【转载】The New Sputnik 中国悄悄迈向绿能大国

(By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, Published: September 26, 2009, from The New York Times)
Most people would assume that 20 years from now when historians look back at 2008-09, they will conclude that the most important thing to happen in this period was the Great Recession. I’d hold off on that. If we can continue stumbling out of this economic crisis, I believe future historians may well conclude that the most important thing to happen in the last 18 months was that Red China decided to become Green China.

Yes, China’s leaders have decided to go green — out of necessity because too many of their people can’t breathe, can’t swim, can’t fish, can’t farm and can’t drink thanks to pollution from its coal- and oil-based manufacturing growth engine. And, therefore, unless China powers its development with cleaner energy systems, and more knowledge-intensive businesses without smokestacks, China will die of its own development.

What do we know about necessity? It is the mother of invention. And when China decides it has to go green out of necessity, watch out. You will not just be buying your toys from China. You will buy your next electric car, solar panels, batteries and energy-efficiency software from China.

I believe this Chinese decision to go green is the 21st-century equivalent of the Soviet Union’s 1957 launch of Sputnik — the world’s first Earth-orbiting satellite. That launch stunned us, convinced President Eisenhower that the U.S. was falling behind in missile technology and spurred America to make massive investments in science, education, infrastructure and networking — one eventual byproduct of which was the Internet.

Well, folks. Sputnik just went up again: China’s going clean-tech. The view of China in the U.S. Congress — that China is going to try to leapfrog us by out-polluting us — is out of date. It’s going to try to out-green us. Right now, China is focused on low-cost manufacturing of solar, wind and batteries and building the world’s biggest market for these products. It still badly lags U.S. innovation. But research will follow the market. America’s premier solar equipment maker, Applied Materials, is about to open the world’s largest privately funded solar research facility — in Xian, China.

“If they invest in 21st-century technologies and we invest in 20th-century technologies, they’ll win,” says David Sandalow, the assistant secretary of energy for policy. “If we both invest in 21st-century technologies, challenging each other, we all win.”

Unfortunately, we’re still not racing. It’s like Sputnik went up and we think it’s just a shooting star. Instead of a strategic response, too many of our politicians are still trapped in their own dumb-as-we-wanna-be bubble, where we’re always No. 1, and where the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, having sold its soul to the old coal and oil industries, uses its influence to prevent Congress from passing legislation to really spur renewables. Hat’s off to the courageous chairman of Pacific Gas and Electric, Peter Darbee, who last week announced that his huge California power company was quitting the chamber because of its “obstructionist tactics.” All shareholders in America should ask their C.E.O.’s why they still belong to the chamber.

China’s leaders, mostly engineers, wasted little time debating global warming. They know the Tibetan glaciers that feed their major rivers are melting. But they also know that even if climate change were a hoax, the demand for clean, renewable power is going to soar as we add an estimated 2.5 billion people to the planet by 2050, many of whom will want to live high-energy lifestyles. In that world, E.T. — or energy technology — will be as big as I.T., and China intends to be a big E.T. player.

“For the last three years, the U.S. has led the world in new wind generation,” said the ecologist Lester Brown, author of “Plan B 4.0.” “By the end of this year, China will bypass us on new wind generation so fast we won’t even see it go by.”

I met this week with Shi Zhengrong, the founder of Suntech, already the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels. Shi recalled how, shortly after he started his company in Wuxi, nearby Lake Tai, China’s third-largest freshwater lake, choked to death from pollution.

“After this disaster,” explained Shi, “the party secretary of Wuxi city came to me and said, ‘I want to support you to grow this solar business into a $15 billion industry, so then we can shut down as many polluting and energy consuming companies in the region as soon as possible.’ He is one of a group of young Chinese leaders, very innovative and very revolutionary, on this issue. Something has changed. China realized it has no capacity to absorb all this waste. We have to grow without pollution.”

Of course, China will continue to grow with cheap, dirty coal, to arrest over-eager environmentalists and to strip African forests for wood and minerals. Have no doubt about that. But have no doubt either that, without declaring it, China is embarking on a new, parallel path of clean power deployment and innovation. It is the Sputnik of our day. We ignore it at our peril.

多数的人想必认为，历史学家20年后回顾时，会把这波大衰退列为2008至2009年之间的头条大事。我不赞成。我认为，如果我们能勉强摆脱这波经济危机，未来的史学家可能论定过去一年半所发生的头号大事是红色中国决定成为绿色中国。

是的。中国领导人已决定提倡绿能。这是迫于现实需要下的决策，因为太多中国人无法呼吸、游泳、垂钓、耕作，甚至无法喝水。这是因为以煤炭及石油为基础的制造成长引擎产生严重污染所致。除非以更洁净的能源系统驱动成长，并扶植更多无烟囱的知识密集产业，中国终将死于自己的成长。

当中国认为它迫于现实需要必须注重绿能时，请注意。不只是你购买的玩具来自中国，往后你买的新世代电动车、太阳能板、电池及节能软体也全会来自中国。

我认为，中国这项决定堪与苏联1957年发射全球第一枚卫星「史波尼克号」的盛事相提并论。苏联的创举震惊全球，艾森豪总统据此认为美国的飞弹科技已落后于苏联。从此以后，美国对科学、教育、基础建设及网路建构投下巨资，网际网路是其最终的附带产品之一。

各位，史波尼克已再度升空：这次是中国要发展洁净科技。美国国会至今仍认为，中国将试图以制造更多污染的方式超越我们。这种看法已不合时宜，中国现在正设法以绿色科技超越我们。中国正致力于以低成本制造太阳能板、风力发电设施及电池，并为这些产品开辟举世最大的市场。

遗憾的是，我们还在原地踏步。这有点像史波尼克升空后，我们认为它只是流星。我们的政治人物多半不思急起直追，而且仍然囿于美国永远第一的幻想。

工程背景居多的中国领导人并未以太多时间讨论全球暖化课题。他们知道，数条中国大河源头的西藏冰川已开始融化。他们同样明白，即使气候变迁的说法不实，人类对可再生能源的需求势必有增无减，因为估计至2050年，全球人口将增加25亿人，其中许多人将渴望能够拥有高能源的生活方式。在这种世界中，能源科技的规模将与资讯科技相当。中国有意成为主要的能源科技大国。

生态学家布朗表示：「过去3年，美国一直是风力发电研发领域的领导者。估计至今年底，中国将在这方面超越美国，速度快到我们无法想像。」

无锡尚德公司已是举世最大的太阳能板制造商。我日前见到该公司创办人施正荣。他谈到，在他创办尚德公司后不久，附近的中国第三大淡水湖太湖因污染严重而沦为死水。

施正荣表示：「这场灾难发生后，无锡市委书记对我说，『我要支持你，将这项太阳能产业发展到规模150亿美元。我们接着就可以关闭本地区的污染及耗能产业』。关于这项课题，他是中国的新一代创意革新领导人之一。有些事情已经改变。中国明白，它无力消化这一切废弃物。我们必须追求无污染的成长。」

当然，中国一定会继续以廉价且高污染的煤炭追求成长，继续逮捕太热心的环保人士，而且为搜刮木材与矿物不惜掠夺非洲的森林。

不要怀疑这一点，然而更不要怀疑，中国同时已悄悄迈向洁净能源部署与创新的新境界。这是当前的史波尼克。如果我们漠视它，后果严重。

（作者Thomas Friedman是纽约时报专栏作家）

【2009/09/28联合报】