Talk about embracing the future! While China's environmental record won't get them off Santa's naughty list anytime soon (granted, they would probably take the coal), you can't say they don't have any interesting green projects going on at the moment.
Take for instance the example of Rizhao, a coastal city of nearly three million on the Shandong Peninsula in northern China. Almost every single building or flat surface is covered with solar panels! Most all are solar water heaters. In total, the city has over a half-million square meters of solar water heating panels, the equivalent of about 0.5 megawatts of electric water heaters!
This incredible achievement is made even more amazing when one considers the per capita income of Rizhao is lower than most other cities in the region. According to the article, the city was able to take advantage of renewable energy through strong political backing, investment in R&D, and the birth of local suppliers. Subsidies were provided by the government that side stepped end-users and instead went directly into research and development for solar hot water. All of these factors combined brought the cost of solar hot water down to the same level as an electric one; about $190.00.
Here's a great excerpt from the article that pretty much says it all,
"In Rizhao City, which means City of Sunshine in Chinese, 99 percent of households in the central districts use solar water heaters, and most traffic signals, street and park lights are powered by photovoltaic (PV) solar cells. In the suburbs and villages, more than 30 percent of households use solar water heaters, and over 6,000 households have solar cooking facilities. More than 60,000 greenhouses are heated by solar panels, reducing overhead costs for farmers in nearby areas."
Rizhao's commitment to renewable energy sources has also earned it accolades. It's consistently in the top ten cities for air quality and was recently designated as an Environmental Protection Model City by the State Environmental Protection Agency.
If a city in China can embrace renewable energy with great success, how about programs for geographically-similar cities in the U.S.? I would love to see Phoenix, San Diego, or Los Angeles pursue efforts like this. Rizhao isn't the only city with beautiful sunshine, but it sure seems like they're the only ones taking advantage of it.