Sustainability and Solar Industry in China, Essay Example

China is known for its high fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emission. However, recently the country’s leadership signed the deal called “agreement Xi Jinping” (Clifford), committing to reduce the country’s CO2 emission and carbon footprint. Given that China is highly reliant on non-renewable energy, and its economy is based on manufacturing for export, this agreement seems to be the first move in the right direction. According to the briefing document of the agreement (The White House), “China intends to achieve the peaking of CO2 emissions around 2030 and to make best efforts to peak early and intends to increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 20% by 2030. In the light of the above agreement, the below review will analyze the business practices, sustainability and stewardship initiatives described in the Wall Street Journal article: “Writing China: Mark Clifford, ‘The Greening of Asia’.

Purpose Of the Mission

The article describes how China as a country moved from producing solar panels and technologies for export to realizing the benefits and opportunities for promoting renewable energy production within the country. While the article (Clifford) does not focus on one particular company, it describes the challenges the government faces in creating a sustainable future for millions of citizens. As Te-Ping-Chen (Clifford) confirms, “It’s about four times cheaper to build a green building than to build a cold-fired power plant”, therefore, it makes economic sense for companies to implement changes and make buildings, as well as energy production more sustainable. On the other hand, focusing on the entire energy sector in China, it is important to note that they are required to comply with government targets, and officials who do not ensure that companies comply with the regulations can potentially lose their job (Clifford). As the Economist Intelligence Unit confirms, 40 percent of corporate executives say there is a need for additional regulation of sustainable practices.

Profitability

The profitability of moving towards green energy sources is questionable, according to the interview. Some companies, just like Suntech did not approach their project as a business venture, and after being listed on the New York Stock Exchange, they had to declare bankruptcy. One of the reasons why it is hard to make a profit on green energy is because it requires a large investment into research & development, technologies, when selling to customers. There needs to be a great demand for the product to ensure that production is profitable. DuPont case study (DuPont) describes how collaboration with Huanghe Upstream Hydropower Development, the company has managed to increase the lifespan and increase the energy output of the panels. Looking to increase the effectiveness of technologies is a positive approach, and can increase the profitability of green development projects.

Personal Assessment

Moving towards domestic sales of green energy related products seems to be the right move for companies. Sustainable development programs are supported by the government, and there are currently several initiatives focusing on renewable energy. The Standards for Sustainable Development (Lixin et al.) confirms that the trait to focus on exports is not suitable for sustainable development, as most products exported from China have a high energy consumption and high demand for raw materials.  While, according to Myers and Simon (534), the price of raw materials has been going down for decades, recycling raw materials is a more sustainable model. Menezes et al. (202) confirms that “waste management strategies that focus on source reduction and resource recovery, reuse and recycling have proven to be more cost effective over the long run, and they are less damaging to the environment simply because they prevent or minimize waste generation at the source”. Therefore, in order to make the products available at a more competitive price, manufacturing companies will need to move towards cheaper, and reliable energy sources and recycled materials. These companies will need to invest into solar power, therefore, companies providing the technologies can increase their domestic profits.

Responsible Use of Environmental Resources

For decades, China has been known for its high consumption of non-renewable energy. The Asian country has several well-trained engineers who could work on making green energy cheaper, and more efficient. Therefore, China could ensure that it moves towards responsible use of environmental resources, however, it is likely that the process will take a long time. Currently, the manufacturing of solar panels and batteries has a high environmental impact. As Myers and Simon (536) confirm: “we now have large and ever-increasing capabilities to reverse such trends” (greenhouse effect).

Works Cited

Clifford, M. “Writing China: Mark Clifford, ‘The Greening of Asia’” The Wall Street Journal. 2015. Web.

DuPont. “DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions Promoting the Sustainable Development of China’s Solar Energy Industry” 2010. Web.

Lixin, Y., Morrison, J., Ling, Y. and Quiner, Y. “Standards for Sustainable Development: Sustainable China Trade Strategy Project” International Institute for Sustainable Development. 2010. Web.

Menezes, Romualdo Rodrigues, et al. “Recycling of Mine Wastes as Ceramic Raw Materials: An Alternative to Avoid Environmental Contamination” INTECH Open Access Publisher, 2012.

Myers, Norman, and Julian Lincoln Simon. “Scarcity or abundance? A debate on the environment”. WW Norton & Company, Inc., 1994. Print.

The White House. “U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change” 2014. Web.