China
2050 energy plan
revealed
December 7 (China Daily) -
China
's
top energy think-tank chief has outlined a three-step strategic roadmap for the
development of the country's renewable energy resources through to 2050.
Han Wenke, director-general of the Energy Research Institute under
the National Development and Reform Commission, said: "By 2050, over one
third of the country's total primary energy consumption should come from
renewable energy. This is in line with the country's goal of fundamentally
changing its energy consumption structure. This will contribute a great deal to
environmental protection and help combat climate change."
Han outlined three steps for achieving this 2050 target.
By 2020, the country, through vigorously developing its renewable
energy resources, should be able to supply the renewable energy equivalent of
more than 600 million tons of standard coal to fuel its robust economic growth.
This renewable energy should account for about 15 percent of the country's
total primary energy consumption. By then, renewable energy will become an
efficient supplementary energy source to the country's energy supply system. At
the same time, the country will have developed mature renewable energy
technologies and have created even greater scope for the further development of
the sector.
By 2030, renewable energy will hold an important position in the
country's energy supply system and supply the equivalent to 1 billion tons of
standard coal, accounting for about 20 percent of the country's primary energy
consumption.
By 2050, due to a dwindling supply of fossil energy resources,
renewable energy will have further increased its share of the country's total
primary energy consumption. Han foresees that, by this point, the country will
be able to supply the renewable energy equivalent of over 2 billion tons of
standard coal, accounting for more than one third of the country's total
primary energy consumption. This will be a major boost for the country's bid to
develop a sustainable energy supply system.
Han is upbeat about the fulfillment of this strategic goal. On the
one hand,
China
has a great potential for the large-scale development of renewable energy
resources, he said. Of various renewable energy resources available, the
country's estimated wind power resource could reach several hundred million
kilowatts, whilst excellent solar power resource exists in almost every area of
the country.
Han said: "The solar energy absorbed by the land surfaces of
the country is equal to about 1.7 trillion tons of standard coal each
year."
On the other hand, he said: "The country's continuous high
economic growth and rise of the comprehensive power of the country, plus the
opening up policy and substantial improvements to the manufacturing industry,
have laid a solid foundation for us to catch up with the world renewable energy
development trend. These factors have brought our development onto the fast
track."
Implementation of the country's renewable energy law has provided a
legal guarantee for vigorous development of the industry. In the process of
renewable energy development, wind power, solar power and bio-energy will play
an important role, Han believes.
Between 2000 and 2008,
China
's wind power industry had
witnessed an average annual growth of 52 percent, whilst its installed wind
power capacity increased from only 350,000 kilowatts to 12.17 million
kilowatts. This has made the country the world's fourth largest wind power
producer, following the
United States
,
Germany
and
Spain
.
Over the coming years, the country is committed to building
large-capacity wind farms in the northwest, north, northeast regions and the
southeast coastal regions, where wind power resources are most abundant.
Since 2008, the country has worked on plans to build
10-million-kilowatt level wind farms in the Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uygur
autonomous region and the provinces of
Gansu
,
Hebei
and
Jiangsu
.
Solar energy composes of both solar photovoltaic energy and solar
heating. The country should promote the use of solar heating technology in its
constructions whilst balancing the development of solar photovoltaic industry
chain, Han recommends.
Between 2000 and 2008,
China
's solar photovoltaic battery
module production capacity rose from less than 10,000 kilowatts to 2.6 million
kilowatts, the largest such capacity in the world. Of the 30 leading global
photovoltaic battery module producers,
China
has nearly half, with 10 on the mainland and four in
Taiwan
.
Although the installed capacity of solar photovoltaic energy
facilities was only about 140,000 kilowatts last year,
China
plans to build large-scale photovoltaic
energy facilities in the northwest and north
China
regions in the near future,
substantially boosting the development of the photovoltaic energy industry.
By 2008,
China
had installed around 130 million sq m of solar water heaters, accounting for
more than half of the world's total. The country's goal is to increase the
figure to 1.3 billion sq m or one sq m per person in the near future.
With regard to bio-energy, Han said the plan was to develop
non-grain-based bio-ethanol and bio-diesel projects in the short-term, whilst
vigorously developing second-generation bio-fuels in the mid- and long-term.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/07/content_9127658.htm )
December 30 (China.org.cn) –The First World Low Carbon and
Eco-economy Conference and Technical Exposition were held recently in
Nanchang
, the capital city of
China
's
Jiangxi
Province
.
Some 286 of the world's top 500 multinational corporations sent
their senior managers to the conference, which was jointly hosted by seven
state ministries including National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)
and the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
The conference fully explored
China
's emphasis on low carbon
economy. What is low carbon economy? Why has
China
decided to develop it? What
has
China
already achieved? The deputy secretary general of
China
's NDRC, Ma Liqiang, answers
these questions.
A low carbon economy is an inevitable choice
Q: Nowadays,
China
and Western countries are stressing the development of low carbon economy. How
do we define the term?
Ma Liqiang: Low carbon economy is mainly based on the improvement of
energy efficiency, the development of renewable resources and the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions in the process of production, circulation and
consumption. To deal with the challenge of climate change and to develop a low
carbon economy has become an inevitable choice for
China
's social and economic
development.
Q: Why has
China
decided to develop low carbon economy?
Ma Liqiang: With a huge population, complex climatic conditions and
a fragile ecological situation,
China
is one of the countries most impacted by negative climate change. This has led
to a great threat to agricultural production, food security, economic
development, ecology protection, water resources utilization and public health,
so to tackle climate change actively is an urgent need in
China
. Internal demand means
China
must actively cope with climate change for it to realize sustainable development.
China
is now at a critical period in building up a relatively well-off society, and
also industrialization and accelerated urbanization. The task of developing the
economy and mitigating climate change is an arduous one. As a developing
country,
China
is still on a relatively low rung of economic development and thus development
is still the foremost priority. At the current development stage, coal is still
the major part of
China
's
energy composition. Conflicts in the country's economic structure are still
striking, the country still has an extensive growth model, the utilization rate
of energy is still low and energy demand will keep rising, so
China
is still facing huge pressure
and difficulties in controlling greenhouse gas emission.
To develop low carbon economy will help
China
to break bottleneck
restrictions of resources and the environment in economic development. It will
help to promote industrial upgrading and business technological innovation in
China
, build up
China
's core global competitiveness
in the future, promote the process of dealing with global climate change and
protect our common home on Earth.
Low carbon economy attains primary achievements
Q: What efforts has
China
made to develop low-carbon economy?
Ma Liqiang: The Chinese Government has always attached great
importance to climate change and it regards the associated issues as part of
its policy of scientific outlook on development and sustainable development.
From this year,
China
has begun to treat the development of low-carbon economy as an important
opportunity for its future development. President Hu Jintao explicitly proposed
the plan of internalizing ways to cope with climate change into China's
national economic and social development planning at the United Nations Climate
Change Summit in September 2009 and China is making great efforts to develop
green economy, low carbon economy and recycled economy. Before these moves, the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress heard special reports by
the State Council and made resolutions on actively coping with climate change.
Q: Up to now, what has
China
achieved by implementing
measures on low carbon economy development?
Ma Liqiang: The past three years saw
China
's energy consumption per unit
of GDP drop by 10.1 percent. On this basis, in the first half of 2009,
China
's
energy consumption in producing a unit of GDP dropped 3.35 percent
year-on-year.
The state has set up the goal during the 11th Five-Year Plan of
reducing its energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent with the
proportion of renewable resources reaching 10 percent. These are attainable
objectives. Through these measures, during the 11th Five-Year Plan,
China
will at least reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.5 billion tons. In order to
reach its objectives, governments at various levels have invested a lot of
money in programs of energy conservation, energy efficiency improvement,
renewable resource development, environmental protection and increasing carbon
sinks. In recent years,
China
has issued financial policy incentives to raise the energy conservation
threshold of buildings and promote high-efficiency and energy-saving products.
The state has adopted price and taxation policies to support the development of
renewable resources and new energy, to encourage energy-saving development and
environment-friendly industries as well as industries using resources in a
comprehensive way, and to accelerate the development and utilization of low
carbon technologies. Accelerating the development and utilization of low carbon
technology
Q: As a developing economy, how will
China
develop low carbon economy in
coming years?
Ma Liqiang: It is the vast majority of countries?consensus to
develop low carbon economy as a way to cope with global climate change. But
different countries have different conditions at different development stages.
Thus they have different understandings of low carbon economy. As a developing
country,
China
sees development as the first priority, so it will never copy developed economies
in developing low carbon economy. Even in different areas around the country,
there will be different ways of low carbon economy development.
The NDRC will actively play a leading role by strengthening policy
coordination and guidance, coordinating existing policies on the control of
greenhouse gas emissions, formulating the policy framework for low carbon
economy and guidelines, so as to fully tap various aspects of capabilities; and
combine the concept of low carbon economy with measures on energy conservation,
industrial restructuring and optimization of energy composition. With the
participation of all society, we will accelerate industrial upgrading and the
pace of the development and utilization of low carbon technology.
China
's
NDRC will also choose typical areas and industries to conduct pilot programs of
low carbon economy. At the same time, we need to be actively involved in
exchanges and cooperation with other countries, so as to absorb greater
experience, advanced technology and foreign capital.
(http://www.china.org.cn/china/2009-12/30/content_19158192.htm )
China
adopts amendment to renewable energy law
December 26 (Xinhua) -- BEIJING: China's top legislature adopted
Saturday an amendment to the renewable energy law to require electricity grid
companies to buy all the power produced by renewable energy generators.
The amendment says the State Council energy department and the state
power regulatory agency should supervise the purchases.
The amendment, approved by
lawmakers after it was heard the second time at a five-day meeting of the
National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, aims to support the
country's fledgling renewable energy sector.
It said the State Council energy department, in conjunction with the
state power regulatory agency and the State Council finance departments, should
"determine the proportion of renewable energy power generation to the
overall generating capacity for a certain period."
Power enterprises refusing to buy power produced by renewable energy
generators will be fined up to an amount double that of the economic loss of
the renewable energy company, it said.
Renewable energy includes non-fossil fuels such as wind and solar power,
hydropower, biomass, geothermal and ocean energy.
Still, two-thirds of
China
's
energy supply is fueled by coal, and the country has become one of the largest
greenhouse gas emitters.
The law, which took effect in January 2006, was aimed at "optimizing
the country's energy structure and safeguarding energy security."
It covered subsidies, pricing management and supervision measures.
Previous page 1 2 Next Page
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/26/content_12706612.htm )
'
China
speed' in clean energy business
December 13 (Xinhua) –
BEIJING
- In the last several decades, Chinese people have become known for their speed
and efficiency to develop things. When they rush to clean-energy business
opportunities, the phenomenal growth of related industries lives up to the
often-cited term "China Speed".
During the last few years,
China
has taken "huge strides forward" in renewable energy, as
UK
energy and
climate secretary Ed Miliband put it, according to the British daily Financial
Times (FT).
This certainly lends some confidence to
China
's
representatives at the ongoing
Copenhagen
climate summit, though their country is one of the world's largest emitters of
carbon dioxide.
-- Within the last six years,
China
jumped to become the world's
largest producer of solar energy panels, or solar photovoltaic (PV). Last year,
China
manufactured over 2,000 megawatts of solar PVs, accounting for more than 30
percent of global production. But in 2003,
China
's share was merely one
percent.
-- At the end of last year,
China
also had more than 130
million square meters of solar water heaters, accounting for 76 percent of the
world's total.
-- Within the last six years,
China
's installed wind power
capacity jumped to 12,170 MWs at the end of 2008, from 470 MWs at the end of
2002. Its annual wind turbine manufacturing capacity soared to 10,000 MWs from
less than 100 MWs in 2003.
-- Within the last six years,
China
's once-unknown automaker BYD
emerged from global electric car map. It is the world's second-biggest producer
of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, backed by
US
billionaire investor Warren
Buffett.
These figures look pretty nice. No wonder the FT reported on November 3
that
China
"has played
climate cards beautifully," which was written by its
Beijing
chief correspondent Geoff Dyer.
On the same day, Dyer's colleague and FT's environment reporter in
Beijing Fiona Harvey, while chairing a panel discussion of solar power, asked
panelists:
China
took the lead in the solar power industry within just five or six years, why?
Gao Jifan, Chairman and CEO of the Nasdaq-listed Trina Solar, one of
China
's largest
solar module manufacturers, gave her his answer -- survival pressure.
Gao said
China
had to import the essential raw material polysilicon at high prices for solar
PV manufacturing, which forced Chinese companies like Trina Solar to quickly
improve technological skills to lower cost.
By now, manufacturing skills among Chinese companies were as good as
those western counterparts, if not better, Gao told the panel.
Huang Min, president of Himin Solar Energy, the world's largest maker of
solar water heaters, said it was the strong desire to develop and business
sensitivity that had been driving Chinese to quickly seize low-carbon business
opportunities since they had been poor for decades before reform and opening-up
in 1978.
"Certainly I have the desire, and I want to develop (and get rich).
I don't think we are inferior to foreigners," he told Xinhua.
Last year, his company sold 3 million square meters of solar panels,
more than double of the
US
,
according to Himin Solar Energy. "Should the Americans be able to sell so
many heaters each year, President Barack Obama would be extraordinarily
happy."
Huang insisted his success didn't have much to do with Chinese policies since
the government offered no preferential measures for the sales of solar water
heaters.
The 51-year-old energetic businessman, however, said the reform and
opening-up has indeed created good atmosphere and play field for entrepreneurs.
In the wind energy sector, things seem to be different. Both secretary
general of the Global Wind Energy Council Steve Sawyer and vice-president of
the China Wind Energy Association Shi Pengfei saw government's encouragement as
the main driver behind the expansion of wind energy.
"Certainly the main driver has been government policy and clear
signals it has sent to the market, and I'm sure the spirit of Chinese
entrepreneurs has also contributed to the rate of growth," Sawyer told
Xinhua via email.
Sawyer said the expansion partly resulted from "the close alignment
between (wind power) industry and government".
"I think it goes deeper than that and is an artifact of the culture
which contributes to the rapid execution of agreed policy in a way which I
don't see in any of our other main markets," he said.
Shi said while government's policies had been the main driver for wind
energy expansion, the market also played a major role in helping foster a
strong manufacturing industry of wind turbines.
China
's push for more wind power has
helped create huge market demand for wind turbines. As a result, manufacturers
propped up and investment flocked into the sector.
According to
Shi
,
China
boasts more than 80 wind
turbine manufacturers currently, with a combined production capacity of more
than 10,000 MWs. In 2004,
China
had only six manufacturers.
"In the last few years, the wind energy sector has never been short
of money. As long as you have technologies or projects, investment will come to
you very quickly," he told Xinhua.
US
Energy Secretary Steven Chu has
his own assessment on expansion of
China
's clean energy. He said on
November
30 in
South
Carolina
that
China
was spending 9 billion US dollars a month on clean energy and it had passed the
United States
and
Europe
in high-tech manufacturing.
But many would say
Chu
's assessment
sounded too rosy, at least on advanced clean energy technologies.
The
UK
think-tank
Chatham House, in a report released this September, suggested that
China
lagged
far behind developed countries regarding energy innovations and advanced
technologies. The report, involving nine months of research across the
technologies and over 30 sub-sectors, made analysis of 57,000 patents and the
market adoption rates of energy technologies.
Emerging economies such as
Brazil
,
China
and
India
had no
companies or organizations in the top 10 positions in any of the sectors and
sub-sectors analyzed, it said.
It served to explain why
China
has repeatedly asked industrialized countries to transfer their clean-energy
technologies.
Shi Pengfei said many Chinese wind turbine producers, which had never
designed and produced a complete wind turbine, bought production licenses from
overseas firms and jumped straight to making turbines.
Without the process on basic research and technological accumulation,
Chinese manufacturers had been criticized for producing low-quality wind
turbines, he said.
In addition, there was also increasing concern of over-capacity in the
manufacturing sectors of both wind and solar power, which had recently even
caused a dispute between central governmental departments.
Shi believed that overcapacity could probably be a reality in the wind
energy sector since
China
was expected to install 7,000 MWs of wind turbines annually on average in the
next 10 years, at least 3,000 MWs less than
China
's current manufacturing
capacity.
Shi, however, said overcapacity, to some extent, could be a good thing
because it would trigger fiercer competition among manufacturers. In the end,
only those making good-quality turbines at lower prices would survive, he
added.
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/13/content_12640365.htm )
China
's green energy goes to waste in distribution bottleneck
December 23 (Xinhua) –Green electricity from north
China
's growing
wind power generators is being wasted because the country's power grid cannot
absorb it, power experts said.
"The greatest headache for wind power developers is that a large
part of the power capacity cannot be absorbed by the grid and is wasted,"
said Si Jun, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region wind power project manager of
China Datang Corporation (Datang).
Inner Mongolia
's wind power turbines have a
capacity of 7.05 gigawatts. Wind power units under construction will have a
capacity of 3.25 gigawatts.
But less than 2 gigawatts generated by wind power goes into the grid,
according to the Inner Mongolia Development and Reform Commission.
This means 8.3 gigawatts of wind power can not be connected to the grids
in
Inner Mongolia
, which have a total capacity
of 60 gigawatt.
Usually, a grid must have more than five times the capacity of the
amount of wind power generated to avoid overloading due to the inconsistency of
wind, he added.
As wind power is inconsistent, thermal power takes 91.6 percent of the
grid capacity in
Inner Mongolia
.
Power generated by wind turbines in remote areas must be transmitted
over long distances, which was unsuitable for the grid's existing structure and
transmission capacity, said Tian Shuping, director of the development and
planning department of the Inner Mongolia Power Company (IMPC).
IMPC had been investing heavily in expansion of the grid, but the pace
of construction simply could not keep up with the growth of wind power, Tian
said.
Much of the wind power, which cannot be transmitted to other parts of
the country, was sold to less developed areas in
Inner
Mongolia
, competing with existing thermal power in a market of
little demand, Tian said.
"This causes so much losses to thermal power plants that some of
them are about to be driven out of business," said Tian.
"Despite the bottleneck, the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) carbon trading project can at least help us break even,"
said a Datang investor.
"Every 50 megawatts of wind power capacity can be traded for 10
million yuan ($1.46 million)," he said.
Actions taken for better utilization
IMPC would soon build two 500 kilovolt lines to transmit power to
Hebei
province, bringing the power transmitted from Inner
Mongolia to other parts of
China
from 4 gigawatts to 11 gigawatts, Tian said without specifying the date.
To better utilize idle wind power, China Three Gorges Corporation
started in 2006 to build four pumped-storage power plants with 1.2 gigawatts of
capacity in
Hohhot
, capital of
Inner
Mongolia
, according to the region's development and reform
commission, which approved the project.
The plants are expected to be completed in 2013 at a cost of 5.6 billion
yuan, according to the commission.
In pumped-storage power plants, wind power is used to pump water from a
lower reservoir to a higher one in off-peak times. During periods of high
demand, the stored water is released through turbines, turning wind power into
hydropower.
Two more pumped-storage power plants, each with a capacity of 2
gigawatts, are to be built in the cities of
Baotou
and Erdos, according to the 12th five-year development plan (2011-2015) of
Inner Mongolia
.
A draft amendment to the Renewable Energy Law, requiring electricity
grid companies buy all the power produced by renewable energy generators, was
submitted Tuesday to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
(NPC) for its second reading Tuesday.
The State Council energy department and the state power regulatory
agency should supervise the purchases. Power enterprises refusing to buy power
produced by renewable energy would be fined up to an amount double that of the
economic loss of the renewable energy company, the draft said.
Some lawmakers also pointed out the development of renewable energy in
China
faced
many problems such as difficulties in connecting with the grid, over-production
of wind power and solar cell materials, and a lack of innovative key
technologies.
A national plan on renewable energy development issued in 2007 set a
target to increase renewable resources to supply 15 percent of its total energy
consumption by 2020, in a bid to reduce greenhouse gases emissions and promote
sustainable economic growth.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/23/content_9220964.htm )
December 7 (China Daily) - Replacing one
standard bulb with an electricity-saving one may only save a small amount of
electricity per year but, if millions are replaced, the cumulative effort can
help save billions of kilowatt-hours of electricity and reduce millions of tons
of CO2 emissions.
China
has
undertaken just such a project, now part of the country's UN-backed strategy
for combating climate change. According to officials from the Phasing-out of
Incandescent Lamps and Energy-Saving Lamps Promotion Project,
China
will
replace at least 120 million incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps
(CFL) this year, doubling the number replaced last year.
CFL bulbs use 60 to 80 percent less electricity
compared to standard bulbs and usually have a longer service life.
In 1996, the Chinese government launched a
"green lighting" program, aiming to replace energy-consuming bulbs
with energy-saving ones.
To promote the program, the government has been
providing financial incentives to encourage more individuals and public
facilities to join the campaign.
Currently, the government provides 30 to 50
percent subsidies on CFL bulbs so that consumers can afford these premium
products. This heavy subsidy is also an incentive for many public facilities
and enterprises.
On top of the financial subsidies from the
central government, many local governments also provide financial subsidies for
the program. The
Beijing
municipality, for instance, provides an additional 40 percent subsidy to bring
the total subsidy to 90 percent. Due to this high level of subsidy, a large
volume of CFL bulbs are sold to its residents at a price as low as just one
yuan per bulb. In some communities, the local government even provides CFL
bulbs free of charge.
In 2008, financial subsidy for CFL bulbs from
the central government reached 280 million yuan, resulting in the replacement
of 62 million energy-consuming bulbs and purchases totaling 650 million yuan.
This will help the country save 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and
cut 320 million tons of CO2 emissions.
This year's target of replacing 120 million
energy-consuming bulbs will enable the country to further reduce its CO2
emissions and save even more electricity.
The country's green lighting program has also
won support from the United Nation's Development Program and Global Environment
Facility (GEF). As a result, the GEF granted $14 million to a
three-year-program for
China
's
green lighting project.
The project has an ambitious goal of saving a
volume of 160 billion to 216 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and reducing
CO2 emissions by 175 million to 237 million tons within 10 years.
China
is
both the world's largest lighting product producing and consuming country. In
2008, the country produced 4.3 billion incandescent bulbs and 3.2 billion CFL
bulbs. If all the incandescent bulbs are replaced with CFL ones, the country
will save 48 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, equivalent to a
reduction of 48 million tons of CO2 emission.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/07/content_9127650.htm )
December 30 (China Daily) –The latest trend in building architecture in
China
is being driven more by the urgency of sustainability than by the desire for
sublimity. Marcus Schulz reports
When the Olympics began in 2008, the curtain opened on many new
architectural wonders in
Beijing
.
Now, architects continue to bring innovation to
China
's stage by designing
environmentally sustainable buildings.
Building green is becoming "trendy" in
China
, according to William Wong, associate
director at the Hong Kong office of Arup, a global firm of independent
designers, engineers and consultants that helped build the Bird's Nest, the
Water Cube,
Beijing
International
Airport
's
Terminal Three and the new CCTV tower.
"A few years ago, sustainable design was not quite focused and was
not seriously considered in most developments," Wong says. "However,
development in
China
is so quick that all levels of government, designers, and even the general
public are becoming more aware of environmental issues and how bad the
consequences could be due to ignorance of sustainable design."
Environmental concerns are no longer being overlooked by many
developers, who have begun to take advantage of the politically correct,
socially responsible image that being "green" provides, especially to
attract multinational tenants. To prove their buildings are environmentally
friendly, design professionals are beginning to adopt standards from the
United States
for "green" buildings, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) certification, an internationally recognized rating system
designed by the US Green Building Council. LEED certification is meant to
verify that buildings are energy and water efficient, have low CO2 emissions,
and utilize local resources that use smaller amounts of energy to create and
transport.
Having just completed the Linked Hybrid in
Beijing
, Steven Holl Architects has
established itself among the top of this ground-breaking pack. Their
eight-tower structure, attached by floating walkways, received this year's
award by the International Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat for the
best new tall building in "Asia and Australasia" and was also designed
to qualify for a LEED Gold certification, the second-highest LEED rating
obtainable.
The Linked Hybrid has one of the largest geothermal cooling and heating
systems in the world, exemplifying energy efficiency in new Chinese
developments. With the geothermal system, water pipes running through the
apartments' floors flow
100 m
below the basement in 660 wells, cooling the water in summer and heating it in
the winter. The buildings thus maintain a natural temperature between 16 and
21 C
without electric air conditioners or
water boilers.
The buildings also recycle all of their "gray" water by
filtering used water from sinks and bathtubs and reusing it to flush toilets,
irrigate roof gardens and fill the structure's outdoor ponds. This reduces
water use by more than 40 percent.
However, being energy efficient is not the only aspect to becoming LEED
certified, says Li Hu, the partner of Steven Holl Architects and director of
projects in
China
.
The production of building materials, managing construction sites to avoid
pollution and dealing with construction waste also count when earning points
for certification.
"LEED is a rating system of comprehensive factors, not only limited
to energy issues," Li says. "It's a process, beginning with where the
material comes from, how it's being made, how it's done and how you monitor the
indoor quality."
Steven Holl Architects is currently working on two other buildings in
China that aim for LEED certification, the Raffles City in Chengdu, Sichuan
province, designed for a Gold rating, and the Shenzhen Vanke Center, in
Guangdong province, which is pursuing a LEED Platinum certification, the
highest rating by the US Green Building Council.
Standing on eight legs, the
Vanke
Center
contains a hotel,
apartments, office space and the China Vanke Company headquarters. Underneath
the floating, horizontal structure and out of reach of the tropical Shenzhen
sun lies a free public park, and ponds filled with recycled water, much like
the Linked Hybrid.
The design for the Vanke Headquarters takes care to use renewable and
recyclable materials. All the doors, floors and furniture are made from bamboo,
which is easily available in the area and quickly renewable, and the carpets
throughout the building are made from completely recycled material.
Special windows are designed to keep the building cool by blocking solar
heat while still allowing plenty of sunlight, lowering the cost of air
conditioning. In addition, the Vanke Headquarters' roof is covered by solar
panels, which will provide up to 15 percent of the office's electricity. And,
in preparation for the future, the building provides electric car parking and
charging stations.
"I think we design for the future; we cannot design for the
past," Li says. "A good building always provides opportunities for
the future."
China
already has many LEED certified
buildings and more than 100 under construction seeking approval, yet none has
received the prestigious Platinum award. However, the
Vanke
Center
, which is scheduled to be
finished by 2010, may not be the first in
China
to achieve LEED Platinum
certification.
Beijing Parkview Green, designed by Integrated Design Associates (IDA),
is also aiming to be certified LEED Platinum. With plans to finish construction
this year, it may beat the
Vanke
Center
to the punch.
"Competition is good," says Winston Shu, the founder and
director of IDA. "And it's good for
China
to have two platinum
projects, if not more."
Beijing Parkview Green, a group of four towers including a hotel, a
shopping center and a commercial hub, is completely encased in a transparent
"envelope" that protects the buildings from outside weather. The
casing has a ventilation system to release hot air in the summer and replace it
with cooler air from the ground, and during the winter it acts as a greenhouse
to keep warm air around the buildings.
Parkview Green is the first building in
Beijing
to make use of this
"microclimate" with the purpose of minimizing energy consumption. A
landmark project in environmentally sustainable design, Shu says the building
was only possible because of the developers', architects' and engineers'
ambition to benefit the community.
"Architecturally its distinctive form is generated by environmental
concerns, not a form created willfully like so many other signature buildings
in
Beijing
,"
Shu says. "The call for an environmentally sustainable design comes from
our collective motivation to create a building that is a legacy for future
generations."
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-12/30/content_9244842.htm )
December 8 (China
Daily) –
China
's passenger
vehicle production and sales in November both more than doubled from a year
earlier, continuing the robust growth and causing
China
's auto market to lead the
global industry for the whole year.
It's also the first
time the domestic monthly production and sales broke the 1 million units
barrier.
Sales of passenger
vehicles, including cars, multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs), sports-utility
vehicles (SUVs) and minivans, reached 1.01 million last month, surging 103.7
percent year-on-year, and increased 9.5 percent from October, Rao Da,
secretary-general of China Passenger Car Association, said yesterday.
The total output of
the sector hit 1.08 million units, 101 percent higher than that of November
2008.
"It is strong
evidence of how hot automobile sales are in
China
, despite the oil price hike
and bad snow which had an impact on logistics in November," said Rao.
He predicted that the
market performance of the passenger vehicle segment would continue to hit
record highs in December, with production and sales figures 80,000 to 100,000
units more than those in November.
"And the sales
peak is coming in January," he added.
"It will be
unprecedented in any country's auto industry that the monthly sales continued
to break records for seven months in a year," said Rao.
China
's
total vehicles sales exceeded 12 million in the first 11 months, retaining its
lead as the world's top auto market since January, reported Xinhua News Agency,
citing the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
The association is
going to release the details this week.
Boosted by government
stimulus measures such as tax cuts and subsidies for trade-ins, sales of all
automobiles for the whole year are set to break the 13 million barrier,
compared with 9.38 million units last year.
(http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/china/09achievements/2009-12/08/content_9282621.htm )
China
Auto stimulus retained for 2010
December 10 (China
Daily) --
China
will extend stimulus measures in the automobile industry for one more year,
with small adjustments, to further support the world's biggest and
fastest-growing auto market.
The government
announced the decision yesterday after an executive meeting of the State
Council chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.
The stimulus package,
which was due to expire at the end of this month, includes a 50 percent cut in
the 10 percent purchase tax for cars with an engine capacity of, or less than,
1.6 liters and subsidies for trade-in cars. It will now be extended to Dec 31,
2010.
However, the purchase
tax for smaller cars will be lifted from the current 5 percent to 7.5 percent
of the total vehicle price.
Furthermore, the
government also decided to raise the subsidy for trade-in cars from between
3,000 and 6,000 yuan to between 5,000 yuan and 18,000 yuan per vehicle.
The stimulus package
launched by the government in January helped
China
's
automobile sales to exceed an expected 13 million units this year, making the
country surpass the
US
as the world's biggest auto market.
"It's unusual
that demand for automobiles in a country increases more than 4.5 million units
within 12 months, and sales break the monthly record for seven months in a
year," said Rao Da, secretary-general of China Passenger Car Association.
Statistics from the
China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) show that the smaller
cars, with engine capacity of, or less than, 1.6 liters, contributed 85 percent
of the sales increase in the domestic auto market. Most of the best-selling
cars in
China
are smaller cars.
The association
estimated that the stimulus measures boosted the sales of smaller cars by 2.6
million units this year.
Because of the
favorable policy, sales of the battery and electric car pioneer BYD in the
first 11 months surged 150.2 percent to 388,246 units. About two-thirds of the
car sales were of the F3 model, a compact sedan that topped
China
's best-selling car list for
seven months, with monthly sales surpassing 30,000 units, nearly double the
figure for last year.
According to CAAM,
China
's
auto production and sales almost doubled from figures a year ago to reach 1.39
million and 1.34 million units respectively in November.
Overall auto sales
topped 12.23 million units in the first 11 months, up 42.39 percent from the same
period last year.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/10/content_9151993.htm )
China
breaks another world high-speed train record
December 22 (China Daily)
-- The Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed electric multiple units (EMUs), independently
developed and devised by the China CNR Corporation Limited (CNR), broke the
world operating speed record for high-speed railways on December 9, reaching a
speed of
394.2 km
per hour.
Running on the
Wuhan-Guangzhou railway, the EMUs were manufactured by CNR's Tangshan Railway
Vehicle Co Ltd. The initial test run on the line took just three hours, some
seven hours shorter than the previous running time. The Wuhan-Guangzhou Passenger
Line now has the longest mileage, the highest operating speed and the most
state-of-the-art technical standards in the world.
Sun Bangcheng, chief
engineer of CNR, said the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed EMUs are an upgraded
version of the Beijing-Tianjin inter-city EMUs. Compared with the earlier
models, the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed EMUs have a number of innovative new
features.
Distance and speed
The Beijing-Tianjin
inter-city railway is just 120 kilometers long in total, whilst the
Wuhan-Guangzhou Passenger Line runs to
1068.6
km
. Sun said: "The average travel speed of the
Beijing-Tianjin inter-city EMUs is about
260
km
per hour, while the average speed of the Wuhan-Guangzhou
high-speed EMUs is over
341 km
per hour."
"By optimizing
the design of the traction system parameters, the capability of Wuhan-Guangzhou
high-speed EMUs will be enhanced so that it can give full play to the EMUs'
8,800kw of power. It will accelerate and sustain the capacity of its high-speed
operation."
Easy cross the
obstacles
Bridges and tunnels
are the main challenges for the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed EMUs. The passenger
line has 684 bridges and 226 tunnels, which account for 66.7 percent of its
total length. Ensuring the EMUs maintain a high speed, whilst operating safely has
been of paramount importance.
According to a number
of experts, the wheel-rail relationship has now been optimized. When the
Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed EMUs are running at a high speed, they still retain
a considerable safety margin. Block centers for the train's wireless systems
have been installed beneath the track so that the "brain" of the EMUs
is more flexible.
CNR uses the
optimization of the aerodynamic performance of the EMUs to achieve the
necessary technical requirements and effectively reduce the running resistance
and the internal and external noise of the EMUs.
At present, the
domestic EMUs lead the world with their traction and brake system, according to
the company.
Highest speed in the
world
Compared with the
Beijing-Tianjin inter-city EMUs, which have a separate grouping of eight
railway carriages, the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed EMUs consist of two
high-speed engines with 16 railway carriages.
According to
technical experts, the operation mode of single-vehicle trains is used in most
developed countries, which keep the speed below 300 kilometers per hour.
However, by using two high-speed engines, the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed EMU
can reach 394.2 kilometers per hour and maintain an average speed of 341
kilometers per hour.
The main objective of
using the model of two high-speed trains, according to the company, is to
increase passenger capacity. General EMUs only have 8 carriages and carry 610
people, whilst the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed EMUs have 16 carriages and carry
double the number of passengers.
In order to alleviate
the Spring Festival passenger flow peak numbers, the Wuhan-Guangzhou Passenger
Line will begin operation from December 26 this year.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-12/22/content_9213815.htm )
China
's automakers dramatically improve quality
December
28 (China Daily) - Ten years ago, JD Power Asia Pacific fielded its first
quality study for passenger vehicles built in
China
. Across a spectrum of vehicle
criteria, the study measured the number of problems reported by Chinese
new-vehicle owners in the first two to six months of ownership.
Based
on consumer feedback, we found that owners of Chinese domestic vehicles
experienced an average of 8.43 quality problems per vehicle. This number was,
to put it politely, a bit disconcerting.
By
comparison, owners of internationally branded vehicles built in
China
reported only 4.38 problems per vehicle, or almost 50 percent fewer problems on
average.
Not
only were the quality problems with Chinese domestic vehicles numerous, but the
problems were occurring in areas that generally shouldn't present a problem to
a modern automaker. These include such things as fluid leaks, doors that are difficult
to open or close, radio cassette players that did not play back, or air
conditioning that didn't get cool enough (or didn't get cool all).
To
be fair, it should be noted that in 2000 most Chinese domestic vehicle makers
were in their infancy, having just been formed not more than a few years
earlier. It's not completely fair to expect a newly formed automaker to compete
immediately against established international automakers that have been
building vehicles for decades.
At
the same time, we must also acknowledge that based on our own observations,
many Chinese automakers in 2000 were concerned primarily with building vehicles
at the lowest possible cost rather than building vehicles with the highest
possible quality. This is, quite frequently, a recipe for disappointment in
business.
Based
on research at JD Power and Associates, we have found that companies that put
quality first tend to enjoy numerous residual benefits. Let's take a look at
some of these benefits:
Higher
loyalty, advocacy
JD
Power research shows that automotive companies offering higher-quality vehicles
tend to have more highly satisfied customers, and even more importantly, these
satisfied customers are more likely to become repeat buyers.
In
addition, these highly satisfied customers tend to recommend their vehicle, or
the brand, to others at a significantly higher rate than do dissatisfied or
even moderately satisfied customers.
Depending
on the brand, buyer loyalty and word-of-mouth advocacy among satisfied
customers can be worth tens of millions of dollars annually in reduced
marketing and advertising costs. In addition, it is a far less expensive
proposition to convince an existing customer to repurchase, compared to
persuading a customer of a competing brand to switch to your brand.
Higher
sales volumes
JD
Power research also shows that, regardless of country or industry, companies
with higher quality almost always enjoy greater sales volumes and higher market
share than competitors with lower quality. Moreover, higher-quality vehicles
typically enjoy higher price premiums with less need for discounting, and as a
result, higher profit margins.
Even
in an economic downturn, data suggests that companies that produce higher
quality products can frequently grow market share and maintain premium prices,
while manufacturers of lower-quality products often see their sales and market
share decline, and are often forced to reduce their prices to sell products.
As a
result, placing more emphasis on cost than quality often results in lower sales
and market share, decreased revenues, and even more severe impact on lost
profits.
Reduced
warranty costs
A
not-so-obvious benefit of improving quality is lower warranty costs.
A
typical new car warranty on a domestic vehicle in
China
lasts two years, or up to
60,000 km
, compared with four years and
100,000 km
for international brand
vehicles.
When
an automaker is selling hundreds of thousand of vehicles annually, any quality
flaw has the potential to expose the automaker to millions - or tens of
millions - of yuan in warranty expenditures. This is money that comes directly
off the bottom line.
In
addition to lower warranty costs, the ability of an automaker to offer a longer
warranty is a key selling point; consumers can rest easy knowing that any
problem they experience with their vehicle will be converted.
Finally,
vehicles with higher quality ratings tend to retain greater resale value when a
consumer is ready to purchase their next car. This is money that goes directly
to the consumer's bottom line.
For
Chinese automakers, the good news is that there has been much improvement in
quality over the years.
According
to the 2009 China Initial Quality Study, the average number of quality problems
reported with Chinese domestic vehicles has now dropped to an average of just
2.58 problems per vehicle, while the average number of quality problems
reported with international brand vehicles is 1.42 problems per vehicle. This
is real progress.
As
China
's
automotive market continues to grow, and Chinese automakers continue to gain
confidence and experience, their attention to quality will be critical for
their future success.
The author Timothy Dunne is the director of Asia
Pacific Market Intelligence at JD Power and Associates
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/28/content_9235481.htm )
December 21 (China
Daily) - Backed by an increase in sales of lower-end models, local Chinese auto
manufacturers have now taken 30 percent of the market.
Traditionally, they
focused on models cheaper than 100,000 yuan ($14,645) and did not see notable
progress in high-end models. Now there is pressure on the industry to change
but it is learning hard lessons as it releases new fleets on to the market.
Chery's high-priced
model "the Son of East"
2.4L
was released at 167,000 yuan, only to see its weak brand recognition and
mediocre quality lead to a monthly sales average of 1,000 units even with a 50
percent discount.
BYD Auto's F6 was
sold at around 90,000 to 160,000 yuan, similar to the price of compact models
manufactured by foreign-local partnership brands.
One model of local
high-end maker Hongqi was sold for 340,000 yuan, nearly half the cost of its
release price, and still saw only 2,000 units sold annually. Local brands
including Chery and Geely stepped up to bolster their brand recognition during
the 2009 Shanghai Motor Show to mixed results.
Chery announced that
it would push towards "brand globalization" of its four major brands
and 32 new car models. In Accordance with their characteristics, Chery devised
four brands: Chery, for its passenger car; Riich, for its high-end passenger
vehicles; Rely, for high-end commercial cars, and Kerry, for its compact
models.
The Riich brand
consists of four series, G/X/M/Z, and is expected to release six models.
Targeting "post-1980s born" consumers, it released the Riich M1, a
state-of-the-art compact model, for 40,000 yuan. In the second half of this
year, it is expected to release the G6 and G5 at price tags of 150 to 200,000
yuan and 130 to 180,000 yuan, and also go on to release the M5 and X1. With the
slogan "engines and drivers", the makers of the Rely brand are
determined to boost the image of "high class commercial and business
vehicles" by releasing four series models (H/P/V/X).
Geely announced 22
new models from three of its major brands, Gleagle, Emgrand, and Shanghai
Englon. Emphasizing an image of fashion, passion, and dreams, eight models were
released as Gleagle. Emgrand used phrases such as "luxury",
"stability" and "power" for eight mid- and high-end
commercial and passenger car models. Under the concepts of "classic"
and "nobility", Shanghai Englon released three high-end passenger
cars. GE (Geely Excellence), a high-end model otherwise known as the mini Rolls
Royce, cost more than one million yuan and resembles the Rolls Royce.
SAIC (Shanghai
Automative Industry Corporation) and Roewe, both with reasonable brand
recognition, also released top-of-the-line models. Remodeling Ssangyong Auto's
chairman, Roewe's R
95L
model is a representative luxury sedan.
Why
the upgrading?
Pulled down by their
brand values, local manufacturers have lower profitability per unit compared
with foreign counterparts. With expectations that compact cars should almost
match the quality of luxury sedans, the cost of production has risen and
profitability has declined. During the first two months of 2009, profitability
for
China
's
automobile industry fell 51.6 percent year-on-year.
Compared with low-end
models, the profit margins of high-end models are stable and are favorable to
long-term prosperity. Unlike Chery's profit margin per unit of 1,000 yuan,
Guangzhou Honda boasts a profit margin per unit of 10,000 yuan.
With foreign makers
already dominating the high-end market, local rivals need to prepare for
all-out competition. In order to increase sales and boost market share, foreign
and local joint enterprises have begun manufacturing cheaper models which has
brought on fears that the low-end market will no longer be secure for local
firms.
To achieve brand
innovation, local firms have started to realize the need for long term
investment and research and development. To counter the image that local brands
are cheap, local manufacturers feel obliged to develop high-priced models.
Looking back at the
history of automobile manufacturing, luxury brands all began as mass-market
vehicles. The Lexus brand was based on the popularity of
Toyota
. In 2009, Hyundai Motors released
Genesis in the
US
at a price of $33,000, similar to the price range of the 5-Series BMW. While
the rest of the
US
auto market shrank 40 percent in March 2009, the success of Genesis helped
Hyundai Motors to increase sales volume by 4.9 percent year-on-year.
High-price
outlook
Local brands still
lag behind foreign counterparts in terms of technology, quality, and marketing.
China
's
high-end auto market is categorized into two parts according to positioning. In
the large passenger car market, Audi's A
6L
enjoys an absolute advantage while the Toyota Crown, BMW 5-Series, and Benz
E-Class enjoy high market share. In the mid-size passenger car market, the Audi
A4 and BMW 3-Series are in stiff competition.
Without competitive
advantage factors such as brands and technology, local high-quality vehicles
are expected to struggle for some time. It is also worth noting that while
local brands have maintained a low-price strategy for a long period, consumers
in the mid- and high-priced market take quality and brand recognition into
consideration rather than the price of a vehicle. Hongqi, the only local
high-end brand, sells 2,000 units annually.
The
author Gong Jiong is a researcher with Samsung Economic Research Institute (
China
). The
views expressed here are his own.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/21/content_9208304.htm )
December 14 (Global
Times) -- Zhang Huibin is a rarity among car buyers. Two years ago, the
37-year-old lawyer spent 260,000 yuan ($38,000) on a hybrid Toyota Prius –
one-third higher than the price of a conventional car.
"I'm very proud
of my decision," he said, as he walked toward the silver half-moon shaped
vehicle in the parking lot not far from his office, "because I have always
been fascinated with fuel-efficient cars."
In the driver's seat,
Zhang started the car. But since the internal combustion engine only kicked in
when the car reached a speed of 24kilometers per hour, the car lacked the
rattle and hum of a conventional vehicle. With no gas burning, no exhaust
spewed from the tailpipe.
"It cost me an
extra 70,000 yuan over a conventional car, but I gained a green car with low
emissions," he said. "To me, it's worth the price."
China
's
car market continues to defy the worldwide economic recession and should hit a
new sales record of 13.4 million cars this year, according to the China
Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
While creating more
jobs, the bullish car market means more demand for oil, more pressure on an
already-strained infrastructure and more air pollution.
The urgency of the
economic and environmental issues has converted the government to embracing
new-energy vehicles: be they gasoline-electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids or
all-electric cars.
Undecided, the
government seems to be encouraging all options simultaneously. But important
decisions must soon be made if
China
is to fulfill its
Copenhagen
commitments. Subsidies, practicality and pricing will all play critical roles
in deciding which option or combination of options is chosen by
China
. With no
clear direction coming from
Beijing
,
the new car market can seem a bit chaotic and unpredictable.
Three years after the
Prius was launched in
China
,
sales remain negligible.
"As far as I
know, in
Beijing
alone, fewer than 200 Prius cars are individually owned," said Zhang, who
leads an Internet chat group for Prius drivers. "The rest go to
Toyota
's dealer shops,
government departments and research institutions."
At a
Toyota
dealership on the West Third Ring Road of
Beijing
,
Zhou Haifeng, a sales consultant, told the Global Times that there was so
little interest that the Prius was removed from the display room three months
ago.
"I sold one
Prius in five years," Zhou said. "The high price tag due to taxes and
duties on imported parts is the main thing driving buyers away."
At $22,000-$
27,000 in
the
US
,
the Prius costs nearly half the price of those sold in
China
.
Globally,
Toyota
sold two million of its hybrids by the end of July.
In a corner of the sun-filled
display hall, half a dozen people surrounded a silver Corolla, listening to a
white-gloved salesman introduce the car. Manual 1.6-liter Corollas are priced
at less than 130,000 yuan ($19,000).
"The cars with
small engines have all sold out," Zhou said. "Many people are
worrying the government may end its stimulus package for small cars by the end
of this year. "
The central
government in January this year halved the purchase tax on cars with engines of
1.6 liters or smaller. The policy-induced market vigor has left little impact
on sales of hybrid cars like the 1.5-liter Prius.
"I've seen no
reward policy from the government to encourage the use of hybrid cars,"
Zhang Huibin said. "We get the same and sometimes even worse treatment
than other drivers."
Fuel-efficient hybrid
cars should be exempt from restrictions and allowed on the road every day, he
argued. Also he complained that the annual vehicle inspection was a longer
process as the government has not issued any standards for hybrids.
"I drive a
hybrid car because I want to be a role model," he said. "But instead
everyone can see just how inconvenient it really is to drive a hybrid
car."
Hybrid cars do not
enjoy preferential polices like cheap parking or access to fast lanes. Despite
disappointing sales,
Toyota
plans to launch its
1.8-liter Prius in
China
next year.
"The problem is
that the Chinese government is reluctant to subsidize Japanese brands in China
and hand the lion's share to Toyota rather than a Chinese company," said
An Feng, an expert on vehicle fuel from the Innovation Center for Energy and
Transportation, an NGO with offices in Beijing and Los Angeles.
"
Toyota
's priority in
China
is probably more on economic
and smaller cars such as the Corolla. Otherwise they would slash the price of
the Prius in
China
to match
those sold in the
US
."
Public transport
In the northern
outskirts of
Beijing
, about two kilometers south
of the Bird's Nest stadium, stands a blue-roofed structure which houses
Beijing
's electric bus
charging station.
Inside a one-story
building the size of a football field, a silver 84 bus was parked in the middle
of tall stacks of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, each battery about the
size of a microwave oven.
Two operators
operated a robotic hand removing and replacing each of the 10 100-kilo
batteries.
"After each
trip, the bus comes here for new batteries," said station manager Jiang
Feng. "It takes less than 10 minutes for the new batteries to be
loaded."
The fleet of 50
electric buses is the only one of its kind in
China
.
They first went in
use to transport athletes at the Olympics last year.
Since then, the buses
have been running the two-hour, 50- kilometer Route 84 from the stadium to
Beijing South Railway Station. The bus has a maximum speed of 90 kilometers per
hour.
"Electric buses
that emit zero carbon are clearly the future of transportation," said Wang
Wenwei, a researcher from the National Engineering Laboratory for Electric
Vehicles at Beijing Institute of Technology, involved in the project since 2002.
Early this year, the
central government announced the 10 City 1,000 Vehicle Program, a plan to
subsidize the purchase of 1,000 green vehicles for public transportation in 10
cities over the next three years.
The pioneering city
of
Shenzhen
, just north of
Hong
Kong
, is taking part in the program.
"We plan to
launch 100 electric cars in our taxi fleet next year," said Lin Ruibin of
the Shenzhen Bus Group when Science and Technology Minister Wan Gang visited
Friday.
Electric cars require
more careful planning than hybrids.
"The technology
is not ready yet," Wang Wenwei said. "We need to do more research to
ensure the quality of batteries before mass production."
The construction of
electric charging facilities for the new cars, for example, poses a challenge to
the power grid.
"The power
capacity in
Beijing
, for instance, is able to
accommodate overnight battery charging for over 10 million electric cars,"
said Wang Cheng, a senior engineer at the Energy-efficient and New Energy
Vehicles Key Project Office of the Ministry of Science and Technology in
Beijing
.
"But daytime
charging at public charging posts might paralyze the whole system."
The insufficient
infrastructure and immature technology, however, have not stopped automakers
from launching new models.
China
's
top automaker Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation late last month
announced a plan to set up a new-energy vehicle production base in
Tangshan
, an industrial prefecture-level city in
Hebei
Province
of northern
China
.
Beijing Automotive
Industry Holding Corporation (BAIC) also unveiled a plan in the same month to
mass-produce its first self-developed electric car at a new facility under
construction on the outskirts of
Beijing
.
"The government
is supportive, but I'm not sure this is the right approach," Wang Wenwei
said.
"It seems
there's a lot of repetition and a waste of money in terms of research and
development."
"There's also no
clear message from the government as to which direction we want to go –
gas-electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles."
While gas-electric
hybrids like the Prius run on a combination of gasoline and internally
generated electricity, plug-in hybrids can be recharged via an electrical
socket and drive mostly on electricity, with a gasoline engine on board used to
charge the car's battery when it runs out of power.
"These multiple
development projects may seem a bit repetitive, but it's a necessary step to
figure out what's best for us," said Wang Cheng.
Battery
technology
In the domestic auto
industry, probably no name is hotter than BYD – Build Your Dreams – a battery
and car maker founded in 1995 by Wang Chuanfu, a Chinese chemist and the
wealthiest man in
China
.
When
US
billionaire
investor Warren Buffett took a 10-percent stake in BYD last year, 43-year-old Wang
had a net worth of $5.8 billion as his company churned out hundreds of
thousands of cheap cars, according to Forbes magazine.
In the race to
embrace high technology, BYD aims to lead with its electric and hybrid cars.
Late last year, the
company rolled out its 150,000-yuan F3DM plug-in hybrid car. An all-electric
car, the e6, is also in the pipeline.
The company will sell
its F3DM plug-in hybrids early next year to consumers in Shenzhen where BYD is
based, deputy general manager Wang Jianjun announced at the just-concluded
Canton Auto Fair. The F3DM can be charged at home on 220-volt sockets.
As a battery-maker,
BYD is well-positioned to beat domestic or foreign rivals and its surging stock
price is self-explanatory.
An Feng recently paid
a visit to the BYD plant in Shenzhen. He is more skeptical.
"Traditional
vehicles are still the main profit machine for BYD," Feng said. "Its
high-tech projects are probably bubbles generated by a publicity
campaign."
BYD's product has not
yet gone on the market, Wang Wenwei warned. "How reliable is their
technology? We don't know."
Wang believes
China
is well
positioned to develop electric vehicles as the country has abundant resources
for the production of lithium-ion batteries.
"The anticipated
fleet of electric vehicles will be powered more by wind, solar and other
alternative energies," Wang said.
"The age of the
new-energy vehicle will arrive in
China
, but not so soon. When it
comes, it will be a revolution."
Street talk: Which
country do you think set the best example in combating climate change?
Brooke Avory,
30
volunteer of Chang Ai
Children's project
I think the countries
that ratified the Kyoto Protocol are serious about climate change.
Debra Wang, 22
student
Currently, I think
places like
China
and
Japan
do set
good examples because they are encouraging people to recycle waste in the daily
life. And some European countries like
UK
are doing good as well.
Erika, in 30s
employee of the Jane
Goodall Institute
China
I heard that
Sweden
is doing
a good job. The countries in
Europe
, in
general, are doing a very good job.
Guo Yunzhe, 22
employee of China
Youth Climate Action Network
China
.
The Chinese government has done many things and I also see a lot of activities
and actions taken by Chinese youth. I think the efforts made by
China
are not
known by the world. As for myself, I know they are doing a lot of things in
this domain.
(http://autos.globaltimes.cn/china/2009-12/491740.html )
Sparks
fly as
China
quarrels over battery-powered bikes (iCET interview)
December 14 (Reuters) - China's vast population of battery-powered bikes is the
focus of uproar after new rules ignited public fears, and hopes among some,
that these pack mules of the nation's economic boom could be run off the road.
China
's image as the land of
the bicycle has been fading as its rising wealth has boosted ownership of cars
and, for the less well-heeled, "e-bikes": bicycles with
battery-powered motors as well as small pedals to distinguish them from
motorbikes.
But the spread of the e-bike has struck a policy pothole
after the national standards agency issued rules threatening to rein in the
bigger models, favoured by traders and couriers hauling loads
The Standardisation Administration of China resurrected
10-year-old rules saying that electric bikes weighing over
40 kg
or able to go faster than
20 km
(12.4 miles) per hour should count
as motorbikes, and suggesting riders of such bikes would need the licences they
had long done without.
A week of public debate, industry lobbying and media reports
ensued about the potentially costly licences and possibility that bigger
e-bikes would be priced out of the market.
Last week, faced with growing clamour, the administration
issued a statement on its website (www.sac.gov.cn) repeating the rules, but it
also said it was up to province and city governments to decide how to enforce
any registration demands.
The debate has revealed a nation divided between love and
hate for electric bikes -- and consumers and businesses who increasingly feel
they should have a say in government rules about what they can buy and make.
China
's ruling Communist Party
keeps a tight lid on public discussion of politics. But in consumer rights and
other less sensitive areas, citizens and industry groups are becoming bolder, a
trend echoed in the e-bike debate.
"Maybe the government likes to meddle in other people's
business so much that it invented such stupid, unreasonable rules", said
Zhao Lijun, a beefy 47-year-old deliveryman using his electric bike to deliver
meat and vegetables to restaurants.
"I'm almost in my 50s, and my physical strength is far
from enough for me to ride a pedal bicycle the whole day."
More than public feeling is at stake.
China
has nearly 2,000
manufacturers allowed to make e-bikes and they have been producing 21 million
each year, said an official at the bicycle industry association, which
represents many manufacturers.
The bike batteries also drive much lead demand.
E-bikes usually jostle with pedal-power bikes in special
lanes on city streets. Riders also mount sidewalks, and in the eyes of harried
residents, the e-bikes can be quietly menacing missiles of steel, lead and
rubber.
Many Chinese cities, including
Beijing
, ban or strictly limit motorbikes,
and restrict the size of e-bikes. But in the free-for-all of urban Chinese
traffic, it is not uncommon to see speeding e-bikes in spills and head-on
collisions.
"They are even not licensed, the electric bikes,"
said Wang Fuhe, a
Beijing
taxi driver. "So they have nothing to fear. They hit pedestrians and cars
then run away, barely traceable."
E-bike makers have denounced the rules as a move to protect
motorcycle makers and state-owned companies whose business has been crimped,
Chinese newspapers have reported. Local industry groups have demanded public
hearings, the reports have said.
"Virtually all of the manufacturers of electric bikes
are private businesses," said Gong Xiaoyan, head of the e-bike industry
association of
Tianjin
, a port city near
Beijing
, according to the
Chinese-language 21st Century Business Herald.
"This standard will push these small and medium-sized
businesses to the brink of extinction," he said. "Clearly that is at
odds with the government's demands for social stability."
But making and discarding the bulky rechargeable batteries
are environmental worries, said Robert Earley, who works for the
Innovation
Center
for Energy and Transportation in
Beijing
,
a group encouraging green transport. Few bikes come with lighter, cleaner
lithium batteries.
"The bikes use lead-acid batteries that weigh about 4
or 5 kilos each. You multiply that by 21 million and that's an awful lot of
lead," he said.
"I don't think
China
has the social infrastructure
to administer rules like this," he said. "But it could be a way to
slow down the industry until technology catches up".
(http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE5BA038 )
December 14 (China
Daily) - In November the sales of the Chery Automobile Co, China's largest
homegrown carmaker, reached an all-time monthly record of 54,985 units, a surge
of 141 percent over the same period last year and 25.8 percent higher than its
sales in October.
Chery sold nearly
440,000 cars between January and November this year, a year-on-year increase of
32 percent. The company estimates that its total sales this year might hit
500,000 units. If its predictions prove true, the company will see an increase
of 40 percent over its last year's sales of 356,000 units.
In the first 11
months of this year, Chery's domestic sales more than doubled compared to the
previous year. Its passenger vehicle export volume also remains the largest
among the country's indigenous carmakers.
According to the
company, its multi-brand strategy, as well as the government's stimulus
package, were the major contributors to its sales growth.
Chery has launched
three all-new brands this year - Karry, Riich and Rely - and has built three
sales and service networks for the freshly-introduced models. Currently it has
541 authorized service points, covering 300 prefecture-level cities across the
country.
Along with the
existing Chery brand, the company has established a comprehensive range,
including micro, sub-compact, compact and mid-sized cars, SUVs and commercial
vehicles. This lineup is key to the company's aims of establishing a large
transnational auto group with a full range of products.
This year the company
launched three models under its minicar brand, Karry, as well as the first
model bearing the Riich badge - the Riich M1 subcompact.
The monthly sales of
Karry minicars has almost reached 10,000 units, according to Chery's spokesman
Jin Yibo.
Just a few days ago,
the State Council declared to extend the implementation of "selling autos
to the countryside" policy to the end of next year. Jin said that it will
bring a huge benefit for the development of Chery's small-displacement vehicles
and minicars.
Its lead brand, Chery,
has seen average monthly sales of 37,511 units this year.
During the Guangzhou
Autoshow last month, Chery exhibited 16 models under its four brands, including
one concept car, four new models and 11 cars that all performed well in sales
terms.
Yin Tongyao,
president of Chery said: "Chery's brand segmentation has become much
clearer, which will help the company access different market sectors.
"This is the
first phase of Chery's development strategy of building homegrown brands into
internationally recognized names through globalization and innovation."
As the most
successful Chinese car exporter, Chery accounts for more than half of
China
's
export of homegrown passenger cars over the past three years. It now has 11
plants in a number of countries and regions, including
Russia
, the
Ukraine
,
Egypt
,
Iran
,
Indonesia
,
Uruguay
,
Thailand
,
Vietnam
and
Taiwan
province. Another four are still under construction and will be completed by
the end of this year.
According to earlier
reports, Chery has been in talks with a Turkish company with regard to
establishing production facilities in its home country with a total investment
of $500 million. The plant will mainly produce Chery's A1 subcompact and A3
compact sedans for the Turkish and European market.
The move is seen as a
bid to counter the difficulties many Chinese automakers have faced when
attempting to conquer the lucrative European market.
Chery currently has
an annual production capacity of 450,000 vehicles and 450,000 engines at its
home base in
Anhui
.
It aims to increase its output to 1 million units by 2012.
Dalian
factory
To meet the fast
growing demand in both domestic and overseas markets, Chery began to build a
new production base in the northeastern port city of
Dalian
several months ago. It plans to invest
more than 4 billion yuan in establishing the 200,000-unit plant, its first
domestic facility outside its home base in the eastern city of
Wuhu
.
The factory will
begin production of Chery's small and medium-sized cars in June 2011 and will
go into full operation in 2015.
Chery is also working
with a Taiwanese company to produce cars for the island and Southeast Asian
markets.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bw/2009-12/14/content_9167985.htm )
China
to continue oil product pricing reform
December 24 (Xinhua)
--
China
announced Wednesday that it will continue to reform its oil product pricing
mechanism based on changes in the domestic and international markets.
"The reform of
refined oil pricing and affiliated fuel tax incentives has produced prominent
results in the past year. The significant measures spell out
China
's
resolution to save energy and balance energy consumption," the National
Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the nation's economic planning
agency, said in a statement on its website.
On January 1, the
government started to change benchmark retail prices of oil products when the
international crude price rises or falls by a daily average of 4 percent over
22 days.
The new mechanism
aimed to indirectly link domestic prices to global crude prices "in a
controlled manner," after domestic refiners suffered huge losses because
of a gap between government-set retail prices and soaring global crude prices.
The new measures
reflected international price fluctuations, corporate production costs,
domestic demand, and oil resource scarcity, and were also conducive to
environmental protection and introduced competition in distribution, the statement
said.
The benchmark price
of gasoline currently sits at 7,100 yuan a ton and that of diesel 6,360 yuan a
ton, after five price rises and four cuts in the past year.
As more than half of
China
's
domestic oil supply depended on imports, the new measures helped ensure
adequate domestic supply and played a positive role in the economic growth, it
said.
The reform also
annulled six types of fees for road maintenance and management, which removed
more than 1,400 toll stations along 77,400 kilometers of road.
Consumption tax
revenue rose almost 80 percent to 355 billion yuan ($52.21 billion) in the
first nine months after the rise in gasoline and diesel consumption tax, the
statement said.
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/23/content_12694531.htm )
China
faces a quandary over oil
December
21 (China Daily) – Situ Yu,
a 28-year-old
Beijing
resident, often chooses public transportation nowadays, although she bought a
Ford Focus in 2007.
"The
gasoline price is so expensive now. I have to tighten my belt," she said,
adding that she has to pay around 1,000 yuan to buy fuel every month.
"The
price was going up too quickly this year," she said. "Some of my
friends also choose to drive less because of the high fuel prices."
The three
price cuts so far this year are quite small," said Li Hongbing, another
taxi driver in the city.
Because
of the high fuel prices
Beijing
taxi passengers have had an extra 1 yuan added to their bills for each trip as
a fuel surcharge since November 25. "I don't think this is a good method.
What if the price goes higher?" said Li.
Some
industry insiders also regard the pricing system as unreasonable. "Today's
gasoline price is even higher than last July, when the international crude
price hit a record high. How can we say such a system fairly reflects the
change in global crude prices?" asked an analyst who declined to be named.
In
addition to complaints about excessively high oil prices, a report saying that
domestic oil companies are exporting oil products at very low prices has caught
much attention recently.
Several
days ago an unnamed analyst said on a website that
China
's average export price of
refined oil was only 2.4 yuan per liter, far lower than the domestic price.
That was because the nation aggregately exported 14.96 million tons of refined
oil from January to August 2009, but the total export value was $6.65 billion.
Commenting
on the issue, Huang Wensheng, spokesman for
China
's largest refiner Sinopec,
said, "Such a calculation is unreasonable. The difference between the
refined oil prices in domestic and overseas markets is related to many factors,
such as customs statistics, how refined the oil is and different terms of trade."
Price
next year
China
's latest price hike on refined oil products was on November 10,
when gasoline and diesel prices were raised by 480 yuan per ton, or 7 percent.
A
total of 22 working days passed by December 9 but the National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC),
China
's
top economic planning body, said on December 14 that the time was not ripe for
another price adjustment.
It
was not time yet for another change in retail fuel prices as benchmark crude
markets had yet to break the range that would trigger an adjustment, reported
the statement, adding that benchmark prices rose by 1.85 percent by December 9
over 22 working days.
The
NDRC also ruled out high oil prices, saying that domestic refined oil prices
are now corresponding to $67 per barrel of crude price, which is still $7 to $8
lower than global oil prices at present.
Many
industry insiders believe that global oil prices will fluctuate between $60 and
$80 next year. At such a level domestic fuel prices will not rise much, they
said.
"It
is hard to see a sharp increase in global crude prices next year. Domestic
prices will change in line with that," said Jiang Xinmin, an analyst with
the Energy Research Institute under the NDRC, adding that domestic prices would
be changed routinely according to the 22-day formula next year.
But
some analysts forecasted that crude prices might touch as high as $100 per
barrel next year. At such a high price level the country may make some
adjustment to the pricing system.
Market
hearsay last week suggested the NDRC may shorten the calculation period for
adjusting domestic gasoline and diesel prices to fewer than 22 days. It is also
considering whether to fix a 200 yuan profit margin for domestic refiners.
However,
such hearsay is "speculative". And
China
has no plan to change its
fuel-pricing mechanism for now, a spokesman from the NDRC told Bloomberg News
on December 16.
Oil
demand
In
its latest monthly report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) raised its
forecast for
China
's
oil demand by roughly 80,000 barrels a day on average for both 2009 and 2010,
as the government's stimulus program is resulting in greater use of products
from naphtha to jet fuel.
The
agency now expects
China
's
oil demand to average 8.4 million barrels a day this year. The demand is
forecast to average 8.7 million barrels a day next year.
China
's oil imports grew marginally in the first half of this year as the
country's economy slowed, but will see further growth in the second half and
next year as demand improves, said analysts.
"I
expect oil imports will see a 1 percent year-on-year growth in 2009," said
Liu Gu, an analyst with Guotai Jun'an Securities, adding the figure could well
be higher.
China
imported 90.77 million tons of crude oil in the first half, a
0.3-percent growth year-on-year, according to the General Administration of
Customs. The country imported 179 million tons of crude in 2008, up 9.6 percent
from a year earlier.
Becoming
a net oil importer 15 years ago,
China
's oil imports have seen
accelerated growth in recent years. In 2004 the figure surpassed 100 million
tons, up by 35 percent from a year earlier.
Analysts
said that there is no doubt that the country's oil imports will continue to see
rapid increase in the long term. According to a report by the
Chinese
Academy
of Social Sciences (CASS), 64.5 percent of the country's oil consumption is
likely to be met by imports in 2020.
The
gap between domestic consumption and production is the main cause for the
increase in imports. Statistics from CASS showed that
China
's oil
production is expected to reach 177 to 198 million tons in 2010, and the figure
would reach 182 to 200 million tons in 2015.
China
's oil production will see gradual decline after 2020, said CASS.
Analysts
said that
China
should further diversify its oil importing sources to ensure sustainable
supplies. At present the Middle East,
Africa
and Asia-Pacific are the three main regions for Chinese oil imports.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-12/21/content_9206039.htm )
December 14 (China Daily) -- The landmark China-Central
Asian gas pipeline, hailed by national leaders as a token of strategic
cooperation, will benefit both partners, experts said yesterday.
The
1,833-km pipeline, starting from
Turkmenistan
and threading through
Uzbekistan
and
Kazakhstan
before
reaching
China
's
Xinjiang region, is to be inaugurated today at a ceremony in the presence of
leaders from the four countries. The
Kazakhstan
part of the project was
inaugurated on Saturday.
Turkmenistan
says it can supply 40 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year in
the next 30 years.
China
consumed 77.8 billion cubic meters last year.
During
his Sunday meeting with
Turkmenistan
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Chinese President Hu Jintao said that the
landmark project, which is
China
's
first transnational land gas pipeline, signifies the sincere and strategic
cooperation between the countries.
Berdymukhamedov
said that the project has high political significance and is in the interests
of all sides.
Beimbet
Shayakhmetov, general manager of the China-Kazakhstan pipeline company, was
quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying last week: "In fact, most important
of all, through this project, we and our neighbors have found more common
interests and opportunities for cooperation between us."
"During
the Soviet era,
Russia
built
a 'friendship' natural gas pipeline leading to
Europe
.
But this Central Asian gas pipeline fully deserves the title of 'friendship
pipeline', as it can well rival that pipeline in its immediate
significance," he said.
Experts
said the gas cooperation between
China
and
Central Asia
is a win-win deal.
The
pipeline can help
China
solve the gas shortage that has choked its economic growth, Lin Boqiang, an
energy expert at
Xiamen
University
, told China
Daily.
China
now largely relies on its domestic production. The world's third
biggest economy produced 77.5 billion cubic meters of gas last year, slightly less
than its consumption of 77.8 billion.
But
it may need to import more gas in the coming years to meet demand that grows up
to 20 percent annually, Lin said.
"This
trend will become obvious amid the country's economic recovery and
urbanization," he said.
Through
the deal,
Turkmenistan
,
a net exporter of gas, finds a good buyer, he said. "The deal ... will
help the two countries pull out of the financial crisis."
Russia
used to buy most of
Central Asia
's oil and
gas.
The
natural gas reserves in
Turkmenistan
account for nearly a quarter of the world's total.
New
fields of cooperation
Beyond
mine ores, oil and gas, Hu also proposed to enhance the cooperation on the
renewable energy with Central Asian countries. In one instance, China Guandong
Nuclear Power Co (CGNPC) from
Guangdong
province, signed a deal with
Kazakhstan
's
sovereign wealth fund Samruk Kazyna on wind power.
The
deal will be followed by a series of cooperative projects jointly launched by
the two countries in the field of renewable energy.
China
, driven by economic growth, is in dire need of renewable energy to
cut its reliance on fossil fuel.
Hu
also proposed enhancing cooperation in the non-resources sector to his Kazakh
counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev. "We should accelerate the implementation
of the first batch of cooperative projects (in the field), and ensure as soon
as possible the cooperation will grow and become profitable," Hu said.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2009-12/14/content_9167762.htm )
China
,
Venezuela
sign oil development pacts
December
24 (China Daily) – China
National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), the country's largest offshore oil
producer, has signed an agreement to develop oil and gas resources in
Venezuela
,
the latest step in its overseas expansion.
CNOOC
has signed a memorandum of understanding with its Venezuelan counterpart for
the development of heavy oil and offshore oil and gas resources. The agreement
was signed in the South American country on Dec 22, said a company executive
yesterday.
It
is the company's first entry into the country, said the executive who declined
to be named, adding that it was a framework agreement.
CNOOC
will help
Venezuela
to
develop the Boyaca 3 oil block in the Orinoco belt, a large heavy-crude basin
in eastern
Venezuela
,
Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
The
move is part of
Venezuela
's
efforts to increase oil sales to
China
to 1 million barrels per day
from the existing 400,000 barrels per day, said the report.
The
sound relationship between
China
and
Venezuela
would help domestic oil companies better foster their partnerships in the Latin
American country, said Xia Yishan, an expert at the China Institute of
International Studies.
"
Venezuela
has rich oil resources and will be one
of
China
's
important energy markets," he said.
Analysts
said
China
should further diversify its oil import sources to ensure sustainable supplies.
At present the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific are the three main
regions from which
China
imports oil.
In
another development, China's largest oil producer China National Petroleum Corp
(CNPC) also moved forward by securing access to another oil block in the
Orinoco region that could eventually produce 400,000 barrels of oil per day,
Wall Street Journal reported.
CNPC
also agreed to build a refinery with
Venezuela
that will process crude
from a joint oil venture between the two countries, said the report.
But
a CNPC spokesman yesterday said he was not aware of the deal.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/24/content_9222918.htm )
December
21 (Xinhua) –
BEIJING
- China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the
country's biggest oil and gas producer, announced on Monday it has signed an
agreement with
Myanmar
's
Energy Ministry to receive exclusive rights to build and operate the
China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline.
The
deal has granted operating concession of the pipeline to the CNPC controlled
South-East Asia Crude Oil Pipeline Ltd., said CNPC.
The
pipeline company will also enjoy tax concessions and customs clearance rights,
said a report on the CNPC website.
The
agreement stipulates the
Myanmar
government should guarantee the company's ownership and exclusive operating
rights, as well as the safety of the pipeline.
In
June, CNPC and the
Myanmar
government signed a memorandum of understanding, agreeing that CNPC would be
responsible for the design, construction, and operation of the pipeline, the
statement said.
The
771-kilometer pipeline, extending from Maday island, in western
Myanmar
, to Ruili, in the southwestern Chinese
province
of
Yunnan
, is expected to carry 12 million
tonnes of oil a year initially.
CNPC
in late October started construction of a port in western
Myanmar
as part
of the China-Myanmar Crude Pipeline project, said the company.
Previous page 1 2 Next Page
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-12/21/content_9209811.htm )
South China Sea
gas find to fuel CNOOC dreams
December 10 (China Daily) – China's biggest offshore oil company CNOOC Ltd
said yesterday its Canada-based partner Husky Energy had made a second
significant deepwater gas discovery in the South China Sea, showing high
potential in energy resources in the region.
The
newly discovered Liuhua 34-2 field, located in the
Pearl
River
Mouth
Basin
in the eastern
South China
Sea
, is capable of producing 55 million cubic feet of natural gas
per day during test drilling, CNOOC said in a statement yesterday.
In
order to determine the full potential of the field, an appraisal well would be
drilled in early 2010 by Husky, said the statement.
CNOOC
is entitled to hold a 51 percent stake in the production-sharing contract for
the discovery, it said.
The
discovery of Liuhua 34-2 follows the finding of Liwan 3-1 field in
2006 in
the same region. "We are
excited about the new deepwater discovery, which further demonstrates the huge
potential in the deepwater area in
South China Sea
.
We expect the two adjacent discoveries to be developed in a more efficient way
by sharing development facilities," said Zhu Weilin, executive
vice-president of the company and general manager of exploration department.
"This
exciting exploration discovery, combined with the development of the Liwan 3-1
field, is a significant milestone towards our goal of strategic commercial
development and production from this promising area," said John Lau,
president & CEO of Husky Energy Inc.
Husky,
controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, started exploring in offshore
China
in 2002.
The company is now one of
Canada
's
largest energy and energy-related companies.
Cooperation
with overseas companies can help CNOOC Ltd better develop the rich deepwater
energy resources off China's coast, as at present domestic companies still lag
behind in technology, said analysts.
"We
need advanced technology," said Qiu Xiaofeng, an analyst with China
Merchants Securities. "These kinds of cooperation can reduce risks in
project development."
CNOOC
is also planning to double its crude oil and natural gas production in the
western part of the
South China Sea
.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/10/content_9151969.htm )
December
8 (Agencies) –CNOOC Ltd,
China
's
biggest offshore oil explorer, may double its crude oil and natural gas
production in the western part of the
South China Sea
to meet rising energy demand in the country.
China
's
third-largest oil company may expand its output in the area to 20 million cu m
by 2015 from 10 million cu m, or 38.97 million barrels, last year, Ke Luxiong,
deputy general manager of CNOOC's
Zhanjiang
division, said after a media tour of the unit's operations in the southern
city.
Increased
energy demand in the world's fastest-growing major economy is prompting CNOOC
to intensify exploration in the area. A number of overseas companies have shown
"immense" interest in joining CNOOC's bid to develop deepwater blocks
in the region, Xie Luhong, head of the CNOOC unit, told reporters in
Zhanjiang
in
Guangdong
province on Dec 4.
"The
deepwater areas are said to hold a significant amount of resources," Qiu
Xiaofeng, a Shanghai-based analyst with China Merchants Securities Co, said.
"CNOOC may need to enlist help from overseas partners in the beginning due
to potential technical difficulties."
CNOOC
plans to work with overseas partners to drill the first deepwater wells in the
area next year, Xie said, without naming the companies. "The water depth
might be between
1,500 m
and
1,800 m
," he
said.
The
company currently drills at a water depth of as much as
180 m
in the region, according to Xie. "There is
huge potential in the deepwater blocks in the
South China
Sea
, most of which are expected to hold natural gas
resources," Xie said.
CNOOC
and its partners may spend about 200 billion yuan through 2020 to develop
energy reserves in the South China Sea in the country's biggest push to tap oil
and gas resources off its coast, Luo Donghong, chief development engineer at
CNOOC's Shenzhen unit, said in November last year.
The
western part of the
South China Sea
is CNOOC's
"most important" natural-gas producing area, the company said on its
website. Exploration partners include BG Group Plc, Devon Energy Corp and Roc
Oil Co, Xie said.
As
of the end of last year, CNOOC had proven reserves of oil and gas of 614.4
million barrels of oil equivalent in the region, data on its website show.
That's 24.4 percent of the company's total.
CNOOC
had targeted to increase production in the area by about 13 percent to 44.069
million barrels this year, Xie said. "The goal can be met under normal
conditions," he said, without elaborating.
CNOOC,
which gets more than 70 percent of its output from domestic offshore fields, is
boosting production to benefit from a rebound in fuel demand as
China
's
economic growth accelerates. The company said in January it aims to produce 225
million to 231 million barrels of oil equivalent this year.
The
South China Sea, spanning 3.5 million sq km, stretches from
Singapore
to the Taiwan Straits.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/08/content_9135292.htm )
China
undertaking low-carbon development
December 16 (Xinhua) -
China
is reconciling its traditional development and consumption patterns with
low-carbon development so as to achieve ultimate harmony between humans and
nature, a senior Chinese official said Tuesday.
In his speech to be delivered at a United
Nations (UN) climate change seminar, Xie Zhenhua promised that
China
would strive to achieve this harmony by closely integrating the Chinese stage
of development with its unique national situation.
Xie is vice minister of the Chinese National
Development and Reform Commission.
According to
Xie
,
China
will push forward its low-carbon development through the following steps.
Firstly,
China
will enhance policy guidance
and macroscopic coordination, as low-carbon economy is an integrated topic for
which balanced coordination and guidance are important. The Chinese government
is planning to distribute holistic guiding policy documents.
Secondly,
China
will implement various policy
measures. The Chinese government will incorporate the development of a
low-carbon economy into the country's 12th Five-Year Program for National
Economic and Social Development.
China
will develop a low-carbon
economy through the transformation of economic development patterns, industrial
restructuring, increasing energy efficiency and the improvement of energy
efficiency.
Thirdly,
China
will arrange pilot efforts
for the development of a low-carbon economy.
China
will select representative
regions or areas for demonstration projects on low-carbon economy, and work out
and deliver plans to develop local low-carbon economy.
Fourthly, the country will upgrade capacity
building for the development of a low-carbon economy. The Chinese government is
organizing relevant departments to reinforce and improve the construction of
monitoring, statistical and management systems for greenhouse gases and setting
up cross-field multi-disciplinary science teams to achieve breakthroughs in key
areas.
Fifthly,
China
is to enhance communication
and education to upgrade public awareness. The Chinese government will promote
all forms of communication and education activities for the development of a
low-carbon economy and urge society to adopt low-carbon lifestyles and
consumption patterns.
Sixthly, the country will organize
international communication and cooperation. The Chinese government will boost
dialogue and cooperation with other countries and international organizations
with an open and practical attitude.
China
will introduce advanced
concepts and experiences of developed countries and create a uniquely Chinese
model for developing a low-carbon economy.
Another senior Chinese official, Zhao Baige,
vice minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, told
the same seminar that China is dealing with climate change using integrated and
comprehensive insight.
She said that
China
is moving forwards on the
path of low-carbon economy and social development under the framework of
sustainable development and the interaction of various sectors: politics,
economy, society, culture and ecology.
The Chinese government has adopted a set of
actions that integrate climate considerations into the Chinese economic policy,
such as stricter control of loans to sectors featuring high-carbon emissions
and the increase of credit-support to low-carbon industries, said Helen Clark,
administrator of the United Nations Development Program.
She said that these moves confirm what the
international community already hailed as one of the most important steps from
the Bali Road Map: the Chinese commitment to pursue a path of low-carbon development
through the reduction of carbon intensity.
In recent years,
China
has also been leading the way
in developing and adopting affordable low-carbon technologies and solutions.
Khalid Malik, UN resident coordinator in
China
, told Xinhua at the seminar that it is
possible for
China
to improve the lives of people but also reduce carbon emissions at the same
time.
"So we had to make certain that we avoid
the lessons and the mistakes that other countries have made and that we learn
the lessons from it," he said. "There is enough knowledge and
technology around for us to bring it together and to produce a more sustainable
part."
China
is
expected to release the "National Human Development Report" during
the UN climate change talks. The report will initiate the development of
low-carbon economy in
China
and a sustainable society for the future.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-12/16/content_9188212.htm )
China
committed to emission cut
December 19 (China Daily) –
COPENHAGEN
- No matter what the outcome of the UN climate change conference
is,
China
will remain committed to achieving and even exceeding the emission reduction
targets it has said for itself, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday.
“We will honour our word with real action,”
Wen told 119 heads of state and government attending the UN climate change
conference, or COP15.
Before the conference began,
China
announced
that it would reduce its carbon intensity emission per unit of GDP — by 40 and
45 percent by 2020, taking 2005 as the base year.
Speaking at an informal high-level meting,
hosted by Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, on the last day of the
conference, Wen elaborated
China
’s
achievements in developing clean energy and cutting greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions.
Stressing that this is a voluntary move taken
by
China
,
Wen said: “We have not attached any condition to the target, nor have we linked
it to the target of any other country.”
In responding to developed
countries'insistance on transparency, Wen said: "We will further enhance
the domestic statistical, monitoring and evaluation methods, improve the way
for releasing emission reduction information, increase transparency and
actively engage in international exchange, dialogue and cooperation."
Wen then met US President Barack Obama for
nearly an hour in what a White House official described as a “step forward”.
“They had a constructive discussion that
touched upon ... all the key issues,” the official said. “They’ve now directed
their negotiators to work on a bilateral basis as well as with other countries
to see if an agreement can be reached.”
But Obama refused to commit to new GHG
emission cuts, a move that many said could have salvaged the floundering
climate talks.
Since not much headway has been made toward a
deal, negotiations could continue beyond Friday, the official last day of the
conference.
Till late on Friday night (
Beijing
time), Rasmussen was locked in talks
with some heads of state and government and ministers to see whether a
political declaration could be made. He was also trying to strike a deal on
“Long-term Cooperation Action” and possible amendments to Kyoto Protocol.
Before the two leaders’ meeting, leaders of
major developed and developing economies such as US President Obama, Brazilian
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
also addressed the informal high-level gathering.
Their speeches, though, showed their
divergent views on how the world should work together to slow down global
warming.
Singh, who supported
China
’s stance,
said: “The vast majority of countries do not support any renegotiation or
dilution of the principles and provisions of the UNFCCC (UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change), especially the principle of equity and equitable
burden sharing.”
Wen urged the international community to
fight climate change on the basis of four principles. The international
community should strengthen confidence, build consensus, make vigorous efforts
and enhance cooperation, he said.
The countries should honor and follow the
documents they are have agreed to since 1992, that is, the UNFCCC, the Kyoto
Protocol (1997) and the Bali Roadmap (2007), he said. They “should lock up
rather than deny the consensus and progress already made at the negotiations”.
Upholding the fairness of rules is the second
principle that Wen proposed. The principle of “common but differentiated
responsibilities represents the core … of international cooperation on climate
change”.
“It must never be compromised,” he said.
Industrialization began in the developing
countries only a few decades ago and many of their people still live in abject
poverty, he said.
China
alone has 150 million people living in poverty by UN standards.
“It is unjustified to ask them to commit to
binding emission cut targets beyond their due obligations and capabilities in
disregard to historical responsibilities, per capita emissions and different
levels of development,” he said.
Third, we should pay attention to the
practicality of the targets, he said.
“The Kyoto Protocol has set out clear
emission reduction targets for developed countries for the first commitment
period, until 2012. But a review of implementation shows that the emissions from
many developed countries have increased instead of decreasing,” Wen said.
Fourth, the international community has to
ensure the effectiveness of institutions and mechanisms. “Concrete actions and
institutional guarantee are essential to our efforts to tackle climate change,”
Wen said.
“I think Wen spoke with passion to seek a
constructive and meaningful climate deal,” said Wu Changhua, Greater China
Director of the Climate Group.
He made it clear that
China
was
committed to pursuing a low-carbon economy despite the tremendous difficulties
that it would face, Wu said.
Though
China
has a clear vision, some
funds and technologies and is committed to the cause, aligning the vision,
policy, money, technologies is still an uphill task for it, she said.
That Wen reiterated
China
’s
position at the conference shows that the principles of UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol
and Bali Action Plan should not be compromised, Wu said.
This position is shared by most developing
countries and many NGOs in
China
and abroad, she said.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-12/19/content_9201775.htm )
China
strives to contribute more to
global fight against climate change
December 15 (Xinhua) –
COPENHAGEN
- As challenging as
it is serious, climate change is not only clamoring for global attention, but
also for global action.
Despite its tremendous need for development,
China
,
the world's largest developing country, has taken unprecedented efforts in recent
years to address the global issue.
From the closure of "Five Kinds of Small
Plants" producing steel, iron and cement, to underlining "ecological
civilization" in the 17th CPC Congress Report and publishing "
China
's
National Climate Change Program," these concrete actions demonstrate the
determination of the Chinese government to do something to about climate
change.
CONSTRUCTING ECOLOGICAL CIVILIZATION
In October 2007, Chinese President Hu Jintao,
also CPC general secretary, declared in his report to the 17th CPC congress
that
China
will work to
construct "ecological civilization," signifying a new beginning for
China
's
environmental protection.
Henri Proglio, chairman and CEO of the Veolia
Environment, commented that it is quite encouraging for
China
to raise the concept of "ecological
civilization," and through this declaration,
China
has raised the importance of
environmental protection to an unprecedented level.
Published in June 2007, "
China
's
National Climate Change Program," the country's first policy document and
first national proposal among all developing nations, comprehensively lists the
initiatives to combat climate change before 2010.
Additionally, October 2008 saw the
publication of "
China
's
Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change," which addresses the
impact of climate change on
China
,
China
's
policies and actions, as well as its efforts to cope with global warming.
These efforts indicate great determination on
China's part, while the country is facing the dual task of promoting economic
growth on the one hand while transforming its growth mode on the other -- all
this amidst the global financial crisis.
As stipulated in the "11th Five-Year
Plan,"
China
's
unit GDP energy consumption will be reduced by 20 percent till 2010. According
to statistics from the National Development and Reform Commission, out of the
entire 4,000 billion yuan (US$585.7 billion) investment, 210 billion yuan
(US$30.7 billion) will be allocated to energy conservation and ecological
construction, while 370 billion yuan (US$54.18 billion) will be allocated to
independent innovation and industrial structure adjustment. Meanwhile, proposed
and approved by the state council, related instructions are also detailed in
the stimulus package for 10 sectors.
China
is
demonstrating its commitment to sustainable development with an even stronger
heart to the world.
HARD-EARNED ACCOMPLISHMENT
According to the official data issued by the
National Leading Group Office for Climate Change and Energy Conservation of the
State Council on June 5,
China
's
unit GDP energy consumption has been reduced by 10.1 percent from 2005 to 2007,
the first three years of the "11th Five-Year Plan," which equals 750
million tons reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.
The road towards these accomplishments has
been bumpy, fraught with various of difficulties during the past thirty years
of rapid economic growth.
During the "11th Five-Year Plan,"
over 1,000 billion yuan will be added to increase investment in energy
conservation and emission reduction. Small thermal plants have been shut down.
Furthermore, backward production facilities producing about 250 million tons of
cement and 150 tons of steel and iron have been closed.
On November 26,
China
announced that it was going
to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by
40 to 45 percent compared with the level of 2005.
Realizing these targets requires not only
willingness but also courage to face
China
's harsh realities.
China
still has 150 million poor and an economy that is waiting to be developed to
improve people's living standard and promote industrialization.
However, realizing the urgency and
significance to contain climate change, these difficulties will not hinder
China
's
pursuit to be a responsible member of the international community.
CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
To seek low carbon and green economy, we need
to develop new energy and advocate new spending patterns.
According to research by the Ministry of
Environmental Protection, reducing one ton of sulfuric dioxide will lead to 38
tons reduction of carbon dioxide. Thus, about 250 million tons of carbon
dioxide will be cut with the completion of the task in the "11th Five-Year
Plan," which requires a 10-percent decrease in sulfuric dioxide, roughly 6.7
million tons.
Reductions of two major pollutants have been
steadfast. In 2008, the discharged chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sulfuric
dioxide have been reduced by 6.61 percent and 8.95 percent respectively,
compared to that of 2005. While in the first six months of 2009, the two
indexes fell by 2.46 percent and 5.4 percent against that of the same period in
2008.
Apart from this,
China
has been committed to
tree-planting, ecological industrial park establishment, raising public
awareness of environmental protection, as well as national park and wetland
construction.
Environmental degradation is endangering
China
's
domestic development. For sustainable development to be achieved, great
emphasis should be played on protecting the environment and combating climate
change to fulfill the responsibility to both
China
and the world at large.
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/15/content_12651624.htm )
December 17 (China Daily) -
China
announced
on Nov 26 that it was going to reduce its carbon intensity by 40-45 percent by
2020 compared with the 2005 level. This announcement has been widely welcomed
by the international community and shows that, above all, although current
international treaties within the United Nations mechanism do not require
developing countries to accept binding targets,
China
is willing to carve a new
development path that can make its economic growth less carbon intensive. The
new reduction target would be a binding indicator to be incorporated into
China
's medium-
and long-term national social and economic development plans.
Appropriate handling of climate change is of
vital importance to all countries. As one of the largest greenhouse gas
emitters,
China
's
ambitious voluntary action will make an important contribution to global
efforts in tackling climate change.
China
's
per capita CO2 emission is still very low. In 2005, it was 3.80 tons of CO2,
equivalent to 92 percent of the world average, 35 percent of the OECD average,
and less than 20 percent of the
US
level. Also, in terms of per capita cumulative CO2 emissions over the period
1950-2002,
China
ranked the 92nd in the world. Therefore, it is expected that
China
's overall
CO2 emissions will continue to increase even with decreases in carbon intensity
as the economy grows and living standards improve.
Projection of carbon emissions is highly
sensitive to underlying assumptions about GDP growth, the future structure of
the economy and even the foreign exchange rate. Based on its economic
performance in the past three decades and also the current global financial
crisis,
China
is expected to grow rapidly in the foreseeable future. Its GDP growth rate is assumed
to be 8 percent from 2006 to 2020.
Our research results show that in 2020,
annual carbon emissions reduced under scenarios of "40 percent
reduction" and "45 percent reduction" will be about 6.5 billion
tons and 7.3 billion tons compared with the business-as-2005 scenario.
Cumulative carbon emissions reduction over the period 2006-2020 will be about
37.5 billion tons and 42.2 billion tons under the "40 percent
reduction" and "45 percent reduction" scenarios.
The challenge for
China
is to put into motion a
transition to a more secure, lower-carbon energy system without undermining
economic and social development. Policy options include energy efficiency
improvement, economic structure adjustment, promotion of non-fossil energy
supply (renewable and nuclear), and afforestation to enlarge carbon sink.
Measures to improve energy efficiency stand out as the cheapest and fastest way
to curb carbon emission growth in the near term.
Long held up as a high priority by
policymakers, energy efficiency has attained even greater prominence in
China
over the
past few years. Broad measures have been aggressively taken to improve energy
efficiency and correspondingly reduce GHG emissions. For example, from 2006 to
June 2009,
China
closed down 54GW of small and inefficient coal-fired power plants and achieved
its target of closing down 50GW during the period 2006-2010.
In order to achieve the 2020 target, more
efforts must be made by strictly binding corresponding efficiency and emission
indicators on local governments. It is expected that this 40 percent-45 percent
target will be set for all provinces/municipalities soon.
In order to optimize its economic structure,
the Chinese government needs to take more action to accelerate the development
of the tertiary industry and curb the quick expansion of energy-intensive
industries.
China
has
been striving to diversify its energy supply mix along with better ways of
using coal. By 2008, non-fossil energy supply was estimated at 250 million tons
of coal equivalent, about 8.9 percent of total primary energy consumption. The
2020 policy target is to increase the share of non-fossil energy in the energy
mix to 15 percent.
Policies to promote afforestation have helped
increase forest coverage from 13.9 percent in the early 1990s to 18.2 percent
in 2005. By 2020,
China
intends to increase 40 million hectares of forest and 1.3 billion cu m of
forest volume through reforestation and strengthening management of existing
forests, compared with the 2005 level.
To realize this 40-45 percent carbon
reduction policy target,
China
needs to upgrade existing inefficient energy facilities and build more
non-fossil energy projects. This means a huge amount of investment will be
required to underpin this policy change. The IEA estimated in its 2007 World
Energy Outlook that
China
's
required annual investment will be $150 billion in the Reference Scenario and
$200 billion in the High Growth Scenario, and this corresponds to about $2.25
trillion and $3 trillion in total respectively over the period 2006-2020.
What is worthy of mention here is that China
is in the process of developing world-class manufacturing industries for
non-fossil technologies, such as nuclear turbines, wind turbines, solar PV
modules and biomass equipment. It is likely to have a strong impact on the
domestic power market. Therefore, current target capacity addition and unit
costs for different technologies might be changed from time to time.
The
author Yang Hongliang is an
energy researcher with the Asian Development Bank.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2009-12/17/content_9191482.htm )
December 11 (China Daily) -- "Carbon
emission trading," a scheme that allows market forces to reduce carbon
dioxide emissions and tackle climate change, has drawn world-wide attention in
recent years.
Many people hope such a scheme, which works
through market mechanism, could effectively promote the development of a low
carbon economy and hence solve the climate crisis we humans are facing today.
The emissions of greenhouse gases, including
carbon dioxide, are not tradable goods as a matter of course. However, the U.N.
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) signed in 1992 and the Kyoto
Protocol adopted in 1997 provided legal prerequisite for the trading of carbon
emissions.
The protocol introduced three flexible
mechanisms for the developed countries to reach their emission reduction targets,
namely, emissions trading, clean development and joint implementation
mechanisms.
According to the UNFCCC and the protocol, the
developed countries and developing countries shoulder "common but
differentiated responsibilities" for climate change.
Under the convention and the protocol,
developed countries would reduce their collective greenhouse emissions by 5.2
percent from 1990 levels during the first five-year commitment period
2008-2012.
Some developed countries, therefore, are
setting a cap on total allowable carbon emissions, which means the carbon
emission rights become scarce and hence a valuable asset.
Carbon trading could be carried out between
different countries around the world as well as between various enterprises
within a country, with an ultimate goal of controlling total carbon emissions
and dealing with climate change.
Under such a scheme, an enterprise that
intends to exceed the limits or "caps" set by the government may buy
emissions credits from entities that are likely not to exceed the limits.
The mechanism has at least two effects,
namely, serving as an incentive for enterprises as more emissions entail
additional costs and less emissions mean extra profits, and helping curb the
total emissions of carbon dioxide.
MARKET BOOM
After the Kyoto Protocol came into force in
2005, global carbon trading has grown exponentially.
According to statistics from the
International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), the market value of world's
carbon trading reached 126.35 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, up 100.6 percent
from 2007.
There are now more than 20 platforms for
trading carbon in the world, with two main trade targets, namely, carbon
emissions quota and related financial derivatives, and emission mitigation
projects.
Major carbon trading markets in the world
include EU Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading System (EU-ETS),
UK
Emissions Trading Group(ETG), Chicago Climate
Exchange (CCX), and the New South
Wales
Greenhouse Gas Reduction
Scheme.
The EU-ETS, which commenced operation in
January 2005, is the largest greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme in the
world. It implements a mandatory "cap and trade" system in 27 EU
member countries.
Some 2.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide were
traded in the EU-ETS in 2008, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the world's
total, compared to 94 million tons in 2005.
The CCX, created in 2003, is the world's
first voluntary carbon credit market, whose market size reached 100 million
U.S. dollars in 2008.
A PROMISING PROSPECT
Carbon trading is a financial activity that
correlates closely with the real economy.
Through such a trading scheme, financial
capital could go directly or indirectly into enterprises or projects to promote
technological innovation, and company transformation and upgrading, which could
ultimately reduce countries' reliance on fossil fuel and lower greenhouse gas
emissions.
The World Bank predicted that global carbon
trading could reach150 billion dollars in 2012. The New Energy Finance, a
Britain-based research firm, said in a June report that the world's carbon
trading market could reach 3.5 trillion U.S. dollars by 2020.
Countries around the world are all making
active efforts to setup and improve carbon emission markets in a bid to gain a
leading position in the sector.
The EU-ETS aims to further tighten emission
targets and increase carbon emissions trading in the third phase, which runs
from 2012 to 2020. The
United
States
is planning for a federal carbon
trading market.
Australia
,
Canada
and
Japan
are also working on setting
up policy frameworks, which would pave the way for their domestic carbon
emission markets.
China
is also expected to start real emissions-trading businesses in
2010, said Gao Zhengqi, general manager of the Tianjin Climate Exchange,
China
's
first national emission trading marketplace.
(http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/tianjin/e/2009-12/11/content_9161024.htm )
December 23 (Emagazine.com) -- In the final hours of the negotiations, many observers
concluded that the
Copenhagen
summit came down
to two countries, the
United States
and
China
,
and their disagreements over MRV: the measuring, reporting and verification of
greenhouse gas emissions.
Todd Stern, the chief
U.S.
negotiator said that the
U.S.
would not sign any agreement that doesn’t
include stringent verification measures to monitor
China
’s emission reductions. On
Thursday Hillary Clinton delivered the same message, and on Friday President
Obama made the issue of “transparency” central in his address to the plenary
session at the
Bella
Center
.
China
says that it won’t sign any agreement that
allows international inspectors to monitor
China
. The Chinese delegation has
stated that it will agree to MRV, but on its own terms and using internal
resources.
And MRV will be an essential component of
China
’s environmental strategy as the country
strives to meet the target of reducing energy intensity per unit of economic
output by 40-45% by 2020 from the 2005 level – the goal stated by
China
’s State
Council on November 25, 2009.
China
has set ambitious targets and is undertaking massive shifts towards
lower-carbon development, including setting high fuel economy standards for
vehicles, financing and installing renewable energy, establishing a large-scale
manufacturing base for electric and hybrid vehicles and building up public
transportation systems in all of
China
’s major cities.
But this is the issue that has served as a
lightning rod between the
U.S.
and
China
as the countries’
two leaders debate the terms of the climate deal that will be reached here in
Copenhagen
. It’s no
coincidence that this is the fault line of the debate. The Obama administration
is not the first
U.S.
administration to put pressure on
China
to increase its transparency,
open up its political process and submit to international norms. Each president
since Nixon opened diplomatic relations with
China
in 1972 has toed that line.
To
China
,
it’s not a friendly stance. Increased transparency, political openness and
submitting to international norms that in some cases violate
China
’s sovereignty has been interpreted as a
threat to the very foundation of
China
’s governmental structure.
Thinly veiled as responsible environmentalism, the
U.S.
is demanding, in short, that
China
abandon its own style of governing and instead adopt policies derived from
Western concepts of democracy and political participation.
This is not to say that the stated goal of
Obama’s position is not valid. We do need
China
to come up with some system
of reliable, accurate, consistent and verifiable data on emissions reductions.
And methodologies used for accounting must be consistent with international
best practices and standards so that a ton of carbon is the same every where in
the world. But there is no reason
China
cannot come up with a
mechanism to produce reliable, accurate data on its own. How would the
U.S.
feel if the tables were turned and
China
was demanding that the
U.S.
allow
international inspectors to verify the accuracy of EPA data?
This disagreement aside, there was another
elephant lurking in the
Bella
Center
that did not get
enough attention: carbon accounting methods.
China
’s emission data is tricky
business and the production-based accounting system that is now considered
standard protocol needs to be reexamined.
China
is the largest emitter of
greenhouse gases in the world today, but the over 90% of the emissions that are
currently causing climate change in the atmosphere were caused by developed
countries. Moreover, the
U.S.
is a much larger emitter of emissions if measured on a per capita basis. To add
to the accounting dilemma, we must also consider that over one quarter of
China
’s
emissions can be sourced back to products that are manufactured for export to
Western markets. So is it really fair to say climate change is all
China
’s fault
just because they are the largest emitter today?
Another challenge to the conventional methods
of carbon accounting is emerging as
China
is becoming a leader in the
wind and solar power industries.
China
produces 40% of the world’s
solar panels, most of them for export. The manufacturing of wind turbines and
solar panels is in and of itself a carbon-intensive process – so as
China
helps the world move to a low-carbon
economy by producing green technology at economies of scale, making it
affordable for even poor countries,
China
’s own carbon footprint is
growing. It is clear that not only the verification process needs to be
re-considered, but also the first step – the methods of calculation – of
greenhouse gas emissions needs to be reexamined.
There is still a long way to go before the
U.S.
and
China
can understand each other and
work cooperatively toward emission reductions and a low-carbon economy. But
there is some hope. The fact that
China
has agreed that verification
is an important component of reduction targets is a good sign. There has been
significant signaling by the government that China is taking climate change
seriously and that it will fulfill or even exceed the reduction targets it
sets. The big question is what will reporting and verification look like in
China in the next year as we lead up to the second round of climate talks in
Mexico City next year.
The
Author LUCIA GREEN-WEISKEL is project manager of the Energy and Climate
Registry for the
Innovation
Center
for Energy and
Transportation.
(http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4967 )
iCET Piloting Voluntary Climate Registry in
Southern China
(iCET interview)
December 16 (Solve Climate) – One of
the biggest sticking points for
China
and the
U.S.
when it comes to a global climate deal is monitoring, reporting, and verifying
of greenhouse gas emissions. The
U.S.
wants emerging markets (most notably
China
) to agree to international
regulations.
China
refuses as a "matter of principle."
In a sparsely attended side-event amid the
Copenhagen
climate talks this week, a small Chinese NGO
described one potential solution: It is piloting a grassroots project for
reporting greenhouse gas emissions in
China
.
Using the model of the California-based Climate Registry, ICET (
Innovation
Center
for Energy and Transportation) is working on a climate and energy registry for
businesses and municipalities in
Jiangsu
and
Guangdong
provinces in southern
China
.
The hold-up in negotiations in Copenhagen,
one of if not the absolutely toughest sticking points for the last days of
negotiations centers on developed country demands that developing countries
adhere to the same “measurable, reportable, verifiable" (MRV)
standards on emissions reporting that developed countries are expected to
uphold.
For developing countries, this is akin to
holding them equally responsible for the “historic” greenhouse gas emissions
that have damaged the environment. For emerging markets in particular, it is an
affront.
“In principle, developing countries don’t
have a problem with monitoring and reporting," said Saleemul Huq of the
International Institute for Economic Development (IIED).
"It’s a question of verification that raises problems. ... Their problem
is with international verification because they feel domestic actions should be
domestically verified.”
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei argues
China
's
position this way: “There is no MRV internationally negotiated. It is a matter
of principle.” To require such standards, he said, “goes against letter and
spirit of
Bali
action plan.”
The Bali Action Plan’s “common but
differentiated responsibilities” for climate change instead require from
developing countries Nationally
Appropriate Mitigating Actions, or NAMAs.
“We’re very serious about … what we have
committed to do," He Yafei said. "First of all, it goes through our
own legal process. There will be a legal guarantee domestically. It also will
have a regime of monitoring verification, statistical supervisions
domestically, within china. We are also willing to increase transparency by
announcing the results of our actions by reports coming out of
China
. There
are no problems for transparency.”
In precedent, actions by national governments
are verified either by parliaments, through parliamentary oversight committees
or through national third party entities. What’s most important, explains Huq,
is that the process is transparent.
“If it’s done in a transparent manner it
doesn’t matter who does it, we know it’s being done, it’s being verified and
with developing countries in particular, that’s the kind of thing developing
countries need to explore.”
ICET offers a policy advantage because it is
“policy neutral,” said Lucia Green-Weiskel, Project Officer for ICET’s Climate
Change program. She describes the registry as an “active disclosure” project to
expand “transparency” so that “everybody can know more.”
To implement the registry itself, ICET is
working with the Climate Registry out of
California
to construct the software capability to carry out the monitoring and reporting.
The Climate Registry is an NGO that since 2002 has been working with
organizations, businesses, local governments, and associations throughout the
state to inventory, monitor, and report greenhouse gas emissions. The registry
is strictly voluntary and provides, according to Robyn Camp, its vice president,
a “comparable, consistent, transparent” standard verified by a third party and
publicly available through the Internet.
Registries in general “are a great policy
neutral tool to help build capacity, raise awareness of issues, and to help
each organization understand what its footprint is,” Camp said.
The sister registry, as would be implemented
in southern
China
(
Jiangsu
and
Guangdong
provinces), would have one major difference to the Climate Registry in
California
: It would be adapted to report energy
intensity, a policy goal specific to
China
’s national emissions
reduction strategy.
Green-Weiskel says the registry will
standardize
China
’s
emissions data, which will increase transparency and reliability not only in
China
, but also
across the world.
Businesses, both state owned enterprises and
multinational corporations, and local organizations like schools and hospitals
will all ideally participate. Green-Weiskel says participation in the registry
will promote a green image, reduce energy costs, and “provides opportunity for
leadership and early action” on a globally recognized environmental standard.
Part of the registry’s approach is outreach
to potential Chinese participants by increasing awareness of carbon emissions
among business and government employees.
For the Climate and Energy Registry, it is
working with the CNIS (China National Institute of Standardization), and NRDC
(National Research and Development Commission) as well as the municipalities of
Jiangsu
and
Guangdong
.
ICET is confident about the success of the
project as
China
enshrines its carbon intensity reduction commitments in legislation and in its
five-year plans that govern both local and national economics.
China
’s
11th five-year plan (2006-2010), for instance, required that the energy
consumption per unit GDP be reduced 20% and emissions from major pollutants be
reduced by 10%.
China
introduced a 4 trillion yuan economic stimulus package, 370 billion of which
was allocated to structural adjustment and technology upgrades.
“Ladies and gentleman, I am proud to report
that this target will be complete,” Assistant Minister of Finance Zhu Guangyao
said today in a press briefing on
China
’s Fiscal Climate Change
policy. The assistant minister also commented on MRVs, explaining that
China
will
handle the matter domestically.
Yufu Cheng, ICETs program director, cautions
that while commitment is strong, capacity is still lacking.
“Chinese government set up the targets, but
if you don’t have the right capacity you cannot get it done. For example, you
have to know how much GHG Chinese are making right now, especially for
companies, the government agencies then they cannot set strategy. … No matter
how ambitious the target is, you have to have the capacity to make it work.”
The
United States
has long criticized
Chinese government transparency, particularly its currency policy, export and
growth statistics. Export and GDP figures are widely held to be inflated. It is
doubtful, therefore, that the
U.S.
will accept
China
’s
insistence that any MRV effort be done domestically, under it’s own legal
process.
Huq thinks that in today’s
China
, this
mistrust might be a remnant of another time.
“The Chinese government has been functioning
for 50 years; they have a system. It needs to be trusted," Huq said.
"It has huge … resources that it spends of its own that have oversight
from its own systems.”
“Who knows what the
U.S.
will
accept," Huq added, clearly frustrated. “The
U.S.
says one thing, does another
thing. They do mostly domestic politics. They come out here in the
international arena and they act as if they are talking to their own people.
Their own people don’t get it. They have to work at home. They simply are not
engaging in the level that’s needed in the international arena.”
A registry like ICET might might be able to
help bridge the gap between the
U.S.
and
China
,
and similar projects may do so as well in other emerging markets. Feng An,
executive director of ICET, says, “we believe we are an MRV resource.”
ICET provides “a made in
China
” and
“grassroots” solution, says Green-Weiskel.
“It’s more feasible, having an NGO bring in a
program that reflects best-practices,” she said. Especially if it’s a Chinese
registered NGO, headquartered in
Beijing
,
as ICET is.
“It’s our hope,” Green-Weiskel says, “It’s
not our official mandate, but we very much hope to fit into a national
mandate.”
(http://solveclimate.com/blog/20091216/icet-piloting-voluntary-climate-registry-southern-china )
