June 28 (Xinhua) -- The newly
elevated National Energy Bureau is to quadruple the size of its work force in a
bid to ensure the country's energy supply, which industry insiders have said
shows the government is moving toward a unified national energy management
regime.
The governance structure of the
bureau was decided recently, after the National People's Congress (NPC)
approved in March to gradually unify the energy management functions of several
cabinet departments.
Beijing-based financial magazine
Caijing reported on Friday the bureau has been given the go ahead to increase
its work force to about 100 across its nine departments.
While the NPC expanded the scope
of the bureau in March, it remains part of National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC), and energy pricing and conservation management are still
under the jurisdiction of other departments.
However, the legislative body
also agreed to set up a National Energy Committee, which will serve as a
strategic consultative body independent of the NDRC.
According to industry insiders,
China
is making good headway toward setting up a unified energy management system
amid rising oil prices and mounting challenges regarding global energy
security.
Zhang Libin,
Beijing
's
chief representative of the
US
law firm Baker Botts LLP, which specializes in energy, said: "This is a
good start in allowing
China
to function well on matters of energy security.
"It paves the way for
China
to set up a cabinet department for the energy sector, which is of great
importance to its ongoing development," he said.
Several National Energy Bureau
offices will be moved away from NDRC headquarters, despite the fact its chief,
Zhang Guobao, retains his position as vice-minister of the commission. This
indicates the bureau's independence from the NDRC, insiders have said.
As well as seeking ways to
increase supplies of oil and coal, the bureau will look to further develop
nuclear power and sources of renewable energy, Zhang said.
The country will accelerate the
construction of nuclear power plants, particularly in coastal regions, to ease
mounting pressures on coal transportation from northern regions and electricity
transmission from west
China
,
he said.
The move could see nuclear power
accounting for at least 5 percent of the country's total energy mix by 2020, up
from less than 2 percent today. In 2005, authorities set a target to reach 4
percent by 2020.
The bureau has also said the
Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and
Gansu
and
Jiangsu
provinces will be the bases for
China
's
first wind power generators, each of which will have a capacity of 10 million
kW. In comparison, the Three Gorges project has a capacity of about 18 million
kW.
"The bureau has readjusted
some of
China
's
energy policy targets, and these are vital decisions for its energy
security," Zhang Libin said.
June 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice
Premier Wang Qishan has called for stronger cooperation between
China
and the
United States
in energy, the
environment and other related areas, saying that bilateral cooperation in these
areas would lead to win-win results.
The Chinese government gives high
priority to energy and resources conservation and the protection of the
environment. It is committed to building a resource-conserving and
environment-friendly society," Vice Premier Wang wrote in an article
published by The Financial Times on Monday in its North American edition.
"However,
China
is a big
and populous developing country at a stage of accelerated industrialization and
urbanization. This has led to heavy consumption of energy and resources and
made the task of protecting the environment a daunting one," he said.
"So it is highly significant
that the fourth China-US Economic Dialogue, which will be held in the US this
week, will promote long-term cooperation in energy, the environment and other
related areas," said Wang, who heads a Chinese delegation to take part in
the fourth China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), scheduled to be held in
Annapolis, Maryland, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
To meet the challenges brought
about by the pressures of growing demand, Wang said
China
has endeavored to achieve the
following goals: intensifying energy and resource conservation, developing
renewable energy, and actively adapting to global climate change.
"There is a broad scope for
cooperation between
China
and the
US
in energy and environment," he wrote. "Stronger cooperation between
the two countries in energy and the environment will enable
China
to respond better to energy
and environmental issues and also bring about tremendous business opportunities
and handsome returns for American business."
According to the intent of the
10-year cooperation between
China
and the
US
in energy and environmental protection, Wang said the two countries should, on
the basis of the principles of mutual complementarity and win-win progress,
focus their cooperation in energy, pollution reduction and protection of
natural resources.
The Chinese vice-premier proposed
three approaches to strengthen bilateral cooperation in these areas.
First,
China
and the
United States
should build joint laboratories or research and development centers for energy
and environmental protection technologies, and provide platforms to promote
industrial applications of such technologies.
Second, the two countries should
jointly formulate and implement fiscal, taxation, financial and trade policies
to encourage innovation and cooperation in and transfer of energy-conserving
and environment-friendly technologies.
Third, the two sides should use
existing multilateral and bilateral dialogue mechanism and exchange platforms
to enhance consultation and coordination, strengthen cooperation in training,
exchanges of technical personnel, and data-sharing.
Vice-Premier Wang hoped that
through dialogue and cooperation in these areas,
China
and the
United States
will promote all-round development of the constructive and cooperative
relationship between the two countries, to better serve the interests of their
peoples.
The SED was launched jointly by
Chinese President Hu Jintao and
US
President George W. Bush in September of 2006. The dialogue is held twice a
year, alternating between the two countries. The previous meeting was held in
December in
Beijing
.
June
24 (China Daily)-- Oil exporters' decision to pump more oil can go a long way
in allaying fears that developing economies may buckle under the burden of
record oil and food prices.
Yet,
stabilizing energy development and energy security in the world badly requires
more demand-side efforts.
China
's
sustainable energy strategy is just one part of the global efforts needed to
cope with rising energy costs.
Chinese
Vice-President Xi Jinping pointed out at the International Energy Conference
held on Sunday in Saudi Arabia that China will put an emphasis on both the
exploitation and the conservation of energy with the priority given to
economizing energy consumption.
He
also stressed that
China
will strive to build a resource-conserving and environment-friendly society by
ensuring coordinated development of energy production and environmental
protection.
The
message is clear. As the world's largest developing country which is still at a
stage of accelerated industrialization and urbanization,
China
is resolved to strike a
balance between energy sustainability and long-term economic growth.
China
has
drafted a plan to reduce energy consumption in per unit GDP by about 20 percent
by 2010 from the 2005 level. Though
China
still falls behind its own
schedule to cut energy intensity, the government has significantly upgraded its
efforts to boost energy conservation across the country.
The
sharp hike of domestic retail prices of petrol and diesel by 17-18 percent last
Friday was a case in point. It highlighted Chinese policymakers' determination
to cool the nation's surging energy consumption.
Its
announcement even triggered a $4 fall in the price of international benchmark
crude oil futures, bearing full testimony to the huge potential impact higher
prices may exert on
China
's
energy usage.
If the
latest price hike can be viewed as an important step toward the eventual
liberalization of energy prices, it is fairly reasonable to expect that
market-driven energy prices will improve
China
's energy efficiency and
encourage development of energy-saving technologies and alternative energy
supplies.
At a time when oil prices have
more than doubled in a year, it is crucial for oil exporters to expand
production. But to adapt to the era of dearer oil, all countries need to focus
more efforts on demand-side management to further raise their energy
efficiency.
China
not to sacrifice food for fuel:
energy experts
June 6 (Xinhua) --
China
has no
plan to sacrifice food for fuel, the country's energy experts said on Thursday
amid controversy over biofuel.
"Food security comes first
in
China
, more important
than fuel," said Song Yanqin, a co-drafter of
China
's
national energy strategies, at Asia Clean Energy Forum 2008 sponsored by the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) in
Manila
.
"Biofuel," as said in
the ADB's publication "Development Asia", has become a new buzz word
all over the world, from the
Philippines
to
Brazil
, from the
United States
to the European Union.
Produced from agricultural crops
such as maize, palm oil, sugarcane and jatropha, biofuel are used to run
factories, power stations and vehicles. Countries that have the right
conditions are setting aside millions of hectares of land for new plantations
as international demand for prominent biofuel.
However, there is another side of
the coin. The development of biofuel is considered as one reason for the global
shortage of grain which drives food prices high in many countries. In the
Philippines
' southern region of
Mindanao
, for instance, rice prices have gone up to 50
pesos ($1.14) per kilogram.
"Biofuel is sensitive,"
said Song, especially in
China
,
where 1.3 billion people live on only 120 million hectares of arable land.
"Actually, in the global
context, biofuel is still a controversial topic calling for serious
study," said Zhou Dadi, an advisor to
China
's National Energy Leading
Group.
At the same forum, Dan Millison,
a
US
designer of higher-tech alcohol plants, said "food versus fuel is
99-percent noise."
"Do your homework and get a
noise filter. Time magazine is not your key reference document," he
addressed the audience via a video-conferencing system.
"This problem is
complicated," said Eric Usher, an official of United Nations Environment
Program, adding that the dispute over biofuel will not be solved in a short
time.
At the forum, with the theme of
"Investing in Solutions that address Climate Change and Energy
Security," Zhou Dadi explicated the sustainable energy strategy of
China
, giving
priority to "conservation."
"Conservation comes first in
the sustainable energy strategy of
China
," said the adviser,
adding that specific and detailed regulations for energy conservation have been
made in the country.
China
has also set a target of 20
percent-intensity decrease for the 2006-2010 national development plan. That
is, the country has to realize 4.4-percent energy-efficiency improvement
annually in the five years, Zhou said.
Compared with the global annual
figure of 1.2 percent over the past 30 years, the target for
China
is really
impressive and encouraging, the adviser added.
June 20 (China Daily)- Petrol
will cost 0.8 yuan (12 cents) and diesel 0.92 yuan more for a liter from today,
and electricity charges for commercial units will go up by 0.025 yuan ($0.4
cents) per kWh from July 1.
The price of aviation fuel has
been raised, too, by 1500 yuan ($217) a ton, said the National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC).
The prices of natural gas and
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), however, remain unchanged.
Urban and rural residents and the
farming and fertilizer production sectors have, however, been exempted from the
increased electricity charges. Areas in
Sichuan
,
Shaanxi
and
Gansu
hit by the May 12 quake too have been
exempted, the NDRC said.
The government was forced to
raise oil prices from midnight last night, the first time in eight months,
because of the soaring price of crude in the international market.
The move is expected to bring
some relief to domestic refineries, which have been reeling under losses, and
ensure a stable supply of oil in the market. "The increase in the prices
will benefit domestic oil companies," the NDRC said in a statement
yesterday.
The price of crude oil in the
international market has crossed $
130 a
barrel. Crude price is linked fully with the international market in
China
, while
prices of refined petroleum products are still controlled by the government.
Because of the big gap between
the high crude price abroad and the relatively low price at home,
China
's oil
refineries have suffered huge losses.
The country's largest refinery,
Sinopec, incurred a loss of more than 20 billion yuan in its refining business
in the first quarter of this year.
The largest oil company,
PetroChina, saw its net profit fall by more than 30 percent in the first three
months, with losses in its refining wing being the biggest contributor.
Analysts said the high consumer
price index (CPI) in recent months had been a deterrent for an increase in oil
prices.
The country's CPI, the main gauge
of inflation, rose 8.5 percent year-on-year in April. It was 8.3 percent in
March and a nearly a 12-year-high of 8.7 percent in February.
It, however, dropped to 7.7
percent in May, paving the way for the government to increase oil prices, an
analyst said.
But increased oil prices could
push up the rate of inflation, Zhou Dadi, vice-director of China Energy
Research Society said.
Electricity charges
The government will raise the
electricity tariff to prevent power companies from incurring further losses.
The price of coal will be brought
under government control temporarily, the NDRC said, because soaring coal price
is the main factor behind higher electricity charges.
The increase in power tariff will
help the development of desulfurization equipment in the power plants, and
renewable energy sources such as wind power and biomass power, the NDRC said.
The increase in power tariff will
not create a big impact on the CPI because urban and rural residents have been
exempted.
China
's renewable energy project wins global green energy prize
June 20 (Xinhua) --China's Renewable Energy Development Project (REDP)
was rewarded the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, the world's leading
green energy prize, in a final competition taking place here Thursday.
The REDP was launched in 2001 by the National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC) and the World Bank (WB), with international grant financing
provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), with one of its main aims to
promote the installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar home systems in remote off-
grid homes in nine western Chinese provinces; to improve the quality of
production of PV modules and other system components in China; to provide free
information about PV; and to facilitate cooperation between the PV sector in
China and the rest of the world.
The REDP has enabled sales of over 402,000 photovoltaic (PV) solar-home
systems (SHS) through the REDP-subsidized program since its establishment to
rural people who live off the land by tending yaks or other animals in remote
areas of the West and North-West of China.
Around 1.6 million people, who live in tents for at least part of the
year and had little access to electricity previously, now have an improved
quality of life through better light, communications and entertainment, with
the portable systems ideally suited to the lifestyle of these semi-nomadic
users who are able to take them with their tents into the summer pasture in the
hills.
A typical SHS supplies two lights, a radio and a mobile phone charger,
and is supplied in a metal carry-case so that it is portable.
Larger systems can power radio-cassettes, TVs and DVD players. For
users, the main benefit of the REDP program was brighter, cleaner lighting, for
study, work and recreation.
Use of radio-cassettes and mobile phones to keep in touch with the
outside world is also greatly appreciated. The REDP program supported the rapid
growth of the PV industry in
China
,
and improved the quality of production while keeping costs low.
It greatly expanded the market for solar home systems, and supported the
development of a network of suppliers, wholesalers and retailers.
The REDP has also supported some PV village systems to provide
electricity for public facilities such as, schools, health centers, village
satellite telephones, forest protection, road maintaining, climate monitoring
and Buddhist temples.
The REDP was one of the six pioneering renewable energy projects from
Africa, Asia and Latin America that received a prize of 20,000 pounds (some
40,000 US dollars) each announced by the Asheden Awards at a ceremony here.
At the ceremony, India's Technology Informatics Design Endeavour (TIDE)
was announced to win this year's title "Energy Champion" and a prize
of 40,000 pounds (some 80,000 U.S. dollars) while Bangladeshi Grameen Shakti
won the 2008 Outstanding Achievement Award and a prize of 15,000 pounds.
The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy was founded in 2001 by the
Ashden Trust, a Britain-based charity, and the competition is held annually to
identify and reward outstanding and innovative projects in
Britain
and
developing countries which provide renewable energy and energy efficiency at a
local level.
June
30 (Xinhua) --Not too many years ago, cities around the world were competing
with each other to build the world's tallest buildings. Now, we are seeing the
emergence of a new competition: to build the world's greenest cities.
Indeed,
watching the media, I notice that plans for "the world's greenest
city" have now been announced in a few places, including
China
.
As a
global environment organization, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is often
approached about urban greening initiatives and our national offices are
involved in many of them. Developers, urban governments and NGOs such as
ourselves are on a steep learning curve as to what makes a green city, so I
would suggest that it is probably premature to invest too much energy into a
debate on which city is greenest.
But
the issue could not be more important - finding ways to build greener cities
will be essential to achieving a more sustainable society.
Built
on a plain east of the
Taihang
Mountain
, the city of
Baoding
,
140 kms south of
Beijing
in
Hebei
province, is home to some 650,000
people who are part of an exciting initiative to lead less carbon-intensive
lives.
These
people have the same energy needs as those living in other parts of
China
, but as
part of the Low-Carbon City Initiative, a joint project between WWF China and
the regional government, their needs are met from green energy sources.
By any
standards, figures for the city are impressive.
Since
2002, 150 new alternative energy companies have emerged in
Baoding
, making use of wind and solar power,
bio-diesel, and energy efficiencies. Over 30 communities have installed
hot-water solar-power systems. Thirty more projects are adopting BIPV (Building
Integrated Photovoltaics). It represents the combination of proven renewable
power generating technology and the building exterior using traditional
building practices. Solar panels are planned and built along with the building
structure. Technology and 50 others are under way to use solar
photo-electricity lighting.
Last
year, the city's economy grew by about 16 percent, and the part of that economy
generated by the city's alternative energy industry was 50.9 percent higher
than the previous year. Clearly the city's development has not been hampered by
its use of sustainable energy, and it seems on track to become the "clean
energy valley" for
China
,
comparable to
California
's "
Silicon Valley
" for the IT industry.
One of
the most impressive things about
Baoding
is that the city has not only developed the technologies, it has put them into
production, and even applied them in model communities. For example, it has
just presented the first windmill blade built using technology it has
developed, and is building a "solar city" to use and showcase the
solar technology it has produced.
Recently
in Hong Kong,
Baoding
representatives promoted
the city and its renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies to
Hong Kong
investors. I am told that there was much
enthusiasm at the meeting, and that a number of contracts - totaling more than
11 billion yuan - were signed, sending a clear message that alternative energy
technologies are moving in from the fringes to the mainstream.
Baoding
is a pilot city in a push to promote
low-carbon development in
China
.
Like other countries around the world,
China
is experiencing a trend
towards greater urbanization. As people move to cities, they bring with them
soaring demands for energy.
What
WWF hopes to see around the world is more cities like Baoding that are prepared
to embrace alternative energy sources; more cities prepared to show that
prosperity and sustainability can go hand-in-hand.
China
is
the world's most populous country, and its GDP has grown by 9-10 percent a year
over recent decades. The country's rapid economic development means its demands
for energy are huge. What happens in
China
matters to us all if we are
to avoid dangerous climate change.
China
's
government has set its people a challenging target - it wants to reduce energy
intensity by 20 per cent by 2010. It also aims to have 16 per cent of its
energy coming from renewable sources by 2020. In order to achieve these goals,
changes will be needed in urban planning, building design, transportation,
resources recycling as well as energy technologies.
We
will need a new economic model, one that decouples economic growth from carbon
emissions. In
Baoding
, this is already
happening, and more broadly in
China
as a whole it is encapsulated in the concepts of scientific development and a
harmonious world.
The
Baoding
model is a compelling one for
China
and the
world because it allows for both the needs of nature and the needs of
development.
More
cities around the world need to follow
Baoding
's
pioneering path. Its low-carbon model offers us an alternative vision, one
where human needs and economic development are supported by a robust mix of
renewable energy sources and technical efficiencies and where nature continues
to thrive.
This
approach is an alternative for now, but a must for the future, and it is WWF's
hope that more cities, more countries, follow in
Baoding
's footsteps and help create a
cleaner, prosperous future. This is the way forward if we are to avoid
dangerous climate change and yet enrich our lives through sustainable
development.
[The author James P. Leape is the Director General of WWF International.
The views expressed in the article are his own. He can be reached at
jleape@wwfint.org.]
June 25 (China Daily)
-- Wei Lai, a 28-year old office worker, is planning a baby next year, but she
was also planning to buy a hatchback or MPV to replace her current SUV Isuzu.
But ever since
the government raised gasoline prices last week, Wei, who had previously never
attached any importance to pump prices since she started driving three years
ago, is now starting to consider fuel efficiency as an important factor when
choosing her next car.
"Before the
price hike, I spent 600 yuan per month on gasoline, but now I have to pay 900
yuan," said Wei.
"Regarding
the rising cost of gasoline, I will postpone buying a vehicle and watch how
much further prices go up," said Ma Zhuo, an employee at Beijing
Organizing Committee of the Games of the 29th Olympiad who originally planned
to have his first car this year.
Last Friday, the
government raised the price of gasoline by 0.8 yuan and diesel by 0.92 yuan a
liter, while prices of natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, however, remain
unchanged.
Analysts believe
that the hike will not have a fatal impact on
China
's soaring purchase
enthusiasm, although it is likely to ease the growth of the booming auto
industry this year.
"The growth
rate of the passenger car market this year will be 15 percent, lower than the
average 20 percent in recent years," said Xu Changming, an auto analyst
with the
State
Information
Center
.
He said he
believed most of the middle class, the major force in buying private cars, will
still persist in their plan of owning a vehicle, but thought they will shift
their attention from big sedans to economy cars.
"The rising
gasoline price won't impact my plan to buy my first car for I really need it.
However, it makes me think twice about buying an economy car with low fuel
consumption," said Wang Li, a hardware engineer of a technology company in
Beijing
.
"After calculation,
the increased cost of around 200 yuan per month is acceptable for us if the
price don't go up too much further in the near future," said Wang's wife
Lang Hua.
Jia Xinguang, an
independent auto analyst based in
Beijing
,
agreed that the oil price hike won't influence the total sales of passenger
cars this year too much. However, he said he believed the sales structure will
be changed, and customers will be more "inclined to buy smaller economy
cars".
"It will be
an opportunity for mini-cars mostly produced by local manufacturers, which
experienced a sales decline in past years," said Jia.
Analysts and
customers alike anticipated that a price hike would occur and in the long-term
expect prices to continue to rise as China works toward its declared goal of
limiting dependence on energy imports and developing the economy in a cleaner,
more energy-efficient way during its 11th Five-Year Program (2006-10).
"It's
unpleasant of course, but inevitable," said Michael Pielenz, a German who
lived in
Beijing
for more than a decade.
"It's still
much lower than the price of about 15 yuan per liter in
Germany
.
Moreover, it can push people in
China
to reduce oil consumption and pay more attention to the environment," said
the former professor with
University
of
International Business
and Economics, who drives a Volkswagen Golf.
It's also a good
news for the automakers who invest a lot in the R&D of green cars, analysts
said.
June 25 (China
Daily) -- To
increase or not to increase prices has been the most frequently asked question
by marketing managers of auto manufacturers in
China
recently.
Auto consumers
worry that soaring iron and steel prices may have a huge impact on raw material
costs in the auto industry and in turn have a knock-on-affect on the price of
the end product.
Baosteel said on
Monday it agreed with Australian mining group Rio Tinto on a price increase of
up to 96.5 percent for iron ore in 2008, nearly double that of 2007.
Analysts believe
the price rise may influence the economy car market more than other segments,
and automakers should find alternatives to easing the cost pressure other than
increasing prices.
"The price
of steel plates for auto production in China has increased by 800 yuan per ton
this year, which adds an extra 100 million yuan sourcing cost for Chang'an
Motor Corp, with a 300 yuan in extra cost for a single automobile," said
Zhu Huarong, vice-president of the auto group.
"Apart from
the direct effect of steel plates, the price rise of rubber and plastics, which
will definitely increase the cost of auto parts, will also have an impact on
the price of the automobiles. It wouldn't be a surprise if the cost rises by
1,500 to 3,000 yuan per unit," he added.
However,
according to a survey conducted by Sinotrust, a leading domestic auto research
firm, 32.2 percent of consumers surveyed refused to accept auto price rises due
to the nature of the passenger car market, which boasts more than 170 models.
Some 29.5 percent believed that even if prices rise in 2008, they would
eventually drop after the year.
Therefore, rising
costs would cause a dilemma for the local manufacturers who produce economy
cars with low profit on whether or not to increase prices, analysts said .
This April, Chery
Automobile Co raised the prices of its models by 2,000 to 3,000 yuan. However,
after the price adjustment, especially for its QQ subcompact, sales declined
sharply, said a Chery dealership.
June 24 (China Daily)--
Beijing
resident Zhuang Yan uses her car mostly on weekends, for drives to the
outskirts of the capital.
On weekdays, the
29-year-old public servant simply forgets that she has a car.
She and her
husband seldom drive to work, "because it sometimes takes longer by car
than on foot, especially during rush hour".
What is more, car
maintenance costs too much, Zhuang told China Daily over the phone.
"As oil
prices soar, public transport is a wise choice for avoiding traffic jams and
parking problems in the capital," she said.
Zhuang is part of
a group researchers call "owners of idle cars" - people who have cars
but seldom drive them.
One in 10 car
owners in the country belongs to such a group, the 2008 Foton Chinese Index for
Mobility released on June 11 showed.
The index was
derived from a mobility survey jointly conducted by Beijing-based Beiqi Foton
Motor Co Ltd and the Horizon Research Consultancy Group.
The two groups
started releasing the index in 2005, offering an insight into the transport
habits of the Chinese.
It showed the extent
of people's reliance on motor vehicles in social and economic activities, and
how private cars could further influence people's lifestyles and way of
thinking.
The latest study
polled 4,545 people aged between 18 and
60 in
36 cities and towns nationwide.
It saw the
Chinese scoring 61.42 points out of a maximum 100 for this year's index, 3.09
points higher than in 2005, showing great strides taken in mobility, the survey
said.
However,
corresponding developments in the automobile industry have also had negative
impacts such as serious traffic congestion and greater strain on limited oil
resources in the country.
These factors
have prompted more motorists to become owners of idle cars, researchers said.
Four out of 10 of
such owners had done so because of spiraling gasoline prices, researchers
found.
June 24 (HK
Edition) --- Geely Automobile Chairman Li Shufu is not only brushing off the
rising crude prices, he's banking on the hikes helping his company.
"The price
rise of crude oil will cause more drivers to switch to fuel-saving and
low-emission vehicles," Li said. "In that respect, Geely's product
mix could feed the market demand."
He conceded that
oil hikes are putting mounting pressure on the mainland vehicle industry, but
his goal is for the company to mitigate the impact with the shift in its
marketing strategy.
He noted that
Geely will phase out its low-end products and increase its exposure in the mid-
and high-end sectors.
"Productions
of three of our low-end models will ease in August. The spectrum of our
products will be 100 percent mid- and high-end orientated by the end of the
year."
Looking ahead to
the next two years, the company plans to roll out seven new models with price tags
between 50,000 and 200,000 yuan. That includes a series of "green
air" vehicles.
But Li said the
company hasn't decided on the production level of ethanol-fueled vehicles,
saying it depends on the country's environmental policy in the future.
Company executive
director Gui Shengyue said the company hit 40 of its whole-year sales target by
the end of May - a 30 percent year-on-year increase.
"We are
positive that the company can hit the target of 230,000 units for the whole
year," Gui said.
Regarding the
company acquiring a 44.19 percent stake in each of the five affiliates of its
parent group, Li said the acquisition will raise Geely's interest in each
affiliate to 91 percent.
The deal could
significantly boost the company's profits in 2008, compared with the net
profits of HK$310 million in 2007.
Geely's market
capitalization is estimated to increase 25 percent to about HK$5.9 billion as a
result of the acquisition.
Li said the
acquisitions won't worsen Geely's financial muscle, saying the company does not
run up any debt. Plus, he added, the cash liquidity of the affiliates could
offset their arrears.
Geely is looking
into expanding into overseas countries such as
Mexico
, but Li said the company is
still studying the feasibility of such a move - based in part on what
concessions the Mexican government makes.
"The size of
the project is very large," he said, "and we don't have a concrete
timeframe for when it will be kicked off."
June 17 (Agencies)
--
DETROIT
- General Motors Corp and Ford Motor
Co agreed to export more North American-built vehicles and parts to
China
in separate agreements signed Monday in
Washington
.
GM said it will
sell and export $1 billion worth of vehicles, component kits, machinery and
equipment to one of its Chinese partners, Shanghai General Motors, through
2010. Ford will sell more than 30,000 North American-built vehicles and will
supply transmission components and parts to its joint venture, Changan Ford
Mazda Automobile Co, in a deal worth $800 million.
Chinese Vice
Premier Wang Qishan attended the signing ceremonies for both agreements, which
were timed to coincide with high-level economic talks this week between Chinese
and US officials in
Annapolis
,
Md.
GM spokesman Greg
Martin said fully assembled Cadillacs will make up the bulk of the exports to
China
. While
Buick remains GM's most popular brand in
China
, sales of the luxury Cadillac
brand shot up 148 percent last year to 7,022 vehicles, partly due to the new
Cadillac SLS.
Shanghai GM,
which was formed in 1997, is a 50-50 joint venture with Chinese carmaker
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. It sells Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and Saab
vehicles and has been the leading foreign joint venture by sales in
China
since
2005.
GM has eight joint
ventures in China that have imported more than $4.2 billion in automotive
products from the US over the past 11 years, according to Kevin Wale, president
and managing director of the GM China Group.
Ford said it will
announce later which vehicles will be exported. The company's Chinese sales
rose 30 percent in 2007, and the Ford Focus was one of the 10 best-selling cars
in the country. Changan Ford was formed in 2001.
Beijing
bans high-emission vehicles
June 25 (China Daily) -- High-emission or yellow-labeled
vehicles will be banned from
Beijing
roads from July to September to ensure green
Olympics and Paralympics as promised by the authorities, environment officials
said on Tuesday.
There are currently more than 3.3 million
vehicles in the capital. Yellow labels are displayed on the windscreens of more
than 300,000 vehicles that fall short of the Euro I emission standard, the
lowest of the European emission standards.
"All yellow-labeled vehicles, most of
which are freight trucks, will be banned from roads in
Beijing
from July 1 to Sept 20," said Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the
Beijing
municipal
environmental protection bureau.
"Limiting high-emission vehicles is the
top priority in dealing with pollution," Du said.
While a target of 246 blue-sky days was
achieved last year, air pollutants remain a major problem for the city, Du
said.
A large number of freight trucks, mostly
yellow-labeled ones that run through
Beijing
at night, have contributed to this problem greatly, Du said.
"There are 20 percent more air
pollutants in the evening than during the daytime," he said.
"The period around 9 pm is always the
time when the density of pollutants in the air start to rise and remain high
until about 4 am."
Yellow-labeled vehicles are only permitted to
enter
Beijing
between 7 pm and 8 am.
As part of the green drive, 22 laser remote
sensing cars will be patrolling Beijing to check the emissions of vehicles,
said Feng Yuqiao, the head of the motor vehicle department of the municipal
environmental protection bureau.
"These inspection cars will mainly
operate near the Olympic venues and training centers for athletes," he
said.
"They can determine the emission levels
of a vehicle in about 0.7 seconds."
The ban on yellow-labeled vehicles is the
latest in a slew of measures to help clean up the capital's air.
Similarly, the authorities on Monday ordered
half its government cars off
Beijing
roads till July 19.
The Ministry of Public Security announced on
Monday that large trucks will be banned from certain traffic routes in the
capital.
From July 1 to Sept 20, trucks entering
Beijing
will have to
detour on national highway 112, which circles the city.
Some trucks, such as those carrying farm
produce like vegetables and live pigs, will be exempt from the ban, but even
these will have to apply for certificates from the municipal government to
facilitate their movement in
Beijing
.
The capital also has plans for its 3.3
million private car owners to abide by an odd-and-even license plate rule that
allows them to drive into the city only on alternate days, between July 20 and
Sept 20.
The city already banned in March this year
the sale of new cars that fail to meet new emission standards equivalent to
Euro IV, currently the highest emission standard for cars.
June 20 (Xinhua)
--
BEIJING
--
Beijing
will impose an even-odd system based on license plate numbers that will keep
vehicles off the road on alternate days from July 20 to September 20 to ease
congestion and improve the air quality for the Olympics and Paralympics, the
municipal government said on Friday.
Exceptions to the restrictions will include
police and other emergency vehicles, taxis, buses and embassy cars, according
to a statement on the website of the Beijing Municipal Committee of
Communications.
Beijing
,
which hosts the Olympics from August 8-24 and the Paralympics from September
6-17, has 16 million people and 3.29 million vehicles, of which 300,000 are
government-owned cars, Zhou Zhengyu, deputy head of the committee, told
reporters on Friday.
"The restrictions are to ensure smooth
traffic and good air quality during the Games period," he said.
"Similar measures were also taken by some previous Olympic host
cities."
Zhou predicted that about 45 percent of all vehicles
and up to 70 percent of government-owned cars will be banned from roads every
day.
During a test of the controls from August
17-20 last year, about 1.3 million vehicles were taken off the city roads each
day and the emissions discharged were cut by 5,815 tons, according to a report
by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection.
"This time, it is expected that the
emissions discharged will be cut by 63 percent, or about 118,000 tons," Du
Shaozhong, deputy head of the bureau, told reporters on Friday.
Du reiterated that local environmental
authorities will be able to ensure good air quality for the Games.
"In addition to traffic bans, we will
carry out strict supervision of highly-polluting businesses during the Games
period," he said.
In the statement, the municipal government
said the restrictions would be enforced throughout the city until August 28,
but only in areas within the Fifth Ring Road, and three freeways connecting
downtown Beijing to the airport, Badaling and Chengde from August 28 to Sep.
20.
The municipal government will also ban all
motor vehicles that fail to meet the European No.1 exhaust standard, as well as
trucks registered outside
Beijing
without special permits from July 1.
To compensate motorists for the restrictions,
all vehicle owners will be exempted from taxes and road maintenance fees for
three months, costing the government 1.3 billion yuan ($186 million).
In addition, vehicles from outside
Beijing
must obtain
special permits and meet air quality standards before entering the capital
during the period.
"Those who violate the restrictions will
be punished according to the relevant laws and regulations," Zhou said.
He said that to facilitate public transport
during the traffic control period, local authorities will increase the number
of buses and subway trains and extend their daily operating hours.
In addition, 66,000 taxis will provide
24-hour service.
The local government cut subway fares by
about 30 percent and began last year to offer discounts of up to 60 percent on
buses to encourage people to choose public transport.
"Beijing's public transportation system,
including buses, subways and taxis, will have an increased capacity to take an
additional 4.5 million passengers daily by the time the Games is held," said
Liu Xiaoming, head of the Municipal Communications Commission.
Zhou Zhengyu predicted that the traffic
restriction measures during the Games will provide valuable experience for city
administrators to deal with traffic woes.
"The measures will not be just
temporary," he said.
June 20 (China Daily)
-- Petrol will cost 0.8 yuan (12 cents) and diesel 0.92 yuan more for a liter
from today, and electricity charges for commercial units will go up by 0.025
yuan ($0.4 cents) per kWh from July 1.
The price of
aviation fuel has been raised, too, by 1500 yuan a ton, said the National
Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
The prices of
natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), however, remain unchanged.
Urban and rural
residents and the farming and fertilizer production sectors have, however, been
exempted from the increased electricity charges. Areas in
Sichuan
,
Shaanxi
and
Gansu
hit by the May 12 quake too have been
exempted, the NDRC said.
The government
was forced to raise oil prices from midnight last night, the first time in
eight months, because of the soaring price of crude in the international
market.
The move is
expected to bring some relief to domestic refineries, which have been reeling
under losses, and ensure a stable supply of oil in the market. "The
increase in the prices will benefit domestic oil companies," the NDRC said
in a statement yesterday.
The price of
crude oil in the international market has crossed $
130 a
barrel. Crude price is linked fully with the
international market in
China
,
while prices of refined petroleum products are still controlled by the
government.
Because of the
big gap between the high crude price abroad and the relatively low price at
home,
China
's
oil refineries have suffered huge losses.
The country's
largest refinery, Sinopec, incurred a loss of more than 20 billion yuan in its
refining business in the first quarter of this year.
The largest oil
company, PetroChina, saw its net profit fall by more than 30 percent in the
first three months, with losses in its refining wing being the biggest
contributor.
Analysts said the
high consumer price index (CPI) in recent months had been a deterrent for an
increase in oil prices.
The country's
CPI, the main gauge of inflation, rose 8.5 percent year-on-year in April. It
was 8.3 percent in March and a nearly a 12-year-high of 8.7 percent in
February.
It, however,
dropped to 7.7 percent in May, paving the way for the government to increase
oil prices, an analyst said.
But increased oil
prices could push up the rate of inflation, Zhou Dadi, vice-director of China
Energy Research Society said.
Electricity
charges
The government
will raise the electricity tariff to prevent power companies from incurring
further losses.
The price of coal
will be brought under government control temporarily, the NDRC said, because
soaring coal price is the main factor behind higher electricity charges.
The increase in
power tariff will help the development of desulfurization equipment in the
power plants, and renewable energy sources such as wind power and biomass
power, the NDRC said.
The increase in
power tariff will not create a big impact on the CPI because urban and rural
residents have been exempted.
China
steps up bio-gas pools
June
20 (China Daily) --
China
and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have decided to step up construction of
bio-gas pools in
Asia
's rural communities to
deal with energy crunch in villages amid rising prices of oil and grains.
The
ADB has agreed on a $1 million grant to
China
, which has been successfully
burning bio-gas in rural areas for cooking and lighting, according to the ADB's
senior official.
"We
are discussing the details now and hopefully we can start a new round of
cooperation in biomass energy with
China
next year," ADB's East
Asia Development Director General Klaus Gerhaeusser told China Daily yesterday.
"We hope the projects can work and act as examples for other Asian
countries."
He
said the grant would be used to help Chinese rural communities construct
large-scale bio-gas pools and summarize technical solutions, which may be
transferred to other Asian countries.
Vice-Minister
of Agriculture Wei Chao'an said the combination of ADB's commitment and
China
's experiences in biomass energy use can
help find "reasonable approaches" to fix the energy headaches in
villages in both
China
and
the rest of
Asia
.
"Our
strength lies in converting waste into energy, instead of burning grains such
as corns," Wei said. "It is not a threat to grain security and a
culprit of rising prices."
Generally,
Chinese farmers recycle crop straws, grass, husk and animal dung and use it as
bio-gas and the process can produce fertilizer, which is organic and
environmentally friendly for farming.
The
country produced 750,000 tons of bio-ethanol last year, and it is scheduled to
boost output to 5 million tons by 2010. Twenty-six million households in the
country's rural areas were using methane for cooking and heating by the end of
last year, and another 5 million households will join the group this year.
"Every
bio-gas pool is a micro eco-friendly system, which can combine solutions to
environmental pollution and energy crunch," Wei said. "We hope we can
spread the solutions to other countries of
Asia
with help from ADB."
China
has already helped farmers in
Laos
and
Cambodia
construct bio-gas pools. "With our expertise, we are looking forward to
contributing to other countries."
Asian
countries have shown great interest in using biomass energy in rural regions
and are learning from
China
's
experiences. Today, the government representatives from ASEAN+3 (
China
,
Japan
and
South Korea
) mechanism
are signing a joint declaration in
Beijing
to show commitment in biomass energy cooperation.
Wei
said
China
would stop approving bio-ethanol projects that used corn and wheat but would
encourage using non-grain materials such as cassava and straw. This is because
corn is an important feed material in
China
, and developing
corn-consuming bio-ethanol would affect the supply of meat and eggs.
He
also said the government would rather use non-grain plants that commonly grow
in the wild and salt land to produce bio-ethanol, so it would not take away
farmland and reduce grain production.
China
has already formed a legislative framework in biomass use. It
encouraged the development of bio-energy within the Renewable Energy Law that
took effect last year, as well as the Mid- and Long-Term Development Program
for Renewable Energy.
June 25 (China Daily)
-- China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), the country's largest offshore oil
producer, signed a 25-year purchase agreement of liquefied natural gas (LNG)
with
Qatar
on Monday.
According to the
long-term agreement, CNOOC, operator of
China
's first LNG terminal, will
buy 2 million tons of LNG per annum from Qatargas Operating Co, the company
said in a statement.
The gas will be
shipped to five LNG terminals in
Guangdong
,
Fujian
, and other coastal areas in
China
, using
Q-Flex and Q-Max LNG carriers, the most sophisticated carriers in the world.
"
Qatar
is one of the world's leading LNG
producers and exporters, and
China
is believed to have the most potential market for LNG, so the deal will benefit
both sides, as well as boost the energy cooperation between two countries,"
said Fu Chengyu, chairman of CNOOC.
The two companies
reached an initial agreement on the deal in April, during Qatari Prime Minister
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani's visit to
Beijing
.
China
's priorities of energy
security and sustainable development have boosted demand for clean and
efficient energies. The country is seeking to increase the use of natural gas
to 9 percent of the primary energy consumption by 2010 from the current 3
percent, which has in turn promoted the development of the LNG industry.
Operated by
CNOOC,
China
's first LNG
terminal in
Guangdong
province started operation in 2006. At present, the company is constructing LNG
facilities in
Shanghai
, Futian in
Fujian
province and
Ningbo
in
Zhejiang
province, which will be put into use in 2009. It is estimated that the company
will ship 60 million tons of LNG to
China
by 2020.
Earlier this
month, CNOOC signed an agreement with Total Gas and Power Limited (TGP) to
purchase up to 1 million tons of LNG annually starting from 2010.
The gas will be
sourced from Total's global LNG portfolio, based on its participation in over
10 liquefaction projects worldwide, and on TGP's trading activities, said a
Total China source on June 16.
PetroChina, the
country's largest oil producer, also started construction of its first LNG
terminal in
Dalian
, a port city in
Liaoning
province in
April.
The project, with
a total investment of more than 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion), consists of a
wharf, a receiving facility and transportation pipelines. It is designed to
receive supplies from
Qatar
,
Australia
and other overseas markets.
June 12 (Xinhua)
--
China
's
leading refiner Sinopec Wednesday refuted a media report that refiners in the
country were keeping a high storage amid spreading fuel shortage.
Sinopec was not
at all piling up oil products and was endeavoring to guarantee market supply, a
Sinopec source who declined to be named told Xinhua.
An industry
report by the Shanghai-based information provider C1 Energy said some domestic
oil enterprises were keeping an ample reserve amid the fuel shortage, carried
by Wednesday's Shanghai Securities News.
"These
efforts included restructuring product mix to produce more oil products, diesel
in particular, entrusting local refineries to turn out more products,
continuing importing oil products and guarantee fuel demands in important
agricultural provinces of
Shandong
,
Hebei
,
Shanxi
and
Shaanxi
," the
Sinopec source said.
John Chu,
information director of C1 Energy, told Xinhua on Wednesday that one reason for
the fuel stock increase was that in recent months oil product supplies
surpassed actual demand. The other reason was that Sinopec and PetroChina, as
well as some independent wholesalers, were in control of fuel resources.
Figures showed
the country's apparent gasoline consumption (production volume plus net import
volume) that stands for the basic supply level stood at 20.29 million tonnes
from January to April, up 17.9 percent year on year. In contrast, the apparent
diesel consumption reached 44.996 million tonnes in the same period, up 14.8
percent year on year.
However,
Chu
predicted the actual annual fuel demand growth in the
first half of the year would hover between 6 to 7 percent, slightly higher than
previous years, but far from the supply growth pace.
PetroChina, the
country's largest oil producer, and Sinopec vowed earlier this month to expand
production, cut exports and increase imports to ensure the growing supply on
the domestic market partly due to the after-quake reconstruction and summer
fuel consumption season.
These efforts
would speed the domestic gasoline and diesel supply in the first half by 15
percent to 18 percent year on year, predicted the report.
The short supply
of diesel broke out again in some localities in past weeks, including the
southern Guangdong Province, the eastern Shanghai Municipality and Zhejiang
Province and the northeastern Liaoning Province, where thirsty vehicles in long
lines waiting to be fueled, Chu said.
On the flip side,
oil product stock by Sinopec and PetroChina in
Shanghai
topped 111,400 tonnes by May 27, an
amount which could meet the local demands for eight days. In
Guangdong
it surpassed 900,000 tonnes by the
end of May, enough to quench local demands for 20 to 23 days, according to CI
Energy.
Chu
added
on the one hand, domestic oil companies were piling fuel stock preparing for
the coming energy peak season in summer. On the other hand, they were grudging
having to sell amid the surging international crude oil prices.
Industry watchers
held that international crude price increases have put the government in a
dilemma -- to increase market supply of oil products. It then has to increase
diesel and gas prices to encourage refineries.
However, price
increases would bring new pressure on its efforts to curb the consumer price
index (CPI) growth. It rose 8.5 percent year on year in April after a 8.7
percent increase in February, an 11-year high.
The government
has set an annual CPI target of 4.8 percent for the year.
Sinopec said last
month that it received 7.1 billion yuan ($1.03 billion) in oil subsidies in
April, following the 5 billion yuan in government subsidies in 2006, 4.9
billion yuan in 2007, and 7.4 billion yuan in the first quarter this year.
However,
Asia
's top refiner said this big subsidy could only
compensate for half its losses.
Chinese oil
refiners have suffered great losses as they have been unable to pass on surging
international crude prices to customers because of the government's price
controls.
"The
government should step up supervision of oil companies' reserves and urge them
to sell stored products to ease fuel shortage," said the report. It added
that a market-oriented competitive system should be in place for the long-run.
China
building 1st coalbed
methane pipeline to ease energy strains
June 25 (Xinhua)
--
China
has begun construction on its first coalbed methane (CBM) pipeline, which is
intended to help ease energy strains.
Capable of
carrying 3 billion cubic meters of CBM each year, the 35-kilometer line will
link the
Qinshui
Basin
in North China's
Shanxi
Province
with the
east-west natural gas pipeline, the China National Petroleum Corp, builder of
the line, said on Wednesday.
The company
didn't give information on costs or dates for completion and operation.
"The project
will make use of CBM in a more economic way and supplement sources for the
west-east gas pipeline and ease the gas supply strain," the country's
largest oil and gas producer said in a statement.
It added that
natural gas supplies will fall 60 billion cubic meters short of demand in
China
by 2010.
It said
China
's CBM
reserves were about 30 trillion cubic meters. The largest reserves are in
Russia
and
Canada
.
The pipeline
starts at
Jinfeng
Village
,
Qinshui
County
and ends at the
Qinshui pump station of the west-east gas pipeline. Welding work began on June
6.
Methane in
coalbeds has frequently led to deadly mine explosions in
China
. The
government has been encouraging the utilization of the gas as fuel or for power
generation and chemical production since the 1990s.
As of the end of
April, CBM-to-power plants had a total installed capacity of 710,000 kilowatts,
up 137 percent from the end of 2005, according to the energy bureau of the
National Development and Reform Commission.
June 16 (China
Daily) -- Dazhou, a city in the easternmost part of
Sichuan
province, will make full use of its natural gas reserves to build itself into
Asia
's largest sulfur producing base by the year 2010.
That's when its annual sulfur output is expected to surpass 4 million tons,
according to Dazhou Mayor Luo Qiang.
Located at the
juncture of
Sichuan
,
Hubei
,
Shaanxi
provinces and
Chongqing
municipality, Dazhou, which has
easy transport facilities, boasts natural gas reserves of 3.8 trillion cu m, of
which 660 billion cu m are proven.
"Dazhou,
whose annual natural gas output is expected to reach 20 billion cu m in 2010,
is one of the natural gas fields in
China
with the most promising
development potential after the Tarim and Erdos natural gas fields," Luo
tells China Business Weekly.
Dazhou's natural
gas has high sulfur content, and in some of its natural gas wells the content
of sulfurated hydrogen from which sulfur produced is more than 17 percent.
In recent years,
Dazhou, hoping to become western
China
's natural gas, energy and
chemical industrial base, has attracted domestic and overseas firms interested
in its natural gas resources.
Earlier last
month, a Chinese subsidiary of the Chevron Corp announced the opening of an
office in Dazhou to support the
US
oil giant's local natural gas operations. The move came after a 30-year
production sharing contract signed between Chevron and PetroChina, the listed
subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the country's biggest oil
and gas producer, in December.
In Dazhou, Jim
Blackwell, president of Chevron Asia Pacific Exploration and Production Co,
says the contract became effective in February.
The contract, for
the development of a 1,969-sq-km natural gas field in the onshore
Sichuan
Basin
,
made the CNPC-Chevron cooperation the largest inland exploration project by a
foreign firm in
China
.
According to
Chevron, the company and CNPC expect to build two sour gas plants with a
throughput capacity of approximately 740 million cubic feet of natural gas per
day. The gas field has natural gas proven reserves of 175.97 billion cu m.
Because demands
exceed production, sulfur prices have been steadily on the rise in the world
market, according to Qi Yan, executive director of the China Sulfur Industrial
Association.
"In January
last year, my company spent less than 2,000 yuan importing 1 ton of sulfur, but
it has to pay 5,800 yuan for the same amount of sulfur at present," says
Tang Shenghui, an official with the Yongli Chemical Industrial Shareholding Co
Ltd in
Zhuzhou
,
Hunan
province, in the National
Sulfur-related Chemical Industrial Forum held recently in Dazhou.
China
's
annual sulfur output is 1 million tons, while its domestic consumption exceeds
10 million tons. Each year, the country has to import about 9 million tons from
abroad.
"Rising
prices in the international sulfur market have had an adverse effect on many
industrial sectors in
China
,
and development of sulfur in Dazhou will be significant for the country's
sulfur-related chemical sectors," Liu says.
Sulfur is
indispensable to production of phosphate fertilizer, rubber, pesticides,
medicine, food additives and lubricating oil.
"Dazhou has
built a natural gas, energy and chemical industrial park with an area of 30 sq km
and the sulfur-related sector has become an important component of the
park," Luo said.
"When
construction of desulfurizing plants invested by China Petroleum and Chemical
Corp and CNPC is finished, Dazhou's annual sulfur output will surpass 4 million
tons in 2010, accounting for half of the country's total," he said.
Soaring energy
demand and the government's support of natural gas use has boosted
China
's natural
gas development.
The country has
experienced double-digit growth in natural gas output and consumption in each
of the past three years.
According to
statistics of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association,
China
produced
69.31 billion cu m of natural gas in 2007, up 23.1 percent from a year earlier.
June 9 (China Daily) -- With oil prices at historic highs,
China
is moving full steam ahead with a controversial process to turn its vast coal
reserves into barrels of oil.
The possibility of obtaining oil from coal
and being fuel self-sufficient is enticing to coal-rich countries seeking to
secure their energy supply in an age of increased debate about how long the
world's oil reserves can continue to meet demand.
The
United
States
,
Australia
and
India
are among those countries looking at coal-to-liquid (CTL) technology, which,
industrial experts say, releases excessive amounts of carbon gases into the
atmosphere and consumes huge amounts of water.
However,
China
is building a major complex on the grasslands of
Inner
Mongolia
autonomous region.
"Those countries with large coal
reserves, like South Africa, China or the United States, are very keen on CTL
as it helps ensure energy security," says Yuichiro Shimura at Mitsubishi
Research Institute Inc (MRI) in Tokyo.
"However, the problem is that it
creates a lot of carbon dioxide. Also you need a huge amount of energy for
liquefaction, which means you end up wasting quite a lot of energy," the
chief consultant at MRI in charge of energy tells reporters.
In Erdos, Inner Mongolia, about 10,000
workers are putting the final touches to a CTL plant that will be run by
State-owned Shenhua Group,
China
's
biggest coal mine.
The plant will be the biggest outside of
South Africa
,
which adopted CTL technology due to international embargoes on fuel during the
apartheid years.
"We cannot fail," Zhang Jiming,
deputy general manager at Shenhua Coal Liquefaction, tells reporters. "If
things go smoothly, we will start with the expansion next year," he says.
The plant will start operating later this
year and is expected to convert 3.5 million tons of coal per year into 1
million tons of oil products such as diesel for cars.
That's the equivalent of about 20,000
barrels a day, a tiny percentage of
China
's
oil needs as oil consumption in
China
is around 7.2 million barrels a day.
If all goes well, then
Inner
Mongolia
will push on with an ambitious plan to turn half of its
coal output into liquid fuel or chemicals by 2010. This would be around 135
million tons, or about 40 percent of
Australia
's annual coal output.
The region, as big as
France
,
Germany
and
England
put together,
hopes CTL will propel development while contributing to
China
's plan to
have CTL capacity of 50 million tons by 2020.
That would be about 286,000 barrels a day,
or about four percent of
China
's
energy needs based on current consumption.
US looks to CTL
CTL is also being considered by a number of
coal-rich countries such as the
United
States
, which has the world's largest coal
reserves.
The relatively low cost of CTL produced oil
given current oil prices, plus the chance to be more energy self-sufficient is
a powerful incentive.
The technology is being seen in some
quarters as offering an opportunity for the
US
to reduce its dependency on
other countries for oil and a small US CTL industry is emerging.
DRKW Advanced Fuels plans to start
construction on a plant in
Wyoming
next year in partnership with Arch Coal Inc and with technologies licensed by
General Electric and Exxon Mobil. The defense department is experimenting with
CTL in an effort to cut reliance on fuel from countries unfriendly to the
US
.
But CTL is highly controversial. Experts say
the whole lifecycle releases about twice as much carbon dioxide, the most
common greenhouse gas, as fossil fuel. Liquefying coal also requires large
amounts of energy and drains water supplies.
"If there is no good solution for CO2,
the (CTL) industry will not flourish," Chen Linming, executive
vice-president at Sasol
China
,
told a conference last month, urging the government to support carbon capture
and storage technology.
Shenhua and Sasol are conducting a
feasibility study to build two more CTL plants in the provinces of
Shaanxi
and Ningxia.
Water, electricity
Whether CTL technology could ever be used on
a large-scale will depend on how coal companies deal with the massive amount of
water used in the process.
China
faces serious water shortages
and the Gobi desert, which spans across
Inner Mongolia
,
is expanding rapidly. There are drinking water shortages in
Northwest
China
and ground water levels are sinking every year.
Shenhua plans to use ground water and
recycled water from coal mines to supply the 8 million tons it will need a
year.
Yet Zhang said it would need to tap other
sources, such as the
Yellow River
, in the
second phase. He would not disclose how much the company spent to build the
complex, or how much carbon dioxide it is expected to emit.
"There's no doubt with oil at over $
100 a
barrel, CTL is very economic ...
However the constraint is the availability of water," says Michael
Komesarroff from Urandaline Investments.
"If
China
's
primary concern is energy security, then I think you would want to take the
most efficient way of using the resources," says WWF's
Kendall
.
"If you turn coal into electricity at
high efficiency, and charge electric vehicles, you can get three times as many
kilometers per unit of coal."
June 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu
Jintao is urging the country to contribute further efforts to the global fight
against climate change.
Hu, also general secretary of the Communist
Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in
Beijing
on Friday at
a group study for the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The study
focused on global climate change and the country's ability to tackle the issue.
"How we cope with climate change is
related to the country's economic development and people's practical benefits.
It's in line with the country's basic interests," he said.
He stressed, as a developing country,
China
should stick to the responsibilities and principles listed in the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol. He hoped
developed countries could step up efforts on emission reduction and provide
financial and technical support for developing countries.
It was written in the 17th National Congress
of the CPC report to "give prominence to building a resource-conserving,
environment-friendly society in our strategy for industrialization and
modernization and getting every organization and family to act
accordingly."
Hu urged related organizations and companies
to strive to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by optimizing energy
management in a scientific way. He mentioned methods such as promoting
recycling economy, increasing forest coverage, exploring water resources
scientifically and strengthening global cooperation.
He stressed to enhance the country's
abilities to monitor, forecast and withstand extreme natural disasters as a
result of abnormal weather.
"Our task is tough, and our time is
limited. Party organizations and governments at all levels must give priority
to emission reduction ... and bring the idea deep into people's hearts,"
the president said.
Luo Yong, a researcher with the
National
Climate
Center
under the China Meteorological Administration, and Tsinghua University
Professor He Jiankun instructed the study and presented the findings on the
issue.
The hydrological and meteorological
departments in the southwestern
Sichuan
Province
issued a flood
warning on Friday, forecasting the summer flooding was likely to be the biggest
in a decade and would come at the beginning of July, earlier than in past years
because of the effect of abnormal rainfall in May.
China
, US sign 10-year energy, environment framework
June 19 (Xinhua) --
China
and the
United
States
signed a 10-year energy and environment
cooperation framework in
Washington
Wednesday after the two nations concluded their fourth round of Strategic
Economic Dialogue, or SED.
Speaking to reporters before the signing
ceremony at the US Treasury Department, visiting Chinese Vice Premier Wang
Qishan said the deal was "a major achievement of the meeting," which
will influence future bilateral economic cooperation and contribute to the
sustainable development of the world.
The framework also highlights the great
importance and strategic influence of the SED mechanism, he added.
US Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson said
through the framework, "we will address some of the most important and
difficult challenges facing our nations and the world today -- energy security,
environmental sustainability and climate change."
He said interests of
China
and the
United States
in this area are
"very aligned."
"We seek energy security -- which is so
vital to our economic security -- while taking the necessary steps and making
the necessary technological advances to preserve the health of our
planet," said Paulson.
"Success in this area will require a
sustained long-term effort by our two countries," he said.
The 10-year energy and environment framework
sets goals and lays out steps to expand Sino-US cooperation in this area over a
period of 10 years.
There are five initial goals be addressed
under the framework, including clean, efficient and secure electricity
production and transmission; clean water; clean air; clean and efficient
transportation; conservation of forest and wetland ecosystems.
Five joint Sino-US taskforces will be
established to develop action plans focused on concrete cooperation for each
goal with the aim of completing all of these action plans by the next SED.
China
and the
United
States
also agreed to explore the concept of
Ecopartnerships as a potential vehicle for implementing goals of the framework
at next round of SED talks.
Wang and Paulson co-chaired the June 17-18
SED meeting as special representatives of the state leaders of the two
countries in
Annapolis
,
Md.
Participants of the talks include
minister-level officials and other senior officials from the two governments.
Aside form cooperation in energy and
environment, the meeting also focused financial and macro economic management,
developing and protecting human capital, the benefits of trade and open markets
and enhancing investment.
June 25 (China Daily)-- An air quality monitoring
and warning system to help guarantee clear skies for the Beijing Olympics in
August has been fully implemented, scientists have said.
The
20-million-yuan ($2.9 million) project was jointly launched by the
Beijing
authorities and the
Chinese
Academy
of Sciences (CAS), Liu Wenqing, the project's chief scientist and a professor
of the Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics under the CAS, told China
Daily recently.
The
project includes 11 air quality monitoring stations and three mobile
surveillance vehicles that have been deployed in the capital.
Another 14
monitoring stations in a dozen cities surrounding
Beijing
will also provide data.
The
information collected is expected to help authorities in the commitment to hold
a green Olympics by targeting major polluters.
"
Beijing
's major
pollutants - nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, ozone and
carbon monoxide - come from sources including vehicle exhaust, factories and
volatile organic compounds in gas stations," Liu said.
The
project is an extension of a trial held during the "Good Luck
Beijing" test events for the Olympics.
Following
the trial to monitor air quality, Beijing authorities launched a four-day
experiment to see whether pulling 1.3 million cars off the capital's roads each
day in an even-and-odd license plate rule that allowed them to drive into the
city on alternate days would be effective in reducing air pollution during the
Olympics.
During the
experiment, the amount of pollutants in the city decreased by 17 to 28 percent,
while the daily average pollutant levels met the national standard II, a
standard accepted by the International Olympic Committee, Liu said.
The
traffic control measures can help improve the city's air quality significantly,
Liu said.
"Vehicle
emissions contribute 60 to 70 percent of air pollution in
Beijing
and these pollutants can usually stay
in the air for three to four days," Liu said.
"The
oncoming two-month traffic control measure, scheduled to start from July 20,
three weeks before the opening of the Games on Aug 8, is also expected to see
good results," he said.
About 70
percent of the monitoring devices used in the latest project are domestically
made hi-tech equipment that measure dozens of pollutants, including nitric
oxide, carbon monoxide, methane, ammonia and volatile organic compounds,
scientists said.
The rest
are foreign-made equipment used to measure four types of pollutants - sulfur
dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and the particulate matter PM 10.
The
monitoring methods of the project are in accordance with world-advanced
technologies and listed as verified technologies by the US Environmental
Protection Agency, researchers said.
Ulrich
Platt, a professor from the Institute for Environmental Physics under the
University
of
Heidelberg
in
Germany
,
the initiator of one of the techniques used in the project, praised the air
quality monitoring system.
"It
is amazing that
China
achieved such progress in such a short period, almost in sync with developments
in developed countries," Platt said in March when he visited the Anhui
Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, which produced equipment used in the
project.
Zhang
Lijun, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration,
had earlier said he has full confidence in anti-pollution plans drawn up for
the capital and five surrounding provinces.
"Our
experts predicted that the standard of air quality can be guaranteed and the
green commitment we made can be fulfilled," Zhang told a news conference
in March.
As part of
the green drive, the
Beijing
authorities have so far shut down polluting factories, enhanced supervision for
construction, upgraded emission standards, reduced coal burning and controlled
volatile organic compounds in gas stations. The city is also continuing to
expand its public transportation system.
Still,
experts have said that the weather and geographical conditions in
Beijing
and nearby areas
play a decisive role in the accumulation and dispersion of regional air
pollutants, particularly in summer.
Normally,
winds from south and southeast sweep
Beijing
in summer, blowing the pollutants to the north and northwest, where mountains
slow down the spread of the pollutants.
But if
winds are strong enough, pollutants will disperse rapidly, experts have said.
Rains also help clean the air of dust significantly.
Beijing
sky gets
bluer as pollution controls pay off
June 20 (Xinhua)
-- BEIJING - The Chinese capital had 115 "blue sky" days, with fairly
good air quality, between January 1 and Wednesday.
The number
of "blue sky" days was 12 more than the same period last year,
according to the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau.
It was a
clear sign that years of anti-pollution efforts by the Olympic host city
continue to pay off, said Du Shaozhong, the bureau's deputy chief and
spokesman.
"As
far as air quality is concerned, I'm fully confident that
Beijing
will fulfill its commitment of
hosting a 'Green Olympics', " said Du.
Major
pollution indices, including concentrations of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide,
nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, fell markedly.
Beijing
has spent more than 120 billion
yuan (US$17.1 billion) to improve its air quality, and the number of "blue
sky" days increased to 246 last year from
100 in
1998, when the capital launched the "blue
sky" campaign.
Beijing
's neighboring municipality
Tianjin
and
the nearby provinces of
Hebei
,
Shanxi
and
Shandong
,
plus the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, are helping the capital attain its
anti-pollution goals. These efforts include closing major polluters, removing
obsolete taxis from the roads and retrofitting gasoline stations to capture
harmful chemicals.
Beijing
aims to have 70 percent of the
days up to standard this year, so there should be at least 256 "blue
sky" days.
The
municipal government slashed public transport fares last year in an attempt to
lure local residents out of their private cars, which could cut emissions. The
city also converted 18,000 obsolete coal-fired boilers and installed electric
heaters in 20,000 detached houses, replacing coal-heated devices.
Beijing
is also considering traffic
controls during the Olympics, in which drivers with even- and odd-numbered
license plates, except taxis, buses and emergency vehicles, would only be able
to drive on alternate days. Offenders would be fined.
During a
test of this proposal conducted from August 17-20, 2007, about 1.3 million cars
were taken off the city roads each day and the amount of pollutants discharged
was cut by 5,815.2 tons, according to a report by the Beijing Municipal Bureau
of Environmental Protection.
Apart from
introducing new discharge standards for coal-fired boilers in late June, the
national capital will also try other measures to limit atmospheric pollution
this year, said Du.
They
include getting 6,400 obsolete motor vehicles off the roads, such as mass
transit, sanitation and postal service vehicles, plus 2,000 cabs.
Beginning
March 1, the city also imposed new vehicle exhaust standards in line with those
practiced in developed nations in
Europe
.
Experts
predict the newly adopted exhaust standards for motor vehicles will help reduce
pollutant discharges by about 50 percent.
June 9 (Xinahua)--
While the energy industry is using new technologies such as Integrated
Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) to reduce its carbon footprint in new power
plant construction, Alstom is exploring another path to cut carbon dioxide
emission by using CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technology for existing power
plants.
Alstom
presented its clean power strategy in
China
with the aim of providing a commercially viable solution for carbon capture by
2015 during the recent Alstom Power Convention
2008 in
Beijing
.
CCS, also
called carbon sequestration, captures carbon dioxide after it is produced and
injects it underground.
There are
three main technology paths for CO2 capture: pre-combustion, oxy-firing and
post-combustion, while CCS refers to post-combustion.
Alstom
says that it concentrated its R&D efforts on the latter two as they can be
used for both existing and new power plants, while pre-combustion can only be
used for new plants.
Alstom,
whose equipment is used in more than 25 percent of existing power plants
worldwide currently has nine pilot plants in operation around the world and is
aiming to market its post-combustion technology by 2015, and its oxy-firing
solution by around 2020.
Global
power generation accounts for about 40 percent of overall CO2 emissions. It
will double by 2030 from today's level, with CO2 emissions increasing by two
thirds.
"As
we cannot take fossil fuels out of the mix very quickly, but CCS plays as a
central role in reducing global emissions so fossil fuel remains an important
part of the energy mix," said Philippe Joubert, Alstom executive
vice-president and president of Alstom Power Systems. "This is especially
the case for
China
where coal in the overall power generation is expected to remain at its current
level of 78 percent by 2030."
This is
crucial for
China
with its need to upgrade its existing power facilities to meet international
environmental standards. In order to refine its carbon capture solutions,
Alstom is currently testing its post-combustion and oxy-firing technologies at
nine pilot plants located in Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, the United States
and Canada, Joubert says.
"There
is no economic growth without expansion in the power sector, which also means
increased emissions," he says. "The good news is that adapting clean
power technologies allows countries like
China
to address environmental
challenges without jeopardizing economic growth."
Yet, the
case may not be so clear.
Supporters
say carbon capture has the potential to reduce more than 90 percent of an
individual plant's carbon emissions.
Capturing
carbon dioxide from small, mobile sources, such as cars, would be more
difficult, says Lynn Orr, director of Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP),
but adds that fossil-fuel power plants would be ideal candidates for the
technology.
The
greatest concern surrounding carbon dioxide storage is the potential for it to
leak, researchers say. "But if you do it right, if you select the site
correctly and monitor, it can be near permanent," says Sally Benson,
executive director of GCEP.
Skeptics
don't agree. "CCS is still at an experimental stage. It is too short to
prove the technology is safe and feasilble," said
Zhang Jianyu
,
China
program director of US-based Environmental Defense.
"And
the process takes energy, adding to inefficiency and meaning more fuel must be
burned. Furthermore, as the government hasn't set requirements for reducing CO2
emissions, there are no economic incentives or mandatory policies to promote
the use of CCS in
China
.
"
The
world's biggest CCS project in the Sleiper field in
Norway
, is reportedly going well.
But oilfields are often a long way from the places where power is produced.
Even if carbon can be stored in quantity without leaking, it will have to be
transported around the world first, according to the Guardian newspaper.
Yet CCS is
an "important solution" to fight global warming, says Rajendra
Pachauri, chairman of a United Nations panel of scientists who shared the Nobel
Peace Prize with Al Gore. "Although much more effort is needed to get the
technology widely adopted, we need to use everything at our disposal to curb
global warming."
Joan
MacNaughton, senior vice-president general administration, Alstom Power System,
urged the Chinese government to deliver regulatory clarity to CCS.
"In
addition to the efforts made by enterprises from the technology view, the
government should provide support both financially and legally promote the CCS
projects," says MacNaughton. "I have been working with government
departments for 35 years. My experience is if governments don't pay much
attention to environmental related projects and issues, the results will be
discounted."
Oil
exporter
Norway
aims to get CCS projects included in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM),
under the Kyoto Protocol which allows developed countries with a CO2-reduction
commitment to buy carbon credits from developing countries.
Others
argue that renewable energy incentives and subsidies, such as feed-in tariffs,
should be adopted for the CCS projects.
Jeff
Chapman, chief executive of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA)
says the current problem of CCS is not the technology but the regulatory
policy. He says the best way to promote CCS will be to set a cap on carbon
emissions so as to allocate tradable carbon credits for CO2 captured and
stored.
June 18 (China Daily) -- Valid from June 1,
retailers are banned from giving free plastic bags to their customers. And the
production and distribution of ultra-thin plastic bags are also prohibited.
A move to reduce the use of plastic bags as
well as the pollution caused by these bags, the ban won positive comments from
the public, the academia and the global community as well.
Some media reports suggest that the use of
plastic bags has been significantly reduced after the ban. And some have applauded
the satisfactory implementation of the rule.
Under this new rule, costumers have to pay
for the plastic bags. In financial sense, it means collecting taxes from their
users although the money is now pocketed by the retailers.
As mentioned above, many may stop using
plastic bags for the extra cost on top of their use in supermarkets or shopping
malls because they have always got them free of charge.
However, the minor cost would not be strong
enough to change people's choices. It is possible that costumers would accept
paying for plastic bags and the number of these bags will stay at its original
level. After all, they do not have an alternative as convenient and inexpensive
as plastic bags.
Admittedly, plastic bags pose threats to the
environment: they take hundreds of years to degrade and plastic particles from
such bags and other plastic goods contaminate seawater, land, and air
throughout the world.
But the popularity of the plastic bag across
the world is a choice of businesses, customers and the market for decades.
Plastic bags are easy to clean and carry, they are water-proof and most
importantly, inexpensive.
Compared with plastic, bags of other
materials, including those made of paper and cloth, do not have the same
advantages. And they could also cause environmental problems. Paper is made
from trees; papermaking and textile are both industries producing huge amounts
of sewage, which might pollute rivers and seas.
Moreover, paper and cloth bags are not easy
to carry around. Convenience is an important element to change consumers'
preference, which is why supermarkets have largely replaced the traditional
retail outlets.
It is hard to imagine customers walking out
of supermarkets or small shops with hands full of grocery items. Nor is it
realistic to expect people take cloth or paper bags every time they go
shopping. Moreover, the cloth bags need to be washed now and then, while the
paper bags cannot be used to carry heavy things.
There is a view that the State ban against
plastic bags goes beyond reducing the number of plastic bags, and actually
advocates conservation of resources, natural lifestyle and environmental
protection.
It is true that everyone wishes to live in a
good environment. However, it is also necessary to stress that economic development,
public welfare and environmental protection have a complex relationship among
themselves.
Most of our manufacturing and consumption,
such as papermaking and automobiles, have environmental influences.
Most people condemn pollutant producers in
ethical terms. But the polluters did not produce just to destroy the
environment, but to satisfy the demand of consumers. In a sense, the
environment is an indispensable input for economic development.
The consumers should also realize that
pollution is inevitable, though the degree differs, when they require the
industries to produce certain commodities they need.
A renowned economist said that tolerance to
dirtiness is a precondition for getting rich. It is true. When the economy
develops to a relatively high level, people become less tolerant to environment
problems and are more ready to pay the costs of protecting environment.
This process is what we call "pollute
first and treat later". Definitely, it is not economical, but the
experiences from economic development across the world prove it is hard, or
even impossible, to avoid.
The environment protection has a close
relationship with economic development and it could not go beyond the latter.
By now, several developed countries have
restrictions about production and distribution of plastic bags, but few have
the same harsh stipulations as that in
China
. Do they not worry about the
environment risk of plastic bags? They did not ban the bags as we did for they
found their alternatives might be even more costly.
It is reported that the Chinese consumers use
3 billion plastic bags every year, which need 13,000 tons of crude oil to
produce. If this oil was saved from producing plastic bags, how could they be
used? As fuel for automobiles? Is this change less threatening to the
environment or is it more decent in ethical terms? As long as it is spent to
boost consumer interests or public welfare, the oil has not been wasted.
As a national law, the plastic bag ban should
be abided by in metropolises as well as in small towns. But the supervision
over its full implementation might be difficult. If those violating the rule in
cities are punished while those in remote areas are not, it would obviously
harm the authority of the law.
Reducing the use of plastic bags is, of course,
an environment-friendly move, but it should be carried out with proper
arrangements. It would have been more convenient to consumers if the ban had
been issued after practical alternatives to plastic bags were made easy to get
and substantial improvement was made in recycling plastic bags.
About two decades ago, it was proposed that
disposable chopsticks should not be used in order to protect the forests. And
several rules and regulations were issued to support it. However, disposable
chopsticks are everywhere to be seen even now. Let us wait and see whether the
plastic bag ban would be better observed.
The
author is deputy director of the Center for Financial Research, Beijing
University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
June 23 (China Daily) -- Warmer winters have
continuously appeared for 16 years in
China
, and the sea level has risen
about 20 to
30 cm
over
the past 100 years. These and other extreme weather events are raising concern
for the implications of climate change in
China
.
Meanwhile,
China
's CO2 emission growth is
projected to be twice as large as in the OECD (Organization of Economic
Cooperation and Development) countries by 2030, although its per capita
emissions will still be lower.
The close linkage between air pollution and
climate change points to the possibility of addressing these two issues
together. Integrating air pollution abatement and climate change mitigation
policies will pave the way for a low-carbon economy in
Asia
,
says Cornie Huizenga, executive director at the Clear Air Initiative for Asian
Cities (CAI-Asia) Center.
Huizenga was addressing a congregation of
government officials and business leaders at the Leadership Program on
Environment for Sustainable Development held last month, sponsored by the
Center for Environmental Education and Communications under the Ministry of
Environmental Protection, HSBC China and
Tongji
University
.
The program, started in 2007, aims to
cultivate environmental awareness for government officials who are in charge of
frontline environmental protection work, as well as representatives from
enterprises, NGOs and media.
With the continuous expansion of cities in
Asia and
China
in particular, the fight against air pollution and climate change is meeting
new challenges, said the CAI-Asia director, adding that it is necessary to
examine the impact of such changes.
Urbanization in
China
will continue over the next
20 years. It is estimated that 350 million people will be added into the urban
population by 2025, when there will be 221 cities with more than 1 million
inhabitants within the country, according to the study from McKinsey Global
Institute.
Energy consumption, in turn, is expected to
rise significantly. The study finds out that by 2025, urban
China
will
account for 20 percent of the global energy consumption, taking up to
one-quarter of the growth in the world's oil demand.
"The growth momentum would be more
obvious if we look at vehicles in
China
," says Huizenga,
pointing out that the number will go up from something like 90 million in 2005
to 405 million in 2035. In
Beijing
alone, there are 1,300 new vehicles added per day.
"In
China
, there is a very active air
quality management policy. When we are trying to reduce air pollution, we are
also doing something to reduce climate change. The strong linkage between them
offers potentially large cost reductions compared to treating those policies in
isolation," says Huizenga, citing such extreme weather events as drought,
storm, strong wind, high temperature and flood as some of the symptoms of
climate change in
China
.
However, the best co-benefit strategies are
the ones based on carbon avoidance, rather than reduction, notes Huizenga.
"This is especially relevant for Asia
where many of the greenhouse gas emissions are not yet there, unlike Europe and
USA
where energy and transport sectors are already largely mature."
To combat these challenges,
China
's
National Action Plan on Climate Change and the 11th Five-Year plan (2006-10)
have explicit goals to achieve, says Lu Xuedu, deputy head of the Ministry of
Science and Technology of China (MOST).
It aims to reduce energy consumption per unit
of gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 percent by 2010.
China
also aims
to increase the share of renewable energy to some 10 percent and strengthen its
capacity to combat climate change, with technological innovation identified as
the key area to be explored.
However, the impact of these policies
probably will not be enough, according to the CAI-Asia director.
"We need to move from awareness to
analysis and action in the form of policies and investments. In the future
we'll have to intensify climate change action in
China
, both at the national and
local level."
Fuel switching, bus rapid transit systems,
green buildings, efficient lighting programs and people's overall behavioral
changes are some of the areas that could be explored for solutions to climate
change and air quality management, He says.
China
also needs appropriate local financing mechanisms that will enable cities to
generate clean infrastructure and buildings.
According to Lu, technology remains the key
problem in promoting low-carbon economy in
China
.
The number of approved CDM (Clean Development
Mechanism) projects in
China
by the National Development and Reform Commission reached 1,295 by May 13,
2008, according to the statistics from
China
's official CDM website.
CDM is an arrangement under the Kyoto
Protocol that allows industrialized countries to contribute to reducing
greenhouse gases by investing in the energy-efficient technologies in
developing countries.
Despite that, the dissemination of cleaner
technologies from developed to developing countries still needs to be sped up,
says Lu. He also calls for more preferential and free technological transfer to
China
.
"It's not only about buying advanced
equipment and technology.
China
needs to strengthen its R&D capability in order to meet the challenges of a
green future."
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