In the new cold-war on energy, China wins.

During the Cold War (1945-1991), China was the only major country that stood at the intersection of the two superpower camps, a target of influence and enmity for both the United States and the Soviet Union. Today, China is creating a path to sustainable energy that could conceivably make it the most powerful nation in the world.
In the United States, electricity networks still do not integrate clean energy into their power delivery mechanisms while in China those who do not integrate will face major fines. Thus, the burden of getting China’s green power percentage to 15% by 2020 will rest squarely on the shoulders of grid administrators — not on wind and solar power plant operators.

Currently, in both China and the United States, regional utilities tend to operate too independently for a large-scale national clean energy roll-out to be implemented smoothly. However, China’s central government asserts its control thus catalyzing market changes through the development of sustainable energy capabilities.

Obviously, the Chinese know that smart grid technology, like intelligent load metering, can only be maximized if all resources are linked to end-users in residential and commercial areas. Not so, in the U.S. Capitalist system, especially one with remnants of anti-regulatory fever, left over from the Ronald Reagan years, still waging war in Congress. Here in the U.S. clean energy companies can only hope that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will assert its oversight rights to build an integrate energy system.

China isn’t just linking power supplies. The government just announced plans for 42 high-speed rail lines that will run nationwide at an average of 217 miles per hour. They know that speed is a key factor in pulling commuters and long-haul transit customers out of their cars and off of planes, both of which are heavy polluters that will hamper China’s carbon intensity targets. Unlike U.S. rail policies, Beijing planners are committed to getting rail done right.

Examiner