For 200 years, Dezhou in east China's Shandong Province has been famous for braised chicken cooked in soy sauce with special spices.

But today the city of 5 million people has shifted its specialty from cuisine to solar energy.

Here a State-level pilot energy-efficient building project has been under construction since January. The first four of 12 apartment buildings, each either 12 or 15 floors, will be handed over to buyers in June next year, said Cheng Muwen, deputy director of the city's development and reform commission.

The compound, which will eventually contain 1,900 households, will have solar-powered heating and air conditioning systems installed in the roofs of the apartment blocks.

Power supply for lighting in the compound's public areas and gardens will be produced by photovoltaic devices.

"The Dezhou City government requires all real estate projects to incorporate energy-saving measures, or they will not be approved," Cheng said.

In the past decade, Dezhou has gradually gained a reputation as a solar-powered city. Street lamps and lighting in the parks are equipped with small-scale solar panels, and solar-powered water heaters reflect the sun on apartment building roofs. In addition, the city is powering traffic lights using the sun's rays.

"About 80 percent of residential buildings in our city are equipped with solar water heaters," said Xu Jie, director of the energy saving office of the city government.

The company's power

Dezhou, positioned between latitudes 36.24 and 38 degrees north, does not receive any more sunshine than its counterparts.

Major support for the city's energy programs comes from approximately 100 private solar-power enterprises in the city. They contribute to 16 percent of China's solar-powered water heating and have an annual revenue of 5 billion yuan.

Himin Group, the largest, which claims it sells 3 million square meters of solar-powered vacuum tubes a year, has made its own office building an eco-friendly model of solar energy applications.

Green plants grow on the roof, solar panels hang on outside walls, and windows are equipped with highly efficient heat-absorbing glass and blinds that automatically open or close according to temperature changes inside.

"There is no traditional air conditioning system but it is still very cool inside," said Han Changming, a Himin employee who has an office in the building.

Cold water runs through pipes in the ceiling, fueled by solar power. In the winter, warm sunshine outside will be turned into heating inside via the same pipes.

"The air from the ventilation system is gentle and comfortable like natural breezes," Han said.

Besides the office building -- with about 800 employees - there is a five-star hotel with 500 rooms powered by the same energy-efficient arrangements.

The hotel, which started trial operations Thursday, will be the main venue of the fourth World Solar Cities Congress in September next year.

These are part of the Himin Group's ambitious plan to build a "Solar Valley" in a 333-hectare-area in Dezhou's suburbs.

"We are aiming to build a world-class research and manufacturing center of renewable energy as well as a center that promotes energy-saving ideas," said Huang Ming, the company's president.

Backup from central level

Located in the northwestern part of Shandong, away from more developed coastal regions, Dezhou has a long farming tradition but since the 1990s has been exploring possible methods of industrialization.

"We are very eager to develop industry but if we head in the wrong direction, the harder we work the more damage we will do," said Lei Jianguo, the city's Party chief and most senior official.

Finally, the city fathers elected for solar energy. In May, the city announced it would make itself into a low-carbon city.

It is not accidental that Dezhou is trying hard to replace petroleum and coal energy with renewable and clean forms.

Two weeks ago, the State Council (the Cabinet) pledged China would try its best to reduce energy intensity by 20 percent during 2010 and increase the ratio of renewable energy to 10 percent of total energy consumption.

It decreed long-term development strategies developed by governments at all levels should include plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This week in Beijing, China's top legislature is reviewing a draft resolution on climate change, which will accelerate the country's attempts to tackle the pressing challenge of global warming.

Prof. He Jiankun, deputy head of the national expert commission for climate change, said in an interview with Xinhua: "As China is on its way to realizing industrialization, consumption of petroleum and coal will continue increasing and so will greenhouse gas emissions. That's why we are so eager to develop renewable and clean energies."

He said the supply of renewable energies had increased by 60 percent from 2005 to 2008, but he did not give figures.

Despite the work being done in the area, many factors have been holding back the wide application of renewable power sources such as solar energy.

"Builders of most existing high-rises in big cities did not consider solar energy applications in advance and it is very difficult to equip an existing building with solar devices after it has been built," Huang Ming said.

Cost is another problem. "It does not cost much to have solar water heaters but it costs twice as much to build an entity like our office building," he said.

Qi Jianguo, an economic and environmental policy researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) said, besides the cost, another weak point was the instability of power grids as solar generators could not produce energy at night.

"China still needs to work hard to update technologies in this field. And developed countries, which are leading research, should lend a hand," he said.

As one of its international efforts, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has chosen two Chinese cities, Shanghai and Baoding in northern Hebei Province, as pilot areas for low-carbon building.

The WWF will help the cities develop energy-efficient building experience and renewable energy applications suitable for conditions in China.

(Xinhua News Agency August 27, 2009)