need to be aware that China is gaining in this   
   > space," said David Russell, co-head of responsible investment at the 28   
   > billion pound ($45 billion) British universities pension fund, the   
   > Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).   
   >   
   > The recession has made it tougher for Europe and America to effect   
   > meaningful climate policy change. And with most major nations piling on   
   > debt to stimulate flagging economies, politicians likely will find it   
   > harder to earmark additional voter money for clean technology.   
   >   
   > Instead, recession-hit Western economies are hoping the private sector   
   > can plug an estimated worldwide $150 billion annual funding gap to avoid   
   > more extreme droughts and floods.   
   >   
   > But investors almost always follow the returns, and if the performance   
   > is not there, they are not likely to risk their capital. For example,   
   > Britain's USS allocates about half a percent of its assets to low-carbon   
   > and renewable energy funds, not including its investment in conventional   
   > energy companies, which themselves will have some green tinges.   
   >   
   > It's hard to imagine the West filling the clean tech funding gap if   
   > pension funds -- which are as influential as they are big -- don't pony   
   > up more.   
   >   
   > Russell says he would like to do more, but like other fund managers he   
   > has an obligation to pension holders. He and other fund managers say   
   > they won't allocate more to green because their first duty is to   
   > guarantee payouts for their members, and while clean tech stocks can   
   > yield decent returns, they are often small and risky.   
   >   
   > Since a trough in global equities last March, energy efficiency stocks   
   > have risen 126 percent and clean energy and technology by 88 percent,   
   > compared with wider global stocks' 70 percent, a Deutsche report found   
   > this month.   
   >   
   > But there are limited opportunities for investors. Oil majors, for   
   > example, dwarf the asset value of green companies, and cleantech funds   
   > can't move the dial for the big funds whose participation is necessary   
   > to close the funding gap.   
   >   
   > Advantage, China?   
   >   
   > Fortunately for the West, it's not so simple.   
   >   
   > WINDY PLAYING FIELD   
   >   
   > The global wind industry highlights diverging tactics between China and   
   > the West in developing important new markets.   
   >   
   > China is leapfrogging global wind power rankings with a combination of   
   > aggressive growth targets and domestic support. It has doubled its   
   > entire installed capacity each year since 2005, according to the Global   
   > Wind Energy Council (GWEC).   
   >   
   > This month, the British government announced plans for 32 gigawatts of   
   > offshore wind by 2020 -- more than a third of its entire present   
   > electricity generating capacity now.   
   >   
   > The plan also depends on 100 billion pounds of increasingly finicky   
   > private capital. And this is an election year.   
   >   
   > "I think it will happen," said Benjamin Sykes, head of renewables   
   > technology at the UK government-funded Carbon Trust, which advises   
   > British companies on how to reduce their carbon footprint. "It's   
   > do-able."   
   >   
   > Others are less sure. "I don't think it's achievable without a big   
   > redirection of investment focus," said investor Tom Murley, at private   
   > equity firm HgCapital.   
   >   
   > Murley runs a 300-million euro infrastructure fund focused on renewable   
   > energy projects in western Europe, in wind power, biogas and solar. The   
   > fund has combined debt and equity assets worth over 1 billion euros.   
   >   
   > "Will the capital flow to this sector? That's the big question mark.   
   > Offshore wind is still relatively new, as yet we don't really know how   
   > that equipment is going to perform in the long-run, whether that's   
   > really going to be a good investment," said Murley.   
   >   
   > As he and other investors see it, British policymakers have to make a   
   > choice: either create bigger incentives for investors to underwrite   
   > offshore wind power or impose additional taxes on fossil fuels, which   
   > would make carbon-based energy less profitable.   
   >   
   > CHINA INC.   
   >   
   > Europe has the world's clearest, most ambitious renewable energy law,   
   > most analysts agree. A European Union directive requires that the   
   > 27-nation bloc get a fifth of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.   
   >   
   > Germany is leading the charge there. It has the world's biggest solar   
   > power market because of aggressive market incentives that even Beijing   
   > has sought to mimic.   
   >   
   > But China has its own distinct advantages. First and foremost is a "cozy   
   > relationship" between state-owned utilities, grid companies and banks,   
   > said Steve Sawyer, secretary-general of the Global Wind Energy Council.   
   >   
   > China is expected to announce a target soon for about 150 gigawatts of   
   > wind power by 2020, which it would hit if it simply maintained present   
   > annual capacity growth, said Sawyer. The country also has two turbine   
   > makers, Sinovel and Goldwind, in the world top 10, according to the   
   > International Energy Agency.   
   >   
   > Tao Wang, a climate policy expert with WWF China, said the country would   
      
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