iCET News Express
The “iCET News Express”
section provides updates on the progress of some of our exciting programs. We
hope you enjoy these updates in addition to the regular news briefing we offer.
iCET begins World Bank Electric Vehicles Project.
As vehicle manufacturers and policy makers in China and around the world race to bring the first commercially-produced electric vehicles to market, many questions still remain about infrastructure, charging and interaction of vehicles with the electric grid and the environment. As this technology comes closer to commercialization, it is increasingly important that governments, manufacturers, energy providers and financiers have a clear strategy about how to move forward with this technology.
iCET has joined an important project by the World Bank to begin to lay out a roadmap for electrification of the transportation system in China. This project will bring the development team to Shenzhen, Beijing and Wuhan to understand the most recent in manufacturing and planning for EV, and culminate in a session on June 28 again in Beijing to set out a road forward for more detailed planning and research.
This is an important first step for electrification policy in China, and iCET looks forward to bringing its unique perspective to this field.
China Low Carbon Fuel Standard and Policy Avocations.
Based on the earlier research on “China Low Carbon Fuel Standard and Policy”, iCET and Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC) jointly proposed “Policy suggestions on China’s Low Carbon Vehicle Fuel Development (draft)” in May. This proposal which contains seven suggestions caught the intensive attention from governments, experts of auto industry and various media, and received valuable public feedback and recommendations. On May 11th, at the “Vehicle Fuel Entire Life Cycle Analysis Conference” at TsingHua University, Ms. Liping Kang, the program officer of iCET transportation fuel program, shared opinions with auto specialists and professors on policy advices on China future vehicle energy alternatives and green house gas emission as well as the development of low carbon vehicle fuel. Also, On May 28th, Ms Kang presented those policy suggestions to governmental officers and media representatives at the launch meeting of Novozymes’s Cellic CTec2 product. Currently, “Policy suggestions on China’s Low Carbon Vehicle Fuel Development” is still under public review and expected to be submitted as a policy making reference to the State Council of China in the end of June.
As a strategic partner, iCET supported Beijing Earth Temple Forum 2010.
On June 5th, “Earth Temple Forum 2010” was convened by Beijing Municipal Finance Bureau, Beijing Dongcheng District People's Government, Energy Research Institute of NDRC, and China Beijing Environment Exchange at Beijing International Hotel. The topic of the event is “Green Finance and Sustainable Development”, which implies to save energy and reduce emissions by making use of market mechanism and financial method. Governments including NDRC, Ministry of Environment and Protection, Ministry of Finance, and various industry leaders in areas of new energy saving and protection, resource comprehensive utilization as well as carbon fund attended this event. As one of significant strategic partners, iCET actively involved in this event. President and Executive director Dr. Feng An delivered speech at the panel entitled “China VER Market: Carbon Intensity and Enterprises Voluntary Emission Reduction”. He presented his opinion on which kind of role China’s carbon market should perform when facilitating the nation to achieve controllable carbon emission intensity index, how the China’s carbon market to build a business model adapting domestic situation and how China’s carbon market to connect to the international one.
Dr. Feng An delivered speech at the forum.
iCET hosted Al Gore’s training team in Beijing.
On June 8th, iCET hosted the Alliance for Climate Protection (ACP) at iCET’s Beijing Office. ACP is a NGO organization formed by former U.S. Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore and is committed to educating the global community about the urgency of implementing comprehensive solutions to the climate crisis. Representatives from Global Environment Institute, China Entrepreneur Club and Environmental, China Cleantech Initiatives and Communication Center of Ministry of Environment Protection participated in this meeting.
On June 9th, iCET President and Executve Director Dr. Feng An, Program Director Dr. Yufu Chen, and General Manager of China Operation Ms. Fang Fang were invited to the welcome dinner and met with Al Gore, and exchanged opinions on iCET’s climate change programs.
On June 10th – 11th, “Training Course on Fighting Climate Change” was taken at Beijing Hotel. More than 300 attendees from US and China’s governments, academia, NGOs, and enterprises participated in this event. iCET Program Director Yufu Chen and Research Analyst of Climate Change Program Xueyu Li attended this training. Weizhong Wang, Vice minister of Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and Al Gore presented at the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. In order to instruct volunteers in China to educate the public and to raise awareness about climate change, Gore offered training lecture entitled “Our Choice”. Other domestic and overseas experts in the climate change field also provided seminars with subjects mainly on Climate Change Science, Climate Mitigation and Adaptation, and Climate Equity.
GENERAL ENERGY ISSUES
China makes rapid new energy strides.
May 7 (China Daily): BEIJING -China will take radical measures to increase the use of new energy in the 12th Five Year Plan (2011-15), a move that reinforces the nation's commitment to improve the energy mix and reduce pollution.
Development of new energies, including nuclear, hydro, wind and solar will be highlighted in the country's 12th Five Year Plan for the energy industry, said industry sources. The four sectors are also the most developed new energy resources in the country at present.
China is also drafting a stimulus plan for its new energy sectors, and it is likely to be announced within the next year, said sources.
Earlier media reports said the new energy plan would involve total investments running into several trillions of yuan.
Zhou Xi'an, an executive with the National Energy Administration (NEA), told reporters earlier that development of nuclear energy, wind energy, solar energy and biomass energy, as well as clean coal technologies would account for an integral part of the country's 12th Five Year Plan for the energy industry.
China has already set a target to increase the use of non-fossil energy to 15 percent of primary energy consumption in 2020. "With such a target in mind, China should take steps to increase the figure to around 13 percent by the end of 2015," said Li Junfeng, deputy director-general of the Energy Research Institute (ERI) under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
Echoing Li's view, Wang Zhongying, a researcher with ERI, said development of new energy is integral for China to achieve its emission control targets.
According to a recent report by World Bank, China needs an additional investment of $64 billion annually over the next two decades to implement an "energy-smart" growth strategy.
Such investment should be aimed at making the power and transport sectors more efficient and developing renewable energy, said the bank.
Many new energy sectors in China have seen tremendous growth in recent years. For instance, wind power has seen growth rates in excess of 100 percent in the last three years.
In line with the rapid growth in the industries, China has also adjusted the blueprint for some other sectors. For instance, the country made a plan in 2005 to increase its nuclear power capacity to 40 gigawatts (gW) in 2020, when it would account for 4 percent of the country's total power capacity.
But in line with the quick growth of the industry, the target has been raised to between 70 gW to 80 gW, according to officials with both the NEA and NDRC.
China has 11 nuclear power reactors under operation at present. These reactors have a total capacity of 9.1 gW and account for around 1 percent of the nation's total power capacity.
However, some analysts said it will be a long time before the new energies actually emerge as alternatives to coal and oil. "Coal and oil will still remain the mainstream energy in the country," said Lin Boqiang, a professor at Xiamen University.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-05/07/content_9819922.htm
China to toughen energy-saving measures.
May 28 (China Daily) - China will take a series of measures to implement energy-saving and emission-reduction strategies this year, said Xie Zhenhua, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), on Thursday afternoon, www.ce.cn reported.
The key measures this year will include strengthening of the accountability system and tightened control of highly polluting and high energy consuming industries, Xie said.
The central government this year has allocated 83.3 billion yuan supporting 10 key energy-saving projects with the aim of promoting energy efficiency technologies throughout China, according to the report.
The government would continue to improve the reform on energy prices. Measures like energy supply control would be used, Xie noted.
He pointed out that energy consumption in six major heavy industries including steel, power and the chemical industry increased by 3.2 percent per unit GDP in the first quarter of this year.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/28/content_9905426.htm
China clean energy goal will require hydro projects: official.
May 31 (Reuters): BEIJING - China will not achieve its clean energy development targets for 2020 unless it starts building big hydropower projects soon, China's top energy official said, supporting industry calls for fast project approvals.
"For new hydropower projects to play a role in China's move toward energy saving and emission reduction in 2020, their construction must be started before 2015," Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration, said in remarks published on Monday.
"Considering current hydropower capacity, projects under construction, and building cycles, China needs to start building around 120 gigawatts (GW) of hydropower projects in the six years through 2015," said Zhang, who is also a deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, which is in charge of approving large projects.
China has 197 GW of hydropower generating capacity, or 23 percent of its total installation. Coal is the source of more than three quarters of electricity.
China pledged ahead of the Copenhagen summit last year that it would cut the amount of carbon dioxide produced for each unit of national income by 40-45 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels.
The world's top emitter of the gas also aimed to boost the proportion of non-fossil fuels in overall energy consumption to 15 percent by 2020.
Its non-fossil fuel ratio fell to less than 8 percent in 2009 from 8.9 percent in 2008, according to Zhang, who spoke on May 13 during a four-day government review of the feasibility study of the Wudongde hydropower project.
Wudongde, with planned capacity of 8.7 GW, will be built on the upstream portion of the Yangtze River by the China Three Gorges Corp, China's largest hydropower developer.
To achieve the non-fossil fuels target, hydro and nuclear power should play a leading role, Zhang said in selected remarks published in the China Energy News, a weekly newspaper run by the Official People's Daily.
But he said hydropower project approvals had almost come to a halt due to environmental, immigration and management reasons, with new approvals amounting to only 14.07 GW since 2007, or less than 5 GW each year.
Zhang refuted allegations that hydropower construction in drought-hit regions had exacerbated water shortages this year in southwestern China, including the Mekong River region. He also disputed allegations that hydropower construction had caused environmental damage.
"Every energy source has positive and negative effects and cannot be viewed only from the negative side ... and should be weighed in an overall way," he said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64U0PX20100531
China’s Energy Use Threatens Goals on Warming.
May 7 (New York Times): HONG KONG — Even as China has set ambitious goals for itself in clean-energy production and reduction of global warming gases, the country’s surging demand for power from oil and coal has led to the largest six-month increase in the tonnage of human generated greenhouse gases ever by a single country.
China’s leaders are so concerned about rising energy use and declining energy efficiency that the cabinet held a special meeting this week to discuss the problem, according to a statement Thursday from the ministry of industry and information technology. Coal-fired electricity and oil sales each climbed 24 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, on the heels of similar increases in the fourth quarter
Premier Wen Jiabao promised tougher policies to enforce energy conservation, including a ban on government approval of any new projects by companies that failed to eliminate inefficient capacity, the ministry said. Mr. Wen also said that China had to find a way to meet the target in its current five-year plan of a 20 percent improvement in energy efficiency.
“We can never break our pledge, stagger our resolution or weaken our efforts, no matter how difficult it is,” Mr. Wen said. Western experts say it will be hard to meet the target, but that China’s leaders seem determined.
“No country of this size has seen energy demand grow this fast before in absolute terms, and those who are most concerned about this are the Chinese themselves,” said Jonathan Sinton, the China program manager at the International Energy Agency in Paris.
China has been the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases each year since 2006, leading the United States by an ever-widening margin. A failure by China to meet its own energy efficiency targets would be a big setback for international efforts to limit such emissions.
Such a failure would also be a potential diplomatic embarrassment for the Chinese government, which promised the world just before the Copenhagen climate summit meeting in December that it would improve energy efficiency.
The issue has major economic implications for China and for global energy markets. The nation’s ravenous appetite for fossil fuels is driven by China’s shifting economic base — away from light export industries like garment and shoe production and toward energy-intensive heavy industries like steel and cement manufacturing for cars and construction for the domestic market.
Almost all urban households in China now have a washing machine, a refrigerator and an air-conditioner, according to government statistics. Rural ownership of appliances is now soaring as well because of new government subsidies for their purchase since late 2008.
Car ownership is rising rapidly in the cities, while bicycle ownership is actually falling in rural areas as more families buy motorcycles and light trucks.
General Motors announced on Thursday that its sales in China rose 41 percent in April from a year earlier, virtually all of the vehicles made in China because of high import taxes.
Zhou Xi’an, a National Energy Administration official, said in a statement last month that fossil fuel consumption was likely to increase further in the second quarter of this year because of rising car ownership, diesel use in the increasingly mechanized agricultural sector and extra jet fuel consumption for travelers to the Shanghai Expo.
The shift in the composition of China’s economic output is overwhelming the effects of China’s rapid expansion of renewable energy and its existing energy conservation program, energy experts said.
The increase in oil and coal-fired electricity consumption in the first quarter was twice as fast as economic growth of about 12 percent for that period, a sign that rising energy consumption is not just the result of a rebounding economy but also of changes in the mix of industrial activity. The shift in activity is partly because of China’s economic stimulus program, which has resulted in a surge in public works construction that requires a lot of steel and cement.
Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, which many scientists describe as the biggest man-made contributor to global warming.
President Hu Jintao pledged in November that by 2020 the Chinese government would slow its growth in greenhouse gases by sharply improving energy efficiency. Mr. Wen went to the Copenhagen climate meeting three weeks later and opposed any international monitoring of China’s energy efficiency effort or binding limits on China’s overall energy consumption.
China’s current five-year plan, from 2006 to 2010, already sets an efficiency target that the country may now be less likely to meet.
The plan calls for the energy needed for each unit of economic output to decline by 20 percent in 2010 compared to 2005.
For a while, China seemed to be on track toward that goal. According to the ministry of industry and information technology, energy efficiency actually improved by more than 14 percent from 2005 to 2009.
But it deteriorated by 3.2 percent in the first quarter, the ministry said on Thursday.
Mr. Wen said that this deterioration would make it “particularly difficult” for China to meet the 20 percent target.
Without big policy changes, like raising fuel taxes, “they can’t possibly make it,” said Julie Beatty, principal energy economist at Wood Mackenzie, a big energy consulting firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Mr. Hu promised last November that China would improve the energy efficiency of its economy by 40 to 45 percent by 2020. The ministry statement on Thursday did not mention whether Mr. Hu’s promise might still be achievable.
Complicating energy efficiency calculations is the fact that China’s National Bureau of Statistics has begun a comprehensive revision of all of the country’s energy statistics for the last 10 years, restating them with more of the details commonly available in other countries’ data. Western experts also expect the revision to show that China has been using even more energy and releasing even more greenhouse gases than previously thought.
Revising the data now runs the risk that other countries will distrust the results and demand greater international monitoring of any future pledges by China. If the National Bureau of Statistics revises up the 2005 data more than recent data, for example, then China might appear to have met its target at the end of this year for a 20 percent improvement in energy efficiency.
China’s recent embrace of renewable energy has done little so far to slow the rise in emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.
Wind energy effectively doubled in this year’s first quarter compared with a year earlier, as China has emerged as the world’s largest manufacturer and installer of wind turbines. But wind still accounts for just 2 percent of China’s electricity capacity — and only 1 percent of actual output, because the wind does not blow all the time.
Meanwhile, fuel-intensive heavy industry output rose 22 percent in the first quarter in China from a year earlier, while light industry increased 14 percent.
Rajendra K. Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations research unit, said in an e-mail message that he believed China was serious about addressing its emissions.
“There is a growing realization within Chinese society that major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions would be of overall benefit to China,” he wrote after learning of the latest Chinese energy statistics. “This is important not only for global reasons, because China is now responsible for the highest emissions of greenhouse gases, but also because its per capita emissions are increasing at a rapid rate.”
To some extent, China’s energy consumption now might actually help limit its global warming emissions in the future.
China, for example, used 200 million tons of cement in building rail lines last year, while the entire American economy only used 93 million tons, said David Fridley, a China energy specialist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Although production of that cement raised energy use and emissions of global warming gases, it also expanded a rail system that is among the most energy-efficient in the world.
China currently moves only 55 percent of its coal by rail, for example, which is down from 80 percent a decade ago, as many coal users have been forced by inadequate rail capacity to haul coal in trucks instead. The trucks burn 10 or more times as much fuel per mile to haul a ton of coal, Mr. Fridley said.
But now, with new high-speed passenger lines leaving more room on older lines to haul coal and other freight, the percentages could begin shifting away from energy-inefficient trucking, he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/business/energy-environment/07energy.html
High-energy enterprises to be charged more.
May 14 (China Daily) - The National Development and Reform Commission, State Electricity Regulatory Commission and National Energy Administration co-issued a notice Thursday, announcing the gradual end of the current electricity price privileges for energy-intensive industries like aluminum, ferroalloy and carbide, the National Business Daily reported Friday.
The notice said differentiated energy price policies for eight industries - aluminum, ferroalloy, carbide, caustic soda, cement, steel, yellow phosphorus and zinc smelting - would be continued, and the extra charges would be increased from the current 0.05 yuan (0.73 cent) per kW to 0.10 yuan per kW, starting on June 1, 2010. For enterprises set to be gradually eliminated, extra charges would be adjusted from the current 0.20 yuan per kW to 0.30 per kW.
The regulators also allowed local governments to further increase the extra charges for enterprises that would be eliminated gradually through competition. The existing preferential policies for power-hungry enterprises would be canceled immediately.
For those enterprises where power consumption exceeded the limits set by the government, even tougher price policies should be adopted for punishment, the report said, citing the notice.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-05/14/content_9851781.htm
Energy-hungry sectors cast shadow on green moves.
The industrial output of the six major energy consuming industries - electricity, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, construction materials, petroleum processing and chemicals - grew 17.9 percent year-on-year in April, 0.9 percentage points higher than March, said the National Bureau of Statistics.
In contrast, in April, the overall growth of industrial output was up 17.8 percent year-on-year, 0.3 percentage points lower than the previous month, according to the bureau.
The nation's industrial output rose 19.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, down 0.5 percentage points on the first quarter, while growth in urban fixed-asset investment dropped 4.4 percentage points compared with the same period last year.
Meanwhile, power generation reached 331.64 billion kilowatt-hours in April, a jump of 21.4 percent year-on-year, with experts attributing the hike to the strong growth momentum of those energy-hungry sectors.
"It is a new trend worth close attention" despite the overall scenario in which growth in heavy industry output has slowed while light industry output has accelerated, said Sheng Laiyun, the bureau's spokesman.
"Indeed, that means our consumption of energy is speeding up and saving energy and cutting emissions are becoming even more pressing tasks."
The economic restructuring still has a long way to go, with its impact offset by surging demand for energy, said Zhu Baoliang, deputy director of the State Information Center's economic forecasting department.
"Increased government investment, which was mainly injected into fields such as infrastructure construction, has greatly buoyed demand," he said, although the low base in the same period last year also accounted for much of the high growth rate in the output of heavy energy-consuming sectors.
"Heavy industries, especially high energy consuming industries, started to decline before other industries during the crisis, which made the rate in April look especially big."
Moreover, the April statistics could be temporary and policymakers need more time to monitor the real trend, said Dong Xian'an, chief macroeconomic analyst with Industrial Securities.
China has restated its commitment to speeding up economic restructuring this year to make its growth more sustainable, after it reported a strong recovery of 8.7 percent year-on-year in gross domestic product growth in 2009, exceeding the target of 8 percent.
The government has set a target of a 20 percent decrease in energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product from 2006 to 2010, a key step in materializing its commitment of a 40 to 45 percent reduction before 2020.
The State Council said earlier this month that the nation had only achieved a 14.38 percent cut in energy consumption and promised to encourage local governments to scrap backward production capacity and liberalize energy product prices
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-05/19/content_9867050.htm
China, US ink green energy deals.
May 27 (China Daily): BEIJING - China and the United States on Wednesday signed eight green energy deals to enhance cooperation in the sector, a move analysts said would set examples for global collaboration in increasing energy efficiency and protecting environment.
The eight deals include aviation biofuel, distributed energy systems using natural gas as fuel, smart meters and cellulosic ethanol. Neither side disclosed the financial details of the deals.
As the world's two largest energy consumers, China and the US will also join hands for renewable energy development, said Zhang Guobao, head of National Energy Administration (NEA), adding that China will keep an open mind to develop the renewable energy sector.
The two countries have big potential for collaboration in the area, said Zhang. "The US has advanced technology, and China has a huge market."
The US and China will "take every angle" to ensure their cooperation in energy and environment, said US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman.
Development of renewable energy is a must for China to achieve its two basic policies in energy and environment, which is to increase the use of non-fossil energy to 15 percent of primary energy consumption by 2020, and to reduce carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent in 2020 from the 2005 levels, said Zhang.
In the renewable energy sector, China will continue to focus on the development of hydro, wind, solar, and biomass energy, he said.
A series of Chinese and US companies are involved in the eight deals. For instance, Applied Materials Inc and China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group (CECEP) signed a memorandum of understanding to explore projects for accelerating the development and deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology.
"With China's growing energy needs, our relationship with the CECEP represents a great opportunity to promote sustainable energy development through the optimal use of renewable energy generation with solar power," said Mark Pinto, executive vice-president and corporate technology officer at Applied Materials.
Analysts said Sino-US cooperation on green energy would set a good example for other countries. What's more, in terms of the world's energy market, cooperation between the two countries will help in developing new energies that can ensure global energy security.
China and the US have agreed to further promote cooperation on energy conservation and environmental protection so as to generate more "concrete results".
The two sides will strengthen energy efficiency cooperation in aspects including buildings, industry and consumer products, under the Framework for the 10-Year Cooperation on Energy and Environment, which was signed between China and the US in 2008, officials said at the First US-China Energy Efficiency Forum.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-05/27/content_9898405.htm
China Longyuan to spend $13b to lead wind power league.
May 10 (Xinhua) - China Longyuan Power Group Corp plans to spend about 92 billion yuan ($13 billion) over the next five years to become the world's No 1 wind-power producer as global demand for clean energy increases.
The Hong Kong-listed company aims to install at least 16,000 megawatts of wind turbines in China and overseas by 2015, President Xie Changjun said in an interview after a climate conference in Beijing today.
The expansion plan comes as the Chinese government encourages the use of renewable energy to cut reliance on more polluting coal. The Beijing-based company in December raised a net HK$16.7 billion ($2.2 billion) from the sale of 2.14 billion shares in Hong Kong in the world's third-biggest IPO by an alternative energy company.
"China so far has used only about 1 percent of its total estimated wind power resources and there is vast potential for future growth," Xie said. "We are also looking at opportunities overseas, including in South Africa, the US, Australia and Europe," he said.
Global investment in renewable energy surged 31 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, driven by wind power and demand in China, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said on April 12.
China Longyuan ranks fifth globally by wind-power capacity and plans to be third by 2012, according to Xie. The company had 4,503 megawatts of capacity last year and may have 6,500 megawatts by the end of this year, it said in March.
China Longyuan's shares fell 0.6 percent to HK$7.81 in Hong Kong trading on May 7, the stock's lowest level since listing. It has dropped 13 percent since its Dec 10 debut, compared with an 8.2 percent decline in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.
Increased profit
China Longyuan may issue bonds in the domestic market to raise funds, Xie said without elaborating. The wind-farm operator's profit more than double last year to 894 million yuan from 337 million yuan as it expanded capacity, it said on March 30.
China's domestic wind-power developers may see increased profit because of lower turbine installation costs and government-set fixed tariffs, Xie said. The cost to China Longyuan to erect each kilowatt of wind turbines may fall about 10 percent to 8,000 yuan this year because of "intense competition" in the manufacturing sector, he said.
China, the world's biggest polluter, burns coal to produce about 80 percent of its electricity and wants at least 15 percent of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2020.
Overseas rivals
China Longyuan purchases turbines from domestic suppliers whose prices are about 20 percent less than those of their overseas rivals, according to Xie. Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co and Sinovel Wind Group Co are among the largest suppliers to China Longyuan, Xie said.
"If foreign manufacturers want to boost their market share in China, they need to cut costs and reduce prices," Xie said.
The company hopes to see carbon markets set up in China after 2012 to boost renewable energy development, he said.
The Chinese government is considering establishing exchanges for carbon trading in selected areas, as a nationwide market looks unlikely for the moment, Gao Guangsheng, director of the National Coordination Committee Office on Climate Change under the National Development and Reform Commission, said at the conference today. The plans aren't completed yet, Gao said, without giving details.
The lack of industry professionals may be a challenge for China's domestic wind-power developers, the executive said today, without providing specifics.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-05/10/content_9829678.htm
Automobile and Transportation
Energy-efficient vehicle plan to be out before June.
May 7 (China Daily): BEIJING - The long-awaited stimulus plan for new energy vehicles is slated to come out by the end of May, which will boost domestic production of energy-efficient vehicles, said analysts.
On Wednesday, the State Council, China's cabinet, urged relevant departments to launch implementation details of the incentive plan for new energy vehicles by the end of May.
Miao Wei, vice-minister of the industry and information technology had earlier noted the plan would be launched in March.
Details of the final plan are still under study at the Ministry of Finance, said Zhen Zijian, deputy director of 863 Project for energy-saving and new energy vehicles under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The plan was drawn up in cooperation with the three ministries.
Industry insiders said the incentives for new energy vehicles would be very similar to last year's pilot project for public sector buyers - all electric car buyers in certain selected cities could obtain incentives of up to 60,000 yuan.
"Conventional vehicles with fuel-saving technologies and hybrid vehicles will provide the short-term solution, while pure electric cars will supply the mid-term solution and fuel-cell vehicles will be the long-term solution," Zhen told China Daily on Thursday.
Analysts said many hybrid cars have rolled off domestic assembly lines over the past few years, and production will be accelerated after costs are offset by the incentives.
Zhen said small electric cars for short-distance travel may have offer good prospects for incentive qualification.
Ouyang Minggao, director of the National Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy echoed that view.
"Commercialization of eligible mid- and large-sized electric vehicles is not realistic due to battery restrictions and excess costs. However, small, all electric cars weighing less than 1,000 kilos have great growth potential," Ouyang said.
Given the varying production capabilities of Chinese automakers, the plan should take all parties' interests into account and apply to both hybrid and electric cars, said Duan Chengwu, a Shanghai-based analyst with IHS Global Insight.
The planned policy change has prompted analyst concerns over the lack of technical standards for new energy vehicles and charging stations.
The lack of common standards will lead to costly duplications in product and infrastructure development, said Duan.
A host of electric vehicle standards such as the plug used for recharging and other hardware and software systems are being reviewed by relevant research institutions and automakers, said a researcher with the National Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy.
"The stimulus plan will spur on large-scale use of new energy vehicles and provide for experimentation in formulating standards," he said.
But to what extent the stimulus plan promotes new energy vehicles depends on the size of the plan and how long the policy will last, said analysts.
Until 2020, most Chinese will still be first-time buyers and may be unwilling to pay more to protect the environment, said Li Jun, director of the research and development center of China FAW Group Corporation.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-05/07/content_9821318.htm
China's chance to lead in 'green cars'.
May 31 (China Daily) - We hear a lot of talk these days about the "green economy"- and the automotive industry is certainly a big part of that - but the market for "green cars" is driven far more by government command than consumer demand.
For many years governments have been tightening vehicle emissions regulations. And companies have been experimenting with alternative energy vehicle solutions. We remember that GM developed the EV-1 in the 1990s. Hybrids have been around for 15 years.
Yet even today, sales of alternative energy vehicles - including hybrid and battery electric vehicles - are still insignificant. The global sales of hybrid-electric vehicles last year was 1.21 percent of total light vehicle sales.
Globally in 2010 we expect to see sales of about 1 million hybrids and 25,000 BEVs.
A big challenge for the industry is to decide where to invest.
Some companies have taken a clear stand. Carlos Ghosn has made a strong commitment to electric vehicles and Nissan is introducing the Leaf.
BYD seeks to leverage its leadership in battery technology to become a leader in BEVs.
But most automotive executives are less sure. They ask the fundamental question - is there sufficient enough demand for these vehicles to scale up existing and future technology and develop a mass market?
At JD Power, we believe that will take a long time for alternative energy vehicles to reach a critical mass.
We will see some growth in the next five years. By 2015, we forecast that sales of hybrid and BEVs will increase to 3.4 percent of the total light vehicle market.
The development of a market for BEVs in particular will be limited by concerns about range, price premiums, battery production capacity and the need for a battery charging and disposal infrastructure.
Certainly, we can expect the technology to improve so that a battery can support acceptable range between charges.
Moreover, governments can impact the price premium by offering subsidies to consumers. It is also likely that we will need governments to help create the battery charging and disposal infrastructure.
This is where China can lead. China has the fastest growing car market in the world. By 2020, it will be by far the largest. China would be in a position to create a scalable market for alternative energy vehicles by regulatory intervention and financial investment.
With a $34.6 billion investment in wind, solar, and other green energy products in 2009, China is already emerging as the world's clean-energy powerhouse.
With a similar focus on alternative energy vehicle development, and particularly in battery, with subsidies to consumers to help stimulate the demand and strong support for a battery charging and disposal infrastructure, China could accelerate the development of the BEV market.
Policy makers were scheduled to release details of an extensive alternative energy vehicle road map in March, but this has been delayed. But some initiatives have already been announced, including subsidies for hybrid, fuel cell and BEVs in 20 cities across the nation.
Charging infrastructure is being put in place in these cities to ease concerns many consumers have about the limited range of electric vehicles. Though policy regarding charging standardization, has yet to be made.
A target of 500,000 units of alternative energy vehicle production capacity has also been made, with an ambitious deadline for this set at 2011.
If the government is able to convert many of the public transport vehicles in these 20 cities to alternative fuels, such as the taxis and buses, it will be a good deal closer to utilizing its 500,000-unit capacity and to the critical mass needed to make these vehicles cost effective.
China is in a unique position to be able achieve these goals.
However, absent vigorous government support will see BEV demand limited.
Moreover, one has to ask whether our forecast for global hybrid sales in 2015 of just over 3 percent represents sufficient volume to allow all the companies scheduled to introduce hybrids by that time to make a profit on those vehicles.
By contrast, in 2015, we expect petrol driven internal combustion engines to represent 68 percent of the market.
The time for hybrids and BEVs will come. The best course of action for OEMs is to listen closely to the voice of the consumer. But it is going to be a Long March.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-05/31/content_9909533.htm
New-energy car plan to be tested in 5 cities.
May 25 (China Daily) - The long-awaited stimulus plan for private purchases of new-energy vehicles is slated to come out by the end of May, and the plan will be tested in five cities, rather than nationwide, the Shanghai Securities News reported Friday.
The five cities are Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chongqing and Wuhan, the report said.
According to earlier media reports, the incentives for new-energy vehicles would be very similar to last year's pilot project for public sector buyers - private electric car buyers in certain selected cities could get incentives of up to 60,000 yuan ($8787.86).
However, if the subsidy plan is applied to only a few cities, it won't fully boost the new-energy vehicle consumption in China, said Kevin Wale, GM China's president and chief executive. Chinese consumers need some time to get familiar with driving new-energy vehicles, and the construction of charging stations also will take time, he added.
Feng Fei, director of the Research Department of Industrial Economy under the Development Research Center of the State Council, is optimistic about new-energy automotive parts suppliers.
"Over the last decade, China has invested about 2 billion yuan in the new-energy vehicle field and mastered many core technologies. China's promotion of new-energy vehicles is bound to spur on a rapid growth and large-scale application of related auto parts technology," said Feng.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued a document on May 26 to clarify the technology progress and innovation direction of China's new-energy vehicle field.
On May 5, the State Council, China's cabinet, urged relevant departments to launch implementation details of the incentive plan for new-energy vehicles by the end of May.
The subsidy plan was drawn up in cooperation with the MIIT, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-05/28/content_9904932.htm
Public transport to help fuel spread of charging network.
May 13 (China Daily): Beijing - Public transport is expected to lead the green vehicle race as more automakers and cities boost their electric vehicle and charging station network plans, experts said.
"Electric buses have fixed routes and therefore it's easier to recharge the batteries," said Xu Changming, research director with the State Information Center.
A major problem that has affected the takeoff of electric vehicles is the long charging time for batteries. It takes two to eight hours to recharge the batteries of electric vehicles, industry experts said.
China is likely to come out with a subsidy policy for household purchases of electric cars later this month. That in turn, is expected to encourage sales of electric cars.
But the policy is also controversial as it uses the money collected from all taxpayers to subsidize electric car buyers, usually middle-class people.
"Public transportation is part of the social welfare system and thus it's less controversial to subsidize the sector," said Xu.
Beijing has 50 electric buses in operation at present and plans to add 250 more buses this year.
"The existing electric buses use the battery swap system whereby a dead battery can be replaced within 8 minutes at our exchange station," said Zhang Jianping, president of Beijing e-bus Technology.
An electric bus can run 80 kilometers after each charging which takes four hours. The buses usually charge the batteries twice a day.
Zhang's company is the charging system provider for all the 50 electric buses used during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. After the Olympics, the buses were used for public transportation.
The company is also the operator of the battery swap system for the 120 electric buses deployed at the ongoing Shanghai World Expo.
But most of the electric buses are still in pilot stages. An exchangeable battery costs 50,000 yuan ($7,321), according to Zhang, while electric buses cost twice as much as a normal bus.
To encourage the use of green vehicles, Beijing is offering subsidies of 800,000 yuan to 1 million yuan for electric bus buys.
Zhang, however, is optimistic that costs would decline after the batteries are produced in large numbers. "Electric buses are the trend in public transportation and the market will be huge in the next five years," Zhang said.
China has doubled the number of pilot cities for green vehicles to 20 this year and each city is required to have at least 1,000 new energy vehicles.
Shanghai has set a goal of 400 more roadside charging points and seven to 10 large charging stations by the end of this year, for electric buses, according to the local government.
The city built the first charging station for electric cars last October, but uses it mainly for demonstration purpose.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-05/13/content_9844157.htm
Auto parts makers line up for slice of electric vehicle market.
May 13 (China Daily): BEIJING - As a promising future market for environmentally friendly vehicles, China has become the battlefield for international automobile parts manufacturers to wrestle for market share in the electric vehicle sector.
"The car of the future will be the electric vehicle - there is no doubt about that. Bosch is devoting substantial research efforts to the electric power train and batteries," said Uwe Raschke, member of the board of management for the Bosch Groupin charge of Asia-Pacific market.
"Whilst we expect new and existing drive train technologies to be present in the market in parallel for many years, electric vehicles will continuously gain market share, especially in China."
In addition to Bosch, an auto parts maker with over 30 years of experience in new energy vehicle technology, US industry newcomer Better Place, an electric vehicle services provider established in 2007, is also focused on the China market.
"With only 2 percent of China's population owning cars and 80 percent of sales in 2009 to first-time car buyers, China has the opportunity to create and lead an entirely new category around clean transportation," said Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Better Place.
The technology company recently signed an agreement with Chery Automobile Co, the country's largest independent auto producer and exporter, to collaborate on electric vehicle technology in the world's largest auto market.
Under the terms of the agreement, Better Place and Chery will jointly develop switchable-battery, electric vehicle prototypes with the goal of securing regional government electric vehicle pilot projects and provide consumers affordable electric cars.
"We are also looking for cooperative opportunities with other Chinese automakers to develop cars that use our network of electric vehicle battery switch stations and charging spots," said Agassi of Better Place
China has set an objective of becoming the largest electric vehicle developer and manufacturer in the world, enabling the country to leapfrog internal combustion engine technology and go straight to electric transport.
As the world's second-largest consumer of oil behind the United States, which historically has led the combustion-engine-vehicle market, and ahead of Japan, the leader in hybrid technology, by 2020, China is expected to import 65 percent of its oil needs.
According to research by HSBC, China's share of the global electric vehicle market will grow from 2.7 percent this year to 35 percent by 2020. During this period, China will overtake Japan by 2016 and the US by 2019 in dominating the global electric vehicle market.
A recent survey conducted by consulting firm Ernst & Young found that 60 percent of respondents in China expressed interest in purchasing a plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle within three years, a figure nearly five times higher any other country surveyed, including the US, Germany and Japan, indicating that China may have strong electric vehicle sales potential.
Moreover, China's long-expected policy on subsidies for private purchase of new energy vehicles is likely to be announced at the end of this month, which will definitely spur sales of electric cars.
Cheng Qingquan, chairman of the World Electric Vehicle Association, said not only automakers but also parts manufacturers should shoulder the responsibility of manufacturing high-performance products at reasonable prices, to help speed up the development of the sector in China.
Seeing the huge potential, "we have taken action by starting cooperation with Chinese customers to develop the components they need for their electric vehicles", Eugenio Razelli, CEO of Italian parts maker Magneti Marelli, told China Daily.
The company plans to locally produce its electric motor generator and power inverter, two important components in an electric vehicle system, in its new factory located in Wuhu, Anhui province.
"Our significant upfront investment in this business area is in fact a valuable long-term investment in the future," said Peter Pang, president of Bosch (China) Investment Ltd.
"With localized components, our hybrid and electrification business division will cover the full power and torque ranges of the Chinese hybrid electric and pure electric vehicle market for motors, power electronics and battery systems."
The engineers under Bosch's United Automotive Electronic Systems have just started to provide local engineering, manufacturing, purchasing and sales capabilities in China.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-05/13/content_9845145.htm
US, China focus on hybrid, electric vehicles.
May 29 (China Daily): INDIANAPOLIS - Hundreds of officials and entrepreneurs from China and the United States fixed their eyes on hybrid and electric vehicles on Friday, when the first US-China Advanced Technology Vehicle Summit kicked off in Indianapolis.
The summit, which is hosted by the Energy Systems Network, a non-profit organization focused on growth and commercialization within the clean technologies and energy sectors, brought together a delegation of Chinese automakers and Indiana manufacturers of components for hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles to share information and explore potential business relationships that could result in new opportunities for Hoosier firms and future foreign investment in the state.
The Chinese delegation was led by Wang Chao, the Assistant Minister of Chinese Ministry of Commerce, and comprised by nearly 100 Chinese government officials and automotive executives coming from several Chinese top automakers and vehicle parts suppliers.
In a statement, the organizers quoted Wang Chao as saying that it's "the largest delegation of Chinese automotive company executives and officials to travel to the United States".
The US participants, including Indiana manufacturers Cummins, Delphi, Allison Transmission, EnerDel, paid much attention to this summit as China has surpassed the US and become No 1 in vehicle sales.
Henry Kong, the chief engineer coming from Delphi Automotive Systems (China) Holding Co Ltd and taking a special trip from Shanghai to Indianapolis to attend this meeting told Xinhua they are going to "find some cooperation opportunities with China automotive companies."
Delphi sold its brakes-and-suspension business to Beijing West Industries last year. Delphi has launched more than 10 factories and two research centers with about 20,000 workers working for Delphi in Chinese mainland, according to Kong.
Several signing ceremonies were held at the summit, including Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Cooperation of Investment Promotion between china Investment Promotion Agency of Ministry of Commerce and Department of Commerce of Indiana State, as well as some strategic cooperation agreements related to Cummins, Guangxi Liugong and Zhengzhou Yutong.
At the one-day meeting, the summit will address some other topics, including challenges and opportunities for commercialization of advanced technology vehicles including cost and status of current technology, vehicle market outlook in US and China.
In remarks on Thursday's welcome dinner, Wang Chao said that Sino-US economic relationship has strong complementarity, which lays a solid foundation for bilateral cooperation, especially in the sector of new energy and advanced technology vehicles.
According to Wang, the relationship between the US and China has made great progress with the bilateral trade surging rapidly form less than $2.5 billion in 1979 to almost $340 billion in 2008.
Great progress also has been made in Indiana-China trade and economic cooperation. In the past 10 years, Indiana's export to China grew by 543 percent, which was seven times of its global trade growth of 77 percent. China has become its 6th largest export market.
At the beginning of June, Indiana Lt Governor Becky Skillman will lead a delegation of Indiana agriculture and economic development officials on a week-long trip to China.
Yang Guoqiang, the new Consul General of the Consulate General of China in Chicago, who took his office last Saturday and attended the meeting, told Xinhua that the consulate will do its best to serve as a bridge between Midwest America and Chinese companies and find more reliable business information for both.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-05/29/content_9907401.htm
Daimler, BYD form battery powered car JV.
May 28 (China Daily): BEIJING - Daimler AG, the world's second-largest manufacturer of luxury cars, and BYD Co, the Chinese automaker backed by billionaire Warren Buffett, have set up a 50-50 joint venture to develop electric cars in China.
"Our new joint venture is well positioned to make the most of the vast potential of electric mobility in China," Daimler Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. Daimler and BYD plan to invest 600 million yuan ($88 million) in the venture.
Daimler is entering electric-vehicle production as part of a challenge to Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) for leadership in the luxury segment. BMW will introduce an electric-powered city car by 2013 and is working with partner Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd on battery-powered models for the country, which became the world's biggest auto market last year.
China's government may announce subsidies this year to encourage the use of cleaner vehicles. The country is likely to account for at least 25 percent of global demand for battery-powered models in 2015, according to a forecast by JD Power & Associates.
"China is seeking to make itself a global leader with this technology," Ben Asher, an analyst with JD Power in Bangkok, said before Daimler and BYD's announcement. "Other countries don't have the ability to strong-arm volumes like China."
Part-owned by Buffett's Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc, BYD began mass production of the world's first plug-in, gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle in 2008. The manufacturer, which has its headquarters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, signed an agreement with Volkswagen AG in 2009 to explore cooperation in areas including hybrid cars and lithium-battery electric models.
E6 electric car
BYD plans to start selling the E6 electric car in the United States this year and in Europe next year.
The company said on May 20 that it has an agreement to deliver at least 560 E6s to a taxi operator in Shenzhen this year, with 40 of the cars already in use as taxis in the city, as part of an effort to encourage individual purchases.
Daimler's electric-vehicle strategy includes large-scale production of a battery-powered version of its Smart minicar starting in 2012.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-05/28/content_9904474.htm
Climate Change
China Acts to Raise Profile on Climate Change.
May 7 (The Wall Street Journal): BEIJING—China is trying to strengthen its role as leader of the developing world in climate-change talks just as it faces an embarrassing setback in trying to curb its own carbon emissions.
This weekend, China is hosting a high-profile global-warming forum that will feature the country's top leaders and ministers from key negotiating blocs in the developing world, including its fellow Basic Group members Brazil, South Africa and India.
China's reputation as a leader on fighting climate change was battered by accusations it sabotaged efforts to reach a binding deal last year.
"This forum is getting the key pieces of the jigsaw puzzle," said Li Yan, a climate-change specialist at Greenpeace. The composition of the forum participants "serves the purpose of sending out a signal to the world of the role China wants to play."
At the last round of big global climate negotiations, in Copenhagen in December, China positioned itself as the protector of the interests of the developing world against the industrialized nations led by the U.S. But when the talks failed to reach a binding agreement and instead produced a weaker last-minute accord brokered by the U.S. and China, some blamed China.
In the finger-pointing that followed, cracks showed in the alliance of the world's poorer countries, such as smaller island states that felt betrayed by China.
With preliminary meetings starting in the lead-up to the next round of global talks, set for December in Cancun, Mexico, China is working to gather support, analysts said.
China wants "to be seen as playing a more positive role, that it's sincere in trying to reach a binding agreement," said Barbara Finamore, head of the China program for the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council. "They never want to be in the position of being the scapegoat."
But the forum will also have a domestic target. Analysts said Beijing will use it to send a strong signal to local governments that it is serious about reaching energy-efficiency targets, which are important to China's promise to reduce energy intensity—the amount of energy used to produce each dollar of gross domestic product.
Such a signal is especially urgent after news that China's infrastructure and housing-led economic recovery increased the country's energy intensity 3.2% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, reversing a steady decline. China said it would cut energy intensity 20% by the end of this year, a goal that is closely tied to the country's promise to the international community to reduce its carbon intensity—the amount of carbon emitted per dollar of GDP—by 40% to 45% by 2020. Most of China's energy comes from burning coal, a major source of carbon emissions.
China's climate-change czar said a binding pact on tackling global warming remains out of reach until several big issues are settled, including how to track $100 billion in funds for developing nations to rein in greenhouse gases over the next decade.
"I think the possibility to reach a legally binding agreement is low" at the U.N. Climate summit in the Mexican resort of Cancun, due to take place at the end of this year, Xie Zhenhua said. "There are only a few months left." Instead, the focus would be on talks in South Africa in 2011 where Xie said a legally binding agreement is likely to be reached.
Until last year, China was doing pretty well, lowering the relative use of energy by 14.4%, the government said.
The setback was announced earlier this week, when Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to use an "iron hand" to crack down on polluting industries and earmarked an extra $12 billion to increase energy efficiency.
Yang Fuqiang, a climate-change specialist at conservation group WWF, said that China's sudden increase in energy use was driven by local governments' push to expand their economies. According to WWF calculations, China can reach its goal if it grows roughly 9% a year—but first-quarter GDP was 11.9%, with some provinces, such as Hainan in the south, blasting ahead at 25%, a growth rate that Mr. Yang called "a mistake."
Beijing said it would take extreme measures to cut back on energy waste, including cutting off power to inefficient factories.
This weekend's forum is being hosted by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, an influential think tank, founded by former Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan, that has strong ties to the government.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704292004575229862516272730.html
'We must work on climate change'.
May 8 (China Daily): BEIJING - Developed countries should share their 'green' technology, says Premier.
Premier Wen Jiabao has urged the leadership of all countries to deepen their political will in tackling climate change woes as uncertainties mount in the months before the United Nation's conference in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of this year
Wen made the remarks on Friday when he met with nearly 20 politicians, climate change and environmental ministers worldwide, who are in Beijing this weekend to attend an international forum on green economy and climate change.
"At present, we still need to build up political will, boost consensus and strengthen coordination among the different players to reach a legally binding document in Cancun," Wen said.
Based on the achievements made at the Copenhagen Summit last December, Wen urged the rich countries to further clarify their compulsory carbon reduction targets. "At the same time, we developing countries should make clear our voluntary goal of slowing down climate change," Wen said.
Wen also urged the developed countries to transfer climate change-friendly technologies to the developing countries, especially the poorest countries and island nations.
During the meeting, Wen said China will redouble its efforts in reducing carbon emissions and improving energy efficiency during the coming years after it finishes its 2006-2010 goal of cutting energy consumption per unit of economic output by 20 percent.
While praising China for its green efforts, former Australian Prime Minister Robert J. Lee Hawke asked China to share its experiences and lessons on energy savings and pollution reduction to the rest of the world to tackle global environmental woes and climate change.
Wen responded: "China, together with the rest of the world, is willing to make its due contribution in coping with global warming and climate change."
At a banquet for the foreign guests on Friday night, former vice-premier Zeng Peiyan said mounting uncertainties are ahead for the climate change negotiations. The world needs more dialogue and cooperation, Zeng said.
"Climate change woes are our shared challenges but the root lies in the historical emissions by the developed countries," said Zeng, as president of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, which organized the weekend climate change summit.
Zeng expected the forum to work as a platform for different countries to communicate their positions freely before the Bonn climate change negotiation in June and the Cancun conference at the end of this year.
"To achieve concrete progress at the end of this year, we need to remove the uncertainties ahead," Zeng said. Zeng listed the uncertainties as the rich countries' unclear will to increase their carbon cuts and to increase aid in capital and technologies for the developing countries.
"I hope the governments of the developed countries can reconsider their policies and subsidize the export and transfer of climate-friendly technologies to the poor and developing countries," said Zeng. "This is the right way to address our common woes."
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/08/content_9824721.htm
Climate change co-op to boost Sino-Indian ties.
May 11 (Xinhua): BEIJING - A senior Indian official has said climate change can be a catalyst for increased Sino-Indian cooperation.
As fast growing developing economies, India and China should achieve prosperity in an environmentally friendly manner, Indian Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh told Xinhua in an exclusive interview conducted in Beijing Sunday.
Ramesh met with senior Chinese officials on climate change cooperation during his stay in Beijing from May 7 to 9.
A high-level Indian delegation visited China in April to explore how the two countries can work together in forestry.
"We have a strong interest in having a partnership in the field of environmental protection and I would like clean energy to also to be an area of bilateral focus," he said.
China and India signed a Memorandum of Agreement on cooperation in dealing with climate change in October last year in New Delhi.
Ramesh attended the International Cooperative Conference on Green Economy and Climate Change in Beijing Saturday. Conference participants included top leaders, environment officials, and entrepreneurs from China, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa.
Ramesh said the conference aimed to highlight what China has been doing in the areas of research and development, application of green technology -- solar, wind, and nuclear energy.
Chinese leaders' stress on research and development of green technology is evidenced by China's huge input of human and materials resources in the sector, Ramesh said.
"I am tremendously impressed by what China has accomplished," he said, adding that he believes China will soon emerge as a world leader in research and development, as well as application of green technology, and supply it to the rest of the world.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/11/content_9836923.htm
China and US held secret talks on climate change deal.
May 18 (Guardian) - A high-powered group of senior Republicans and Democrats led two missions to China in the final months of the Bush administration for secret backchannel negotiations aimed at securing a deal on joint US-Chinese action on climate change, the Guardian has learned.
The initiative, involving John Holdren, now the White House science adviser, and others who went on to positions in Barack Obama's administration, produced a draft agreement in March, barely two months after the Democrat assumed the presidency.
The memorandum of understanding was not signed, but those involved in opening up the channel of communications believe it could provide the foundation for a US-Chinese accord to battle climate change, which could be reached as early as this autumn.
"My sense is that we are now working towards something in the fall," said Bill Chandler, director of the energy and climate programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the driving force behind the talks. "It will be serious. It will be substantive, and it will happen."
The secret missions suggest that advisers to Obama came to power firmly focused on getting a US-China understanding in the run-up to the crucial UN meeting in Copenhagen this December, which is aimed at sealing a global deal to slash greenhouse gas emissions. In her first policy address the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said she wanted to recast the broad US-China relationship around the central issue of climate change. She also stopped in Beijing on her first foreign tour.
The dialogue also challenges the conventional wisdom that George Bush's decision to pull America out of the Kyoto climate change treaty had led to paralysis in the administration on global warming, and that China was unwilling to contemplate emissions cuts at a time of rapid economic growth.
"There are these two countries that the world blames for doing nothing, and they have a better story to tell," said Terry Tamminen, who took part in the talks and is an environmental adviser to the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The nations are the top two polluters on Earth.
The first communications, in the autumn of 2007, were initiated by the Chinese. Xie Zhenhua, the vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's central economic planning body, made the first move by expressing interest in a co-operative effort on carbon capture and storage and other technologies with the US.
The first face-to-face meeting, held over two days at a luxury hotel at the Great Wall of China in July 2008, got off to a tentative start with Xie falling back on China's stated policy positions. "It was sort of like pushing a tape recorder," said Chandler, "[but after a short while] he just cut it off and said we need to get beyond this."
The two sides began discussing ways to break through the impasse, including the possibility that China would agree to voluntary – but verifiable – reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. China has rejected the possibility of cuts as it sees that as a risk to its continued economic growth, deemed essential to lift millions out of poverty and advance national status.
Taiya Smith, an adviser on China to Bush's treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, who was at the first of the two sessions, said: "The thing that came out of it that was priceless was the recognition on both sides that what China was doing to [reduce] the effects of climate change were not very well known," she said. "After these discussions was a real public campaign by the Chinese government to try to make people aware of what they were doing. We started to see the Chinese take a different tone which was that 'we are active and engaged in trying to solve the problem'."
During the second trip to China by the Americans, Xie suggested a memorandum of understanding between the two countries on joint action on climate change.
Chandler said he and Holdren drew up a three-point memo which envisaged:
•Using existing technologies to produce a 20% cut in carbon emissions by 2010.
• Co-operating on new technology including carbon capture and storage and fuel efficiency for cars.
• The US and China signing up to a global climate change deal in Copenhagen.
"We sent it to Xie and he said he agreed," said Chandler.
The ties were further cemented when Gao Guangsheng, the leading climate official, attended Schwarzenegger's global meeting on climate in November last year. Obama, who had been elected president two weeks earlier, addressed the gathering by video.
By the time Xie visited the US in March, the state department's new climate change envoy, Todd Stern, and his deputy, Jonathan Pershing, were also involved in the dialogue. But the trip by Xie did not produce the hoped-for agreement. Both Stern and Holdren declined to comment when asked by the Guardian.
Those involved agree it was premature to expect the Obama administration to enter into a formal agreement so soon in its tenure. Additional members of the US team included Terry Tamminen; Jim Green, adviser to Joe Biden, now the vice-president who then headed the Senate foreign relations committee; Mark Helmke, adviser to Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican on the committee; and Frank Loy, a former state department negotiator on climate. Both Green and Loy have been nominated to jobs in the Obama administration.
Chandler and Smith believe the effort will pay off in a more comprehensive deal between the two governments. "Xie came to visit the US when the administration was still trying to figure out its standing on climate issues and it was without very much staff," said Smith. "I don't see this as a dead issue at all. I think it's something you would consider still in process."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/18/secret-us-china-emissions-talks
U.S. lags China on climate change: Europe climate chief.
May 17 (Reuters): NEW YORK - The United States' future as a global economic power depends on what it does to fight global warming and it is lagging behind other countries like China, Europe's climate chief said on Wednesday.
European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard told Reuters it was a positive step for the United States to have "finally" unveiled legislation to combat climate change on Wednesday.
"This is one of the crucial battlefields over who is going to be the economic leaders of our century," Hedegaard said of the fight against global warming.
Democratic Senator John Kerry and independent Senator Joseph Lieberman presented a long-awaited climate bill on Wednesday, which aims to cut planet-warming emissions by a 17 percent in the next decade.
While President Barack Obama supports the legislation, it has slim chances of passing unless Kerry and Lieberman win over a group of moderate Democrats and Republicans.
"It's not something an ordinary European citizen would say 'Wow, that's really ambitious,'" Hedegaard said. "On the other hand, we know that the United States has been among the later starters, so the important thing now is to get started."
The 27-nation European Union has long claimed to be a world leader in the fight against climate change.
While the United States and China bicker in negotiations for a new global deal to combat climate change, Hedegaard said Beijing was making great strides against global warming.
"The irony is that in the real world outside the negotiation rooms they are just moving," she said of China's efforts to fight global warming. "They are just doing it and they are doing it big scale."
Hedegaard praised the United States for including a cap and trade system for reducing carbon pollution by electric utilities and factories in the new climate bill. She said such a system had worked in Europe and China was also considering such a move.
Negotiators from 194 nations will gather in Cancun at the end of the year to try to build on the Copenhagen accord signed last December with the ultimate aim of reaching a legally-binding treaty that would set the tempo for global CO2 cuts over the next decade.
"There is this feeling now that there is something to build upon," Hedegaard said.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE64G42020100517
China gets tougher about protecting environment.
May 29 (Xinhua) : BEIJING - Provincial governments and key enterprises which fail to realize the year's missions in environmental protection and emission cut will be punished as the Chinese central government is taking a tougher stance towards improving the country's environment.
"Evaluation reports will be made public at the end of this year. Those companies which fail will be penalized and those which excel will be rewarded," deputy minister Xie Zhenhua of the National Development and Reform Commission told the ongoing 13th China Beijing International High-tech Expo Friday.
Calling 2010 "a year of decisive battles" for China to push forward energy conservation and reduce emissions, Xie said that the per-unit energy consumption of several energy-consuming industries had reversed the declining momentum to jump by a large margin in the first quarter, making it difficult for China to achieve the environment protection targets set for the 11th five-year period (2006-10).
"This year ends the current five-year planning period and paves the way for the country's development for the next five years. The first-quarter rise in per-unit energy consumption has exerted much pressure on the rest of the year," said Xie.
Chinese government planned in 2006 to axe the country's energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent by 2010. The past four years saw the figure decline by 14.8 percent.
Over the first three months, six industries: power generation, iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, building materials, petro-chemicals and chemicals reported a rise of 3.2 percent in the per-unit energy consumption, NDRC statistics showed.
Moreover, twelve of the country's 31 province-level regions reported a rise in this index, Xie said, without revealing the specifics.
But he warned that a punitive price for electricity would be imposed on companies whose per-unit energy consumption exceeded national and local benchmarks.
Xie said China would deepen the pricing reform for energy and resources this year, adjust the pricing for natural gas and electricity for residential use.
New projects attempting to expand the productivity in highly-polluting industries would be banned this year. Unauthorized production would be closed down, said Xie.
Xie reiterated that China would honor its commitment at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference or the Copenhagen Summit to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per-unit GDP by 40 percent to 45 percent from the 2005 level by 2020.
The exposition opened on Thursday and will last one week. It has attracted more than 70 government and business delegations from 11 international organizations and 20 countries
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-05/29/content_9907425.htm
China begins inspection to ensure cleaner production.
May 27 (Xinhua): BEIJING - China on Wednesday launched an inspection of how local authorities are promoting cleaner production.
During the one-month inspection, supervision teams -- acting directly under the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) -- will be sent to Heilongjiang, Shandong, Hunan and Shaanxi to inspect the work of local governments in promoting cleaner production and to what extent key industries are following the Cleaner Production Promotion Law.
Meanwhile, standing committees of provincial-level people's congresses in 11 other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities will conduct inspections in their own regions.
"The inspection on the enforcement of Cleaner Production Promotion Law is a key part of the work for the NPC this year," top legislator Wu Bangguo stated in an official letter today.
Wu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, hoped that the inspection would make government organizations and companies focus on increasing cleaner production and use the measure to promote the transformation of the economic growth pattern.
The Law, enacted in 2002, aims to promote cleaner production, increase the efficiency of the utilization of energy resources, and reduce pollutants.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/27/content_9898822.htm
Low Carbon Development
China May Start State-Guided Carbon Market by 2014 (Update2).
May 28 (Businessweek): BLOOMBERG - China will likely set up a domestic market for trading carbon emissions by 2014 and hand companies “half-mandatory” targets for limiting their greenhouse gases, said a government official who oversees climate-change issues.
Authorities are drawing up rules for a market to be run by “associations” overseen by the government, Feng Shengbo, deputy director of the China Clean Development Mechanism Management Center, said in an interview.
“The government will not directly control the market but if the associations make misleading policy it’s for the government to guide them,” Feng said yesterday on the sidelines of a conference in Cologne, Germany.
China and India, which have captured the most investment in emissions-reducing projects overseen by the United Nations, are trying to set market mechanisms to encourage polluters to slow their growth of carbon-dioxide emissions even as both resist legally binding limits on the gases they release. Those plans contrast with market delays seen in several richer nations.
“Part of the reason they are doing that is to get a jump on the clean-energy economy of the 21st century,” Annie Petsonk, international counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund, said on a panel at the conference today. “If America does not get its act together on this, we will be left behind.”
U.S. lawmakers have yet to endorse President Obama’s offer of an emissions cut of 17 percent from 2005 levels. The U.S. climate bill is stalled in the Senate.
Industrialized Nations
Australia postponed legislation to set up a carbon market in April with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd saying he wanted to assess action taken by other nations. European Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said this week that the European Union, which runs the world’s largest carbon market, will only increase its targets for cuts to heat-trapping emissions should other countries make progress.
China, the world’s biggest polluter, pledged to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide it emits for each unit of economic output by 40 percent to 45 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels in the run-up to last year’s Copenhagen climate summit. Chinese negotiators resisted a cap on the absolute amount of greenhouse gases the country emits, arguing that the U.S. and other wealthy nations should bear the brunt of emissions cuts.
“From the government point of view, an absolute reduction is not realistic for China at the current stage,” Feng said.
Chinese Targets
The government may set targets for Chinese companies to reduce the amount of carbon they emit for each yuan of profit, Feng said. To help them meet those targets they may be able to buy carbon-offset credits from projects, industries or even cities that reduce their own carbon intensity, he said.
“I don’t think they will be very hard targets,” Feng said. “But if they are too loose, we can change them.”
Only Chinese companies will be allowed to trade in the market during its initial phase, he added.
China will also block projects by companies in the steel, cement and coal industries that exceed targets for pollution, the State Council said this month. The government will suspend project approvals for industries set to miss their targets and close down projects that do not have approval by shutting off power and water supplies and asking banks to withhold credit.
India may let power companies start trading renewable- energy credits this year as it bids to encourage reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions. The market may be worth as much as $16 billion within five years, Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency Director-General Ajay Mathur said in January.
Feng declined to say how much China’s carbon market might be worth.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-28/china-may-start-state-guided-carbon-market-by-2014-update2-.html
Carbon tax likely, expert forecasts
May 10 (China Daily): BEIJING - China may start levying a carbon tax and further boost prices of fossil fuel for the next five years as a crucial incentive to cut greenhouse gas emissions and help realize green targets, a government-affiliated expert forecast.
"We expect China will start to levy various taxes only if they are helpful in mitigating greenhouse emissions and developing a low-carbon economy," Jiang Kejun, a senior researcher with the Energy Research Institute under the National Development and Reform Commission, said on Sunday."
I think a carbon tax is likely to be levied during the 12th Five-year plan (2011-15) period," said Jiang. The National Development and Reform Commission is a Cabinet department responsible for the country's mid- and long-term development plan.
Apart from a carbon tax, Jiang said the government may begin to levy environmental and resource taxes. Meanwhile, China will greatly boost subsidies to support low-carbon technology research and development.
At a weekend climate change forum organized by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, Jiang told China Daily that the government is serious about realizing its target of cutting carbon intensity by 40-45 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels and the government will implement "tougher measures" in the coming five years to realize the green goal.
Jiang said the taxation and fiscal incentives are just part of a portfolio of possible policy changes, which may turn into reality when China implements its low-carbon development pathway.
"We can possibly surpass the United States between 2020 to 2025 in terms of research and development investment," said Jiang. "If this comes true, we can start to dream of becoming a low-carbon technology leader in the world."
However, Jiang is pessimistic about the coming 10 years. China's total 400-billion-yuan ($59 billion) investment in scientific research and development, Jiang said, "is only about one sixth of the US's total, or only equal to what the US invests in clean energy research."
In clean technology research, Jiang said: "If we don't strive for radical efforts, we will still be left behind by the US, Europe and some other countries and regions."
Wan Gang, minister of science and technology, has already pledged that China will redouble its efforts to realize green growth by developing the technologies of "strategic importance".
Apart from new materials, biological medicine and information technology, Wan put wind power, solar energy, biomass and electric automobiles high on the government's list, which may gain substantial fiscal support during the coming five years.
"We will gradually let such strategic sectors sustain China's social and economic development in the long run," the minister said.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/10/content_9826546.htm
Reasonable carbon emission quotas needed to maintain growth.
May 10 (Xinhua): BEIJING - China needs more reasonable carbon emission quotas to buoy the nation's fast economic development amid the progressing industrialization and urbanization, said an official with the nation's top economic planner Sunday.
Economic development is still a priority for China as it has to enable the 1.3 billion people to live decent lives, Su Wei, director of the climate change department of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said at the International Cooperative Conference on Green Economy and Climate Change.
The "high carbon" characteristic rooted in China's energy structure would not be fundamentally changed in a short term as the development and use of clean energy such as wind and solar power started late in China, he said.
Unreasonable industrial structure and relatively backward industry technology also made China's carbon emission reduction drive difficult, said Su.
But he also said China has stepped up efforts to curb carbon emission since it vowed in last November to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent compared with 2005 levels.
Besides setting up an accountability system for energy conservation and emission reduction, and investing more in new energy industries, China has been improving policies related to low carbon development, accelerating research on low carbon and environmental friendly technologies, and expanding international cooperation to contain emissions in some key sectors, according to Su.
With a theme of "Low carbon, New energy and Sustainable development," the conference was organized by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.
The conference has invited top leaders, environment officials and entrepreneurs from both China and countries including Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/10/content_9828848.htm
China telecom sector claims 48.5m tonne carbon saving.
May 14 (Guardian) - China's telecom sector saved a similar amount of emissions as the entire economy of Sweden in 2008, according to a report this week from WWF and China Mobile.
Thanks to teleworking, electronic data storage and more efficient logistics, their jointly commissioned report calculated 48.5m tonnes of carbon dioxide were avoided that might otherwise have been spent on transport, freight and the production of paper and other materials.
It is a contentious claim. The manufacturing of high-tech products is energy intensive and often results in pollution. Maintaining data centres - at a regular temperature - is also a fast-growing drain on power supplies.
A recent study by the consultancy McKinsey says the carbon footprint of data centres worldwide is fast approaching the emissions of Argentina and the Netherlands. By 2020, it forecasts a near fourfold increase.
In the new report, China Mobile insists such costs are worthwhile because its telecom services have saved five to six times as much carbon as the company emits.
Its study - carried out by the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications - anticipated still greater benefits in the future. By 2020, it said the greatest potential is in teleworking, which could save an estimated 340m tonnes of CO2 emissions in China. Longer term, it noted the best gains could come from virtual meetings, which could avoid 623m tonnes of transport-emitted CO2 by 2030.
Although such studies are likely to raise suspicions of corporate greenwashing, the report has been endorsed by WWF. "It is important to pay attention to the companies that deliver the solutions society needs, and not only focus on those that are big emitters," said Dermot O'Gorman, the country representative of WWF China. "We want to support China and Chinese companies to take the lead in a solution approach that can deliver results not just in China, but globally."
Technology is clearly part of any solution to the world's environment problems, but recent history suggests expectations for IT are often disappointed, and can be counter-productive if not mixed with other actions.
In recent decades, rapid advances in communications technology have only served to increase energy demands in other sectors of the economy. "We know information technology alone cannot provide all the answers," said Zheng Ping, of the WWF's climate and energy programme. "People and businesses must also change the way they behave or these solutions won't work."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/14/china-telecom-carbon-emissions
Corporate sector contributes to China's low-carbon targets.
May 24 (People Daily) - Realizing low-carbon production in the corporate sector is considered important to help China achieve its low-carbon targets.
In today's low-carbon series, Liu Ying takes a look at how the corporate sector can contribute to the goals.
This C7-D CPU is considered to be the world's first non-carbon computer chip. It was designed and made by VIA Technologies in 2005. Tom Hsu, VIA's Vice President, believes the power efficient chips can help bring environmentally friendly computers to a new level.
Tom Hsu, Vice President, VIA Technologies, said, "The number of computers in the world totals between 700 million to one billion. They produce about 100 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. As the core of a computer, the CPU plays a very important role in the Green Computing concept. We believe the PC installed with our low-carbon and power efficient chips can save energy, by about 20 to 30 percent."
VIA is now a major chip supplier of global PC makers such as Lenovo, Samsung and HP. Through cooperation with international environmental organizations, the company has been purchasing carbon credits for the emissions of all chips it makes.
"The practice of Green Computing has made VIA Technologies a frontrunner in environmental protection, in the IT sector. Because China is a major carbon emitter, it needs more enterprises like VIA that can integrate it into their operational philosophy."
Greenpeace points out China's power generators need to do more to become more environmentally friendly.
Yang Ailun, Campaign Manager, Greenpeace China, said, "For the last few years, these companies have done a lot to tackle climate change in the past 3.5 years, the coal fire plants that closed in China is equal to the capacity used in Australia but still we have a big gap on reliance of coal."
Coal-fired power plants are main sources of carbon emissions and other pollutants. Yang Ailun says there are solutions to make it cleaner.
Yang Ailun, Campaign Manager, Greenpeace China, said, "There are two steps first, improve energy efficiency, second, renewable energy."
China is promising to reduce its carbon emissions by 40 to 45 percent by 2020, from 2005 levels. Achieving this target requires a tremendous effort by Chinese enterprises as responsible corporate citizens
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90782/90872/6997409.html
China builds model low-carbon city in Xinjiang's Turpan.
May 12 (Xinhua): URUMQI - Turpan, a small town on the Silk Road in northwest China that became prosperous as a trade hub nearly 2,000 years ago, is earning renown for another reason today.
In accordance with the plans of the National Development and Reform Commission, and the National Energy Administration, the Turpan city government has been required to build an 8.8-square-km area into a national model for green city development.
Designed to be a model environmentally-friendly city in western China, the new low-carbon city depends not on fossil fuels but solar and wind energy for lighting and hot water supply.
It also uses geothermal resources for winter heating and summer cooling, as well as employing electric buses and taxis with zero pollutant for public transport.
Wang Guangtao, chairman of the Environment Protection and Resources Conservation Committee of the 11th National People's Congress, expects the project to be valuable for "the strategic adjustment of China's energy consumption structure."
"It is the first experimental project in China's arid western interior to develop energy-efficient and pollution-free cities. It will set an example for the use of new and clean energy," he said.
With 3,200 hours of sunshine per year, about 1,000 hours more than other Chinese regions at the same latitude, Turpan is rich in solar energy.
Project designer Zhu Xiaodi, chief of the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD), said the new city aims to make full use of its advantages in solar energy to change the pattern of electricity generation away from the conventional energy supply mode dominated by coal-fired power plants.
A photovoltaic power generation plant with installed capacity of 13 megawatts will be built to supply electrical power for the area's residents, to illuminate public facilities and to drive public transportation vehicles, Zhu said.
Given China's economic expansion has heavily relied upon coal, which has provided 70 percent of the country's primary energy, much higher than the world average of 29 percent, local authorities hope the Turpan experiment will be a viable way for the country's vast western interior to improve energy use and reduce pollution.
Apart from solar energy, the city is also exploring the use of wind power and geothermal resources for public transportation.
Memet Kurban, an official at the project's command center, said solar panels would be installed on the rooftops of all buildings in the new city to generate electricity and heat water.
The number of private cars will be reduced to the least number possible while solar energy storage batteries will be used to power buses and taxis.
Special heat-pump technology is used to make use of shallow geothermal resources in the area.
Vice Major Su Tiancheng said a planned population of 60,000 will move into the new city. By the end of the year, 7,000 residential apartments with a combined floor space of 700,000 square meters will have been built, and local government authorities and enterprises are expected to move in.
The first-phase of the construction, which began last Wednesday, involved the construction of municipal infrastructure, residential buildings, public utilities and a central water park.
A special team made up of experts from BIAD, the International Eurasian Academy of Science, the Solar and Wind Evaluation Center of the China Meteorological Administration and the Guangzhou Urban Planning and Designs Institute are responsible for the overall design of the new city.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-05/12/content_9841410.htm
Power stations to be closed to reduce emissions.
May 21 (Xinhua): BEIJING - China's energy watchdog, the National Energy Administration, signed agreements with 26 provincial governments Friday to close at least 10 million kilowatts of outdated coal-fuelled power capacity before October this year.
The agreement means China will close 70 million kilowatts of small-scale, outdated thermal power station capacity in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period from 2006 to 2010.
If achieved on time, the plan will save 81 million tonnes of coal annually, or 2.6 percent of the coal used in 2005; eliminate 1.4 million tonnes of sulfur dioxide emissions, or 5.5 percent of 2005 levels; and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 164 million tonnes, about 3.2 percent of 2005 levels.
Some 4.11 million kilowatts of outdated thermal power station capacity will be eliminated in 2010, according to the administration.
The 26 provinces, regions and municipalities include Jiangsu, Shandong, Guangdong, Henan, Hebei, Jilin, Sichuan, Fujian, Heilongjiang and Shaanxi.
The agreements was struck at a national work conference in Beijing discussing the elimination of backward production capacity.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/21/content_9880100.htm
Special 'green' fund for SMEs.
May 17 (China Daily): BEIJING - China will set aside 10.6 billion yuan as a special fund to help the country's small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to cut down their carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption this year.
The news was announced by an official of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology during an industrial forum last week in Beijing.
Because more than 50 per cent of industrial emissions are from SMEs in China, the Chinese government said it would step up efforts to close down those that pollute heavily and those with outdated technology. It would help certain manufacturers to embrace environmentally-friendly technology, said Chen Xin, a division director of the ministry, during the meeting.
Chen said the government was striving to reduce the country's carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent in 2020 from 2005 levels, in line with its commitment at the international environment summit in Copenhagen last year. The special fund reflects part of the government's commitment to have the country marching towards the goal, he added.
The ministry's SME development and promotion center will recommend a group of model SMEs in energy saving and emission reduction to relevant government departments so they can receive strong policy backing.
"Comet Group, a Guangzhou-based paper shredder manufacturer, is a leader in energy saving and technology development," Chen said.
Comet paper shredder machines now meet more than 40 percent of the Chinese market demand, which was 500,000 units in 2009.
"We are going to produce a brand new generation of paper shredder machines for the market this year in order to meet the govenrment's call for energy cost efficiency," said Comet President Huang Fenqiang.
The latest water-cooled paper shredder doesn't have to be turned off every 15 minutes as did the previous mode to prevent overheating. The new one can save about 30 per cent in energy consumption, Huang said.
"Water cooling technology is considered the latest in the paper shredder industry," he added.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2010-05/17/content_9855085.htm
|
