This Sunday, December 13th, Daniel Foa, Co-Founder and Director of 51Sim had the pleasure of traveling by boat from Copenhagen Newport Pier to the Middelgrunden Wind Farm outside Copenhagen, in the company of 51Sim ’s celebrity ambassador, Li Bingbing and the students who recently won 51Sim ’s SISC competition.

"This is indeed a very memorable experience," said Li Bingbing.

The 51Sim team, with ambassador Li Bingbing, attended a three hour tour to Middelgrunden Wind Farm, one of 11 off-shore wind farms scattered along the Danish coastline. Middelgrunden was built in 2001 and is one of the world’s major off-shore plants, providing 3% of Copenhagen’s electricity. The tour boat circled Middelgrunden’s 20 turbines and made visible 100 Swedish turbines spinning in the distance.

The turbines they saw were 100 meters tall and 76 meters wide and produce 2 MWh per hour,  enough energy for about 35,000 households.

Wind power is becoming an important aspect of COP15 and the future of renewable energy. More than 350 wind industry leaders are participating in COP15 and helping bring wind power to the forefront of negotiations. GWEC Secretary General, Steve Sawyer, recently said, “Wind power will play a key role in combating climate change.” With the potential to save as much as 10bn tons of CO2 by 2020, wind power is a promising step, the 51Sim team and ambassador, Li Bingbing, were excited to learn about and eager to support.

The wind power industry in Denmark is particularly exciting as it is a paradigm of how renewable energy can provide for the environment and the economy. It has decreased CO2, while increasing jobs. The wind power industry in Denmark started after the first oil crisis in the 1970s. Denmark needed domestic solutions to foreign fossil fuel dependence as well as an economic boost and they turned to wind power. Now, Denmark is the first country where wind power is 20% of the electricity and in 10 years could be 50%. Denmark has 5,100 wind turbines total —- 78% of which are onshore, 22% offshore -— contributing to 20% of Danish electricity production. More than 90% of all offshore wind turbines worldwide come from Danish companies, causing wind turbine production to be a staple to the Danish economy.

The Danish wind power industry offers hope as the backdrop of the COP15 conference and countries around the world are starting to follow their example. Wind power is present in more than 70 countries. There are wind projects with the potential of 33,000 MW together under construction, 22,000 of which are in China. By 2020, China plans to install wind-power equipment capable of generating nearly five times the power of the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest producer. Not only is China fostering so many wind projects, but China is using the most efficient transmission lines, progress that has not been utilized in many developed countries like the U.S.

The efficacy of wind power was demonstrated in 1990, when California’s wind power plants offset the emission of more than 2.5 billion pounds of C02, and 15 million pounds of other pollutants. The impact of China’s wind power investment is exciting, if California could accomplish so much, so quickly.

51Sim is excited to help as China moves forward with its wind power plans, stimulating environmental and economic change. Daniel Foa, Li Bingbing, and the students were inspired by the success of this renewable energy industry, had a wonderful time on the boat, and along with 51Sim are eager to pursue wind power as a renewable energy source.

As COP15 begins, The Beijinger recognizes 51Sim as confident that despite the challenges the conference will face and the skepticism it is met with it will be a success. The Beijinger distinguishes 51Sim’s efforts and applauds the informative and exciting Q&A between Maurice Strong and the students present at the 51SIM press conference. Let us hope that 51Sim’s press conference was just the beginning of a great two weeks. We wish 51Sim’s Daniel Foa, Chinese Award-winning actress Li Bingbing (SISC’s ambassador), Maurice Strong (former UN Under Secretary-General), the winners of SISC and AIESEC as well as CYCAN student organizations a succesful trip in Copenhagen and hope the conference promises a brighter future.

Winning Teams, SISC Celebrity Ambassadors Li Bingbing and Maurice Strong

This Monday, Beijing-based 51Sim successfully held the “Final Round” and “Award Ceremony” for its first Sustainable Innovation Student Competition (SISC), where 36 Chinese university finalists participated. SISC is a competitive program designed to encourage students all over the world to develop imaginative proposals for sustainable solutions to alleviate climate change. It is open to university students throughout China, generating interest in over 280 cities in China, and 30 different countries. During the CGI Asia Meeting in Hong Kong in December 2008, where SISC was selected as a key “commitment to action” by the Clinton Global Initiative Asia, Former President Clinton said that these initiatives “will bring real, measurable change to millions of lives in Asia and across the world” (See the speech here).

The competition was divided into 3 categories: Green Transport, Energy Efficiency, and Renewable Energy, the winning teams being C-Fingerprint, Green E and Green 4U respectively. The 12 winning individuals received substantial awards including RMB 100,000 seed funding to implement their projects, and travel to “COP15” — the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December 2009. In our next delivery, you will be able to have knowledge of what each of the winning proposals consist of.

SISC Celebrity Ambassador, Li Bingbing accompanied by former Under Secretary General UN, Maurice Strong, presented the awards for the winning teams. The judging panel consisted of Ken Yeung -CEO of TOM Group Limited-, Gao Yunlong -Deputy Managing Director of Camco International-, Wu Zhimin -Director of Sales & Marketing of Giti-, Daniel Foa -51SIM Co-Founder-, and Yuan Jinhong -Climate Change Officer for the State Forestry Administration-.

Winners

“The SISC aims to foster teamwork, creative thinking and increase climate change awareness,” says 51Give Co-Founder Daniel Foa. “51Sim’s ambition is to encourage everyone in China to be environmentally aware, to make eco-friendly decisions and to help find innovative solutions for sustainable development.”

SISC is a 51Sim initiative in partnership with 51Give, the British Council– the United Kingdom’s international organization for cultural relations and education opportunities (operating in China as the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy), and Camco — a global leader in the business of climate change and sustainable development. All of them were present during the ceremony as well as the rest of our major supporters: Camco International, PingAn Group, and Martin Bloom -Chairman of the UK-China Venture Capital Joint Working Group-.

The British Council, recognizes that young people will be the most affected by climate change and that they care passionately about their future world. “Climate change is a global problem, which requires a global solution,” says Rebecca Nadin, “and we help young people to work together across the globe to develop ideas that can help tackle climate change and provide a platform for them to voice their opinions to decision makers.”

51Sim Co-Founder Hiu Ng says this program demonstrates that a large percentage of young people want to drive innovation and a harmonious economy. “Young social entrepreneurs in the private sector can contribute to big topics such as employment and innovation in a country, and can play an effective role in delivering programs that can help with national social welfare,” she says. “We are working to encourage more government partnership and support for social enterprises that also contribute to improving the environment, reducing carbon, alleviating poverty and enhancing access to clean energies in China.”

The SISC Final Round and Award Ceremony will be screened on China Central Television’s “Green Space” program in January 2010.