The UK and China: What is the Future of our Power?

As the world barrels towards an environmental tipping point, science searches for a source of clean energy. Fossil fuels have long been known to be harming our world, but a viable replacement has still remained elusive in supplying the planet with its ever-growing desire for power. Now, more so than ever before, this crisis seems to be at its worst. With rises in energy prices throughout Europe and the destruction of progress due to lockdown, we all need a solution fast. But what is it? And how will we come across it?

According to Tessa Koumoundouros, a journalist for Science Alert, the “holy grail” of clean energy resources is Fusion Reactors. The idea behind Fusion Reactors is to harness the energy released by the creation of larger atoms from smaller atoms, the same process that powers all stars and our Sun, by smashing atoms of Hydrogen together at extremely high temperatures. China and the UK both lie at the forefront of this technology. The UK’s Joint European Torus Reactor (JET), commissioned in 1983, was one of the first operational Fusion Reactors to run tests on the theory and has been leading the way ever since. Meanwhile, China’s Academy of Sciences Reactor became the most powerful one to date in June 2021, when it reached a temperature of 160 million degrees Celsius and was nicknamed ‘China’s Artificial Sun’. These developments are a result of countless hours and even years of research and testing, and the competition between organizations within the field has only strengthened the progress. That is why it seems both the UK and China are so important to our future power sources.

Despite this, Fusion Generators still seem to be decades away from being a realistic and functional source of power. However, whilst competition is a useful tool to make progress, as is collaboration. By combining the resources and knowledge of our two nations’ teams, faster improvement could be made. Many believe that this truly is the solution to our energy problems, so collaboration is a necessity. This could halt the damage we have been making to our environment and be a positive step forward. Not only that, but a collaboration in science could strengthen bonds forged between the two countries. Being able to move forward together signifies unity in what has been a troubled relationship at times between the UK and China.

On the other hand, some would argue that Fusion technology is too far from completion for it to be considered as an option for a problem that is affecting the world

right now. That is why people turn to other renewable sources such as Hydroelectric for answers. When it opened, the Three Gorges Dam in the Hubei province of China caused a lot of controversy. Many believed that it was a huge resource for clean energy, providing 100 Terawatt hours of electricity per year. To put that into perspective, that alone is about a third of the energy the whole of the UK uses in the same period of time. But there are those who disagree, saying that it is as damaging to our environment as it is good for it. It pollutes the Yangtze by increasing sediment levels in the river, created a human migration problem by disrupting towns, villages and cities through flooding and has even been known to trigger earthquakes. Despite all of these facts, it does provide a striking example of how clean energy can be created and how devoted the Chinese government is in duty to produce it. At the same time, the UK has endeavored to use this form of energy production to its utmost. Over the past decade up to 40% of all UK renewable power comes from Hydroelectric sources, over double the worldwide average.

This highlights that Hydroelectric power could be a positive and viable way forward for the world, as both the UK and China have shown it can produce enough electricity to keep up with the world’s high demand. But we need to advertise it as a means for progress and invest in its development over seemingly unrealistic options, such as Fusion. Moreover, China and the UK need to find ways of building these stations without causing even more environmental and humanitarian damage. The building of the Three Gorges Dam terrified the world away from seeing Hydroelectric plants as a realistic option, with most people focusing on its negative impact and not on all of the clean energy it has produced since. By proving to the world that this idea can be performed in an environmentally friendly way, the UK and China can both lead the way in terms of clean Hydroelectric energy.

Furthermore, other established forms of energy supply seem to be a more likely solution to this problem. The most common sources of renewable energy are solar and wind. The UK is currently sixth in the world in terms of solar and wind use, getting 29% of all its power from these two sources and is looking to increase that number. Meanwhile, China is the world’s leading producer of wind power, but is lacking in terms of solar electricity with just 3% of its power coming from it. As a result of this, China has plans set for 2030 to create a giant 450 gigawatt solar and wind power plant in the Gobi Desert. This shows intent moving forward from both countries and, seemingly, a plan to deal with this energy crisis.

However, what cannot be overlooked is the drastic set-back to

clean energy production due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Lockdown had a huge impact on the global economy, with all countries being put under massive financial strain. As a result, many countries have abandoned their plans for renewable energy sources and resorted to increasing their use of fossil fuels in order to reduce costs. China was a main protagonist in this process. Over the past two years, it has reportedly increased its coal production by 13%, having had this number decreasing in recent years. Nevertheless, the UK also increased its dependency on fossil fuels by 12% over 2021. This heightening in fossil fuel usage has ruined good work done by these countries over the past decade, but I think it is clear to see that they have now responded in a positive way. The COP26 environmental talks emphasized how the UK and China both value their impact on the planet and their responsibility that they have for their impact and shows positive intent from both countries moving forward. This allows the world to see that the unity that these talks provided can allow for the creation of solid plans for the future.

But there is still a lot of work to be done. China is currently the ‘centre of gravity’ for global carbon emissions. It produced almost 3 times the amount of Carbon emissions than the US during 2020 and almost 4 times the amount produced by the whole of Europe combined. However, hopefully China can learn something from the UK. Having been the epicentre for the start of the industrial revolution, the UK is now a leader in reducing its emissions, cutting down by 44% since the 1990s. That is the type of change needed from China in a short space of time. Moving forward, a coalition between the UK and China could help both countries in understanding how to best reduce their emissions, especially from the perspective of China.

Despite this, it is difficult to treat China as an entire country. The fact that it is split into many different provinces all with differing attitudes towards the environment makes it difficult to police emissions across the whole of China. Cities such as Beijing and Chong Qing are highly industrialized and as a result produce a significant amount of the whole of China’s emissions. However, places such as Hai Nan province, a centre for tourism in China, are highly ecologically friendly. For instance, according Deng, the mayor, the two biggest pollutants in his province are exhaust fumes from cars and dust. That is a huge contrast to the great swathes of smog that sometimes enshroud China’s megacities. So it seems like a difficult task to control these emissions.

Hopefully these two countries, with their wealth of resources and knowledge, can help one another to secure a better future in clean energy usage. By looking towards the future

of electrical technology, we can see the path that everyone must take in order to achieve clean energy. That path must be walked in unison for the process to work. Countries need to coalesce and figure out our options and then, most importantly, carry out what is necessary to do. Whether it be in fusion reactors, hydroelectric plants or solar and wind, measures need to be taken in order to get there in the fastest and best way possible, which I believe will be by realizing our shared responsibilities for the safekeeping of this planet and unifying to bring to life our solutions.

By Max DM (U6)