Energy-hungry China warms to solar water heaters

[jpak]

http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=ousiv&storyID=2006-06-04T012846Z_01_PEK298574_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESSPRO-ENERGY-CHINA-SOLAR-DC.XML

DEZHOU, China (Reuters) - Dusty Dezhou was relegated to the footnotes of Chinese history for centuries, known mainly as the place where a Filipino king died.

<snip>

At least 30 million Chinese households now have one and last year the country accounted for around 80 percent of the world market, said Eric Martinot, visiting scholar at Beijing's Tsinghua University. "We are at 15 to 20 percent annual growth and I don't see that slowing down.

<snip>

Cheap and effective enough to make economic sense to middle-class urbanites, Huang's basic models start at around 1,500 yuan ($190), although for a luxury home this could rise to 18,000 yuan ($2,250).

With technology so efficient they can work at temperatures well below freezing and under cloudy or smog-choked skies, they soon pay for themselves, he says.

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[cliss]

1. A great story.

I couldn't help but notice the part where this Chinese innovator points out that oil will hit a peak and then start declining.

"One of my professors told me that petroleum resources would only be valid for 50 years, so I thought maybe this is a sunset field," he said with a grin.

Washington better take a close look at this development. China may figure out how to solve the energy dilemma, LONG before Bush and Cheney figure out what's happened. They will still be of the extractive mindset which includes waging wars and killing people, all for the Black Gold.

This confirms what I've always thought: a country's most important asset is its people.

Thanks for posting, jpak.

[Old and In the Way]

2. You see stainless steel tanks on the roofs all over Southern China.

I don't think it is a new idea for them.