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Read the following passage and choose the correct answer.
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THE GREEN REVOLUTION IN CHINA
A couple of weeks ago. China's highest government body published their conclusions from the second research session on continental climate change over a period of twelve months. Due to China's new global role and the number of unprecedented environmental issues in China, the Chinese prime minister was very keen to raise climate change as an important issue at the upcoming G8 summit in Hokkaido, Japan.
It should be highlighted that the Chinese central government also had a similar meeting and that China is a rapidly industrializing country with new coal-fueled power plants opening every week. China is like a terrifying carbon-guzzling monster. As a result of thirty years of industrialization, China now has the highest level of carbon dioxide emissions in the world. Carbon dioxide emissions are increasing by up to eight per cent a year. The EU achieved a twenty per cent reduction, but China's emission rate was twice as much approaching the 2010 IPCC deadline for carbon dioxide emissions reduction.
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However, it could be misleading to put too much emphasis on these statistics. A non- governmental organization (Climate Group) newspaper report presents a slightly different picture.According to the Clean Revolution in China, China is a nation that is more than aware of its environmental issues but also has the potential to achieve a second miracle in 30 years.
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The environmental price of the first "miracle" was that Chinese people always saw their daily lives. That's why most of the policies are related to energy efficiency, energy-saving and other alternative energy sources. Those policies have already been met with some concern.
The private sector's strength and growth support the central government in implementing laws like the National Renewable Energy Law of 2006. This law sets targets for increasing the share of energy from new renewable sources from 8% to 15% by 2020, with a guaranteed minimum of 3% from biomass, solar, and wind power.
Wind and solar power have both been successful, although their origins differ. China currently has 6 gigawatts of wind energy. ranking below Germany, the US, Spain, and India. However, it is projected to reach 100 GW by 2020, according to some estimates.
Wind power successfully shows that, with central government aid, China is ready for new policies, subsidies and advanced technology. This situation also has a role in the domestic market.The amount of electricity produced by wind farms can be a burden to fund.
Even though western countries invented an open marketplace set to dominate in China, there were few domestic incentives for solar power. In the global solar photovoltaic cell market, it is second only to Japan and growing fast. In China, the solar market has been a small business, because the cells are so expensive. This puts pressure on the government to rapidly follow up
on their policies, for example, the role of the Climate Group is important in developing domestic markets.
However, the image of new coal-fueled power stations still looms large as they are opening every week. It is hard to imagine that China has achieved a 10.5 per cent of growth rate without such stations in the last quarter. However, how many people actually know that China has been closing its small power stations over the last couple of years? Step by step China is reducing its small power stations, first the 50-megawatt ones then the 100-megawatt ones and next will be the 300-megawatt power stations.
The Chinese government supports advanced clean coal technologies, including supercritical and ultra-supercritical coal stations. They are also researching carbon capture methods and focusing on the Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) technology, which converts coal into synthetic gas for power generation.
11 What prompted the Chinasa prima ministar to raise climate change as an important issue?
