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 “China Biomass Energy Technology Comparison” Project.
On June 9, 2010, iCET began its research study entitled, "Comparing Alternative Energy Product Uses for Biomass in China". As the primary project leader and facilitator, iCET is cooperating with the Planning and Design Institute, China Ministry of Agriculture, to jointly conduct research primarily on the domestic Chinese situation and potential for using biomass for electric generation (direct combustion and mixed coal combustion) and liquid biofuel (Cellulosic ethanol and BTL). The project will compare the advantages and disadvantages of these different technologies on energy efficiency, economy, environment, and GHG emission; examine the influences of raw materials, technologies and relevant policies on industry development, and finally present recommendations on national cellulosic bio-energy usage. The study is being sponsored by Novozymes (China) Investment Co. Ltd.
First Drafting Committee Meeting for “China Low Carbon Fuel Standards ?”.
On July 1st, 2010, the first standard drafting committee meeting for our second standard, "Specification with requirements for transportation fuel GHG reporting and verification"” was held in Beijing. This standard is a further step is iCET’s path to promote the Low Carbon Fuel (LCF) policy development in China. The first national LCF standard “The Principles and Requirements of Lifecycle Assessment for Transportation Fuel Greenhouse Gas Emission” has completed the public review phase. The committee experts from China National Institute of Standardization (CNIS), iCET, Tsinghua University, China Coal Research Institute, China Academy of Sciences, Petrochina, CNOOC and COFCO attended the meeting and discussed the draft standard.
Recent news regarding iCET’s China Low Carbon Fuel Standards project can be found at the below link:
http://energy.people.com.cn/GB/11889529.html
The committee experts are discussing the draft standards.
iCET presents at Beijing University Renovation Forum and delivers speech.
On July 2nd - 3rd , “Beijing University Renovation Forum” was held at Yingjie Communication Center and Jinyu Fengshan Spring Conference Center in Beijing. The topic of the forum was “To Promote the Development of Environmental Industry through Innovation”. Around 100 attendees serving in the fields of Environment Protection, Environment Economy, Resource Energy, Green Supply China and other relevant areas participated in this event and discussed the sustainable development path for China’s economy. The program director of iCET Dr. Yufu Chen delivered a speech entitled “Urban Circular Economy and Green Supply Chains”.
iCET supports “2010 China (Shanghai) International Semiconductor Lighting Technology Forum” .
On July 7th, “2010 China International Semiconductor Lighting Technology Forum” was held in Shanghai. As one of strategic partners, iCET actively involved in this event. iCET’s program director Yufu Cheng gave a presentation with the title “Quality, Standards and Labeling, the opportunities and Challenges for Chinese LED products in USA ”. He also moderated a discussion session entitled “Climate Change and China Solid State Lighting”. Panelists included Phillips Lumileds Asian Marketing Director Sean Zhou, Secretary General of China LED Lighting Appliance Ling Wu, Director of Shanghai Research Center of Engineering and Technology for Solid-State Lighting Guo Yansheng and the former CIE Vice President and former Dean of University of Sydney Dr. Warren Julian.
GENERAL ENERGY ISSUES
China to tap more unconventional gas to ease energy shortage.
June 23 (Xinhua): BEIJING - China is set to exploit more unconventional gas reserves to meet rising demand and to power its rapid economic growth as part of the country's efforts to grapple with energy shortages and climate change.
Natural gas consumption accounts for only four percent of China's total energy needs, well below the world's average of 24 percent, and even below Asian countries' average of 11 percent, Wu Yin, deputy head of the National Energy Administration, said at an energy forum on Saturday.
The country has booming demand for natural gas, but its supplies always fall short of demand, forcing the government to raise onshore natural gas prices by 25 percent in early June to adjust for the market demand.
China aimed to double the weighting of natural gas in its total energy consumption basket to eight percent over the next five years, which would also be a test of the country's gas production capacity, Wu said.
"China has to accelerate the exploitation of unconventional gas to meet the target," said Hu Wenrui, academician from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who is also the head of the China Petroleum Enterprise Association.
China has huge unconventional gas resources, five times greater than its conventional gas deposits.
Increasing unconventional gas production could also ease restrained oil supplies and rising costs of oil production and cut carbon emissions, he said.
"China' s coal-based energy consumption mode has to be altered as it vowed to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 40 to 45 percent by the year 2020 from 2005 levels. As a cleaner alternative to coal, unconventional gas production should be ramped up," Hu said.
Actually, the country has strengthened cooperation with countries boasting advanced technologies to accelerate the exploitation of its unconventional gas reserves.
In the just-concluded Sino-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue, the two sides agreed to further promote cooperation in assessment, exploration and production of shale gas.
As early as in November 2009, the two countries signed the U.S.-China Shale Gas Resource Initiative, a move enabling China to leverage U.S. experience in developing unconventional gas resources.
Many companies also became actively involved in this promising industry. China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) said in May that it plans to increase its annual unconventional gas output to 2.5 billion cubic meters by 2015. Its spokesman, Huang Wensheng, said development of unconventional oil and gas would become an important growth engine for the company's business in the next five to ten years.
The oil giant's 2009 corporate social responsibility report said it has set plans to develop coal-bed methane mainly in northern China, and shale gas in the southern part of the country.
China's largest oil company, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), is also active in developing unconventional oil and gas by strengthening cooperation with foreign companies, such as Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil ASA and ConocoPhillips.
In March, CNPC signed an agreement with Shell to jointly develop and produce tight gas in China's Sichuan Basin, only several months after the two agreed to also develop a shale gas block in Sichuan.
"Energy issues have become one of the major bottlenecks for China's economic development. The exploitation of unconventional gas will be a key solution," Hu noted.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-06/23/content_10008342.htm
China's energy consumption to top the world.
June 21 (China Daily) - China is likely to consume the world's most energy this year, and could take half of the world's total consumption in 2020 if it keeps the developing pattern unchanged, the Beijing Times reported Monday citing an expert.
The country may overtake the US in energy consumption this year, and could consume about eight billion tons of standard coal equivalent in 2020, more than half of the world's total consumption, if the consumption keeps accelerating by 8.9 percent, which is the average growth this century, predicted Zhou Dadi, vice-director of China Energy Research Society, on June 19 at a forum.
If China reduces the energy consumption per GDP unit by 20 percent every five years, the country still consumes more than 30 percent of the world's total consumption 10 years later, Zhou was quoted as saying in the paper.
China has been ranked No 2 in energy consumption since 2002.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-06/21/content_9997383.htm
Energy usage set to tighten to curb excess.
June 17 (China Daily) : BEIJING - Authorities will restrict energy supply in areas with excessive increases in energy usage and high energy-consuming industries, said a high-ranking official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planning body.
The practice of uncapped energy supply and the uncontrolled use of energy will change with the new moves, Xie Zhenhua, deputy minister of the NDRC, said in a statement published by the People's Daily on Wednesday.
Starting from June 1, the NDRC has ordered enterprises using high levels of energy to be excluded from enjoying discounted electricity rates.
The central economic planner will also launch nationwide inspections to enforce the new moves, the statement said.
Such enterprises will also be required to limit or stop production, it said.
The country's goal of curtailing its energy usage and cutting carbon emissions has met with difficulties as a pickup in the demand for energy-guzzling products pushed up the need for power.
Preliminary estimates showed that the energy use for every unit of gross domestic product, a measurement of China's energy consumption, rose in the first quarter by 3.2 percent from a year earlier, Xie said.
Last year, the country's energy consumption fell 2.2 percent, failing to meet an annual target of 4 percent.
China plans to cut its energy use by 20 percent below 2005 levels by the end of this year, according to a five-year energy-saving plan from 2006 through 2010.
The NDRC will also tighten its supervision of energy-saving practices in a number of key areas to meet the goal, Xie said. These key areas include large energy-consuming provinces such as Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shandong. In other provinces like Sichuan and Shanxi, energy consumption has grown so swiftly in the first five months of this year that supervision will also be boosted, he said.
Energy-saving moves in the past four years have fallen behind schedule, Xie said.
Only about half a year is left to make up for the lag, he said.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-06/17/content_9984076.htm
Security Tops the Environment in China’s Energy Plan.
June 18 (The New York Times) ; BEIJING — When President Obama called this week for a “national mission” to expand the use of clean energy and increase American energy independence, Chinese officials might have nodded knowingly.
The government here is already far along in drafting energy legislation with similar goals for China, according to Chinese officials and executives.
Like the energy future that Mr. Obama briefly described in his Oval Office address on Tuesday, the Chinese proposal calls for more reliance on renewable energy and greater emphasis on energy conservation, two drafters of the legislation said.
But because this is China, there are big differences, too. In contrast to the Obama vision, the plan here preserves a central role for coal — the dirtiest fossil fuel in terms of emissions of greenhouse gases, but a resource that China has in abundance.
And while Mr. Obama voiced goals of addressing climate change and improving national security at the same time, the discussions in China have been focused almost entirely on security issues, people inside and outside the government said.
In other words, as China counts on more years of global leadership in economic growth, global warming remains a secondary concern. Secure sources of energy to fuel that growth are what matter most, whatever the implications for world energy markets and the global environment — not to mention foreign investors, who may or may not have a significant role to play in China’s energy industry under the draft law.
The proposed law, which is expected to be adopted by early next year, says that “energy supply should be where you can plant your foot on it,” meaning that as much as possible should come from within China, said Li Junfeng, a senior energy policy maker and member of the interagency committee drafting the law.
That belief has underpinned China’s rapid expansion in renewable energy, because it tends to be made in China, Mr. Li said. China has just emerged as the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines and solar panels, and plans to be the world’s biggest builder of nuclear power plants in the coming decade. It invested nearly twice as much as the United States last year in renewable energy.
But energy security also explains the continued reliance on coal, for which China has the world’s third-largest reserves, after the United States and Russia. Burning coal, which produces four-fifths of China’s electricity, has already turned China into the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases by an ever-widening margin each year since 2006.
Air pollution problems like acid rain have come up during the drafting process, but global warming has not figured prominently. China’s top global warming negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, is not even on the 21-member commission that China created in January to set energy policy.
“There is a stronger sense of energy security than climate change,” said Zou Ji, an international climate negotiator for China until his retirement last August; he is now the China country director for the World Resources Institute, an international environmental group.
The American commerce secretary, Gary Locke, said that the Obama administration also wanted to foster energy security by looking for ways to produce more clean energy in the United States, and was not just focusing on environmental issues.
“Certainly energy independence is a high priority of President Obama, and energy independence does equal energy security,” Mr. Locke said in an interview.
But China’s soaring energy demand seems to give it a greater sense of urgency on the security front.
An oil exporter as recently as the early 1990s, China passed the United States last year as the biggest customer for Saudi oil and gas exports. Within as few as five years, it will be importing a higher percentage of its oil than the United States.
That is of great concern to the Chinese government, where officials worry about the security of energy supplies from abroad. And it is why China’s military and its main security and intelligence agency are playing an increasingly visible role in energy policy making.
The deputy chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the People’s Liberation Army is on the new, 21-member National Energy Commission, as is the minister of state security.
The bulk of China’s imported oil comes through the Strait of Malacca, between Singapore and Malaysia on one side and Indonesia on the other. China is concerned that the strait is “an area of American influence,” said the president of a state-owned energy company who helped on early drafts of the energy law before taking his current job. He insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the draft.
China has been drafting its energy law for more than three years. The government started by setting up committees to study 978 separate topics including oil, coal, wind, biomass and solar power, the company president said.
Mr. Li said that the draft law should be ready for the National People’s Congress to approve this winter, either when the 175-member standing committee of the congress meets in December or when the full, nearly 3,000-member congress convenes in early March.
Approval by the congress is a legal formality, with all important decisions worked out in advance by ministers and their aides.
While oil demand has risen inexorably in China, domestic production has barely increased. Chinese companies have struggled to acquire oil fields elsewhere. Shut out of the most attractive operations, which are already controlled by exporting countries or Western multinationals, Chinese companies have ventured into some of the world’s most volatile countries, notably Sudan and now to some extent Iraq and Iran.
One of the last issues still unresolved in the energy legislation involves the extent to which China should continue investing in such oil fields or rely on buying oil in world markets. Mr. Li says he personally believes that China’s energy security does not improve when state-controlled oil companies buy oil fields in potentially unstable countries.
“A lot of companies say, ‘I develop oil for China,’ ” but are really out to make a profit for themselves, he said,
Somali pirates have begun preying on tankers and freighters bound for China from the Mideast. That poses a challenge for China’s navy, which is mostly designed for coastal defense.
It also helps explain why China has been looking for ways to import more of its oil through pipelines instead of by sea, said Edward Cunningham, a China energy specialist at Harvard.
Three issues are unresolved because they can be worked out only at the ministerial level, said Mr. Li, a deputy director general for energy research at the powerful National Development and Reform Commission.
One is how much foreign investment should be allowed in China’s energy industries. Foreign companies are now mostly limited to joint ventures in refining and retailing, and are barred from the ownership or production of most mineral resources.
A second issue is how much competition should be introduced into the energy industries. The domestic oil industry in particular is almost entirely run by two state-controlled companies, Sinopec and PetroChina; both are descendants of the China National Petroleum Corporation.
Finally, policy makers are still considering how best to provide clean, cost-effective energy in rural China. Incomes tend to be much lower in farming areas than in cities, and this has made the government wary of raising taxes sharply on gasoline and diesel, even though steep fuel taxes might limit consumption.
Mr. Li said on Thursday that while China might be further along than the United States in drafting energy legislation, and might have a large and growing sector for the manufacture of renewable energy, it still needed American technology to improve its equipment.
“We need international cooperation,” he said. “America should be the leader.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/business/global/18yuan.html
China freezes some renewable energy IPOs: sources.
June 9 (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have ordered a freeze on some initial public share offerings in the renewable energy sector, amid fears that overcapacity will weigh on the rapidly growing industry.
The government has made no official statement on the freeze, but sources with direct knowledge of the matter said the message had been communicated to executives and investment bankers looking to bring wind or solar power companies to the market.
"The government hasn't said so publicly, but certain sectors including polysilicon and wind are forbidden from hitting the primary IPO market," said a source familiar with the situation.
"They're holding approval for certain IPOs because of overcapacity concerns."
China Securities Regulatory Committee officials could not be reached for comment. The sources declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Polysilicon is a raw material for solar energy products.
An IPO freeze would affect wind equipment manufacturers and polysilicon suppliers as they struggle with the equity to match their bank loans, and would particularly impact buyout firms seeking to exit investments in the renewable space to return money to investors.
Private equity and venture capital firms had expected the first half of 2010 to provide a positive climate for share flotations, but they have been disappointed by increasing market volatility -- Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index has fallen about 11 percent this year.
Clean technology IPOs in China totaled $2.2 billion so far this year against $2.4 billion for the whole of 2009, according to Thomson Reuters data.
A freeze on initial public offerings is China's latest attempt to curtail expansion in an industry that has many small domestic players yet is controlled by just a few.
China became the No.1 wind turbine market in 2009, installing a record 13.75 gigawatts of generating capacity. Its top manufacturers, Sinovel Wind, Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology Co and Dongfang Electric, supplied close to 60 percent of that capacity.
Foreign manufacturers accounted for 10 percent of the market, with the remainder split among about 60 domestic players.
It was not clear how long the freeze would last, though one banker said IPOs for some turbine equipment makers could be freed up around the year-end.
FALLING PRICES
Beijing's hardline stance on expansion is aimed at easing an oversupply that has hammered wind equipment and polysilicon prices.
Spot prices of polysilicon have fallen to about $50 per kg, from a peak of more than $400 in mid-2008 and compared with Chinese production costs of $30-$40 per kg.
Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said in a report that it expected an oversupply of 2 GW of polysilicon in 2010 against demand of around 10 GW.
Analysts said the ban was expected to provide national champions such as Goldwind and Sinovel with more clout to compete globally.
A tougher market environment and higher industry standards would eventually whittle down the sector to just a handful of local companies, said YK Lee, analyst at Core Pacific-Yamaichi.
"This feeds into China's ambition to produce global players in the renewable sector by supporting its biggest, most advanced companies to compete globally," said Lee.
So far, the government has given approval to Goldwind, China's second-largest wind turbine maker and the world's No.5.
The wind company plans to raise up to $1.2 billion in a Hong Kong IPO, possibly the largest by a Chinese wind company since the $2.2 billion listing last December of the nation's biggest wind-power producer, China Longyuan Power Group Corp.
Longyuan Power shares have fallen 14 percent since their listing.
Sinovel, China's largest wind turbine maker and the world's No.3, was also eyeing a listing, sources said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65828S20100609
Bids likely for offshore wind power projects.
June 8 (China Daily) : SHANGHAI - China will invite public bidding for more offshore wind power projects in the next five years to reach an installed offshore wind-power capacity of 5 gigawatts by 2015, senior officials said on Monday.
China's offshore wind-power capacity may reach 5gW in 2015 and 30gW by 2020, Wang Minhao, vice-president of the Hydropower Planning Research Institute, said at an industry conference in Shanghai, citing local governments' preliminary development plans.
The institute, affiliated to the Ministry of Water Resources, is responsible for the planning and design of China's hydropower and wind power projects.
"Although such a target is yet to be officially approved by the central government, the nation will definitely invite public bidding for more offshore wind power projects in the next five years, following the first batch of four such huge projects established in eastern part of Jiangsu province," said Li Junfeng, deputy director-general of the Energy Research Institute affiliated to the National Development and Reform Commission.
He said that more projects would soon be rolled out in Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, and Shanghai municipality.
"Authorities would not wait until the completion of the first four projects for the start of new ones" in order to meet the 5gW target in 2015," he added.
"China has accelerated the construction of offshore wind power projects along the eastern coast since last year," said Wang Jun, director of the New Energy and Renewable Energy Department of China's National Energy Administration.
The move is to meet the huge needs of the nation's energy-hungry eastern cities.
"Meanwhile, that's given that transmission of on-land wind power from China's west to the east of the country is much less efficient," he added.
Four offshore wind power projects in Jiangsu province with a combined capacity of 1gW are currently under public bidding.
The four projects include two near-shore plants, each with installed capacity of 300 megawatts, and two built on tidal flats with a capacity of 200mW each, the National Energy Administration said earlier.
Public bidding for these projects started on May 18 and is expected to finish in September.
China has also finished construction of a pilot offshore wind power project at East China Sea Bridge near Shanghai, with an installed capacity of 100mW.
Investment in the project is 2.5 times that of an on-land project with the same capacity.
Wind power is considered one of the most economically viable renewable energies to help China realize its target of getting 15 percent of its energy mix from non-fossil energies by 2020.
China's wind power industry has seen over 100 percent year-on-year growth in the past four years.
The country's installed wind power capacity has reached 25gW, the second-largest in the world.
The nation's combined wind power capacity is expected to reach 150gW by 2020.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-06/08/content_9948948.htm
Govt's energy-efficiency push bodes well for LED sector.
June 11 (China Daily) - Among US venture capital firms that have a presence in China, WI Harper Group may not be as well known as companies like IDG VC or Sequoia Capital, which manage multi-billion-dollar funds. But WI Harper's role is unique in that it puts together high-tech companies from China and the United States.
Founded in 1993 by Peter Liu, a senior venture capitalist, WI Harper Group enjoys an investment record that includes funding firms such as Focus Media and the MJ Group.
The company has also funded the development of China's homegrown third-generation (3G) standard TD-SCDMA, and is the founder of Innovation Works, an incubator launched by Kai-Fu Lee, the former head of Google China.
Having offices in San Francisco, Beijing and Taipei, WI Harper Group manages over $500 million in committed capital and focuses on opportunities mainly in the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Sean Peng, managing director of WI Harper Group, who leads the company's China operations and oversees investment opportunities in China, said the firm has identified China's LED industry as the next investment focus, as government efforts to pro mote energy-saving products are expected to create huge demand for LED lighting and screens.
He also noted that a warming relationship between the mainland and Taiwan will intensify technology partnerships, which could eventually challenge the domination of advanced economies in the high-tech sector.
Sitting in its office in Beijing, Peng recently spoke with China Daily reporter Wang Xing about his views and investment philosophy.
Q: When do you expect demand for LED products to see explosive growth in China?
A: The Chinese government has heavily promoted the use of energy-saving products, so I believe LED products have tremendous market potential here. While demand for LED screens has already started, I think explosive growth will come in the next couple of years, when LEDs becomes more affordable.
Q: WI Harper has a very good relationship with the high-tech sector in both the mainland and Taiwan. What do you make of the recent warming relationship between the two sides?
A: I think it's good news for us. The mainland has a unique advantage in manufacturing and enjoys huge domestic demand. Taiwan has its advantages in technological innovations and management. If the two sides can join hands, I think we can compete with the most innovative companies in advanced economies.
Q: Are you interested in raising renminbi funds?
A: Yes, we are planning on doing this, but we haven't set any timetable. Our major concern is that when we raise renminbi funds, there could be a conflict of interests between domestic and overseas shareholders. So we need to find a way to solve that problem first.
Q: What can venture capital firms do to help China transform from a manufacturing hub to an innovation center?
A: Venture capital can play a major role. Taiwan was introduced to US venture capital in 1986 in the hope that venture capital firms could help Taiwan upgrade its technology industry. It is a good thing that the Chinese government has actively promoted indigenous innovation and encourages domestic firms to go up the value chain. But I think the government should adopt more market orientation, rather than making political orders, to do that.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-06/11/content_9965352.htm
Automobile and Transportation
China opens its largest E-car recharging station.
June 24 (China Daily) - China's largest recharging station, which can handle 45 electric vehicles, opened Wednesday in Linyi city in Shandong province, National Business Daily reported.
The recharging station in Linyi city, operated by the State Grid Corp of China, can recharge 15 electric cars and 30 electric buses at the same time. Its total capacity is up to 3,200 kilovolt-amperes, and it's equipped with 15 alternating current rechargers and 30 direct current rechargers.
The Linyi recharging station is State Grid's seventh recharging station, and the company plans to open another 75 recharging stations this year.
Recharging stations are fundamental to promote electric vehicles, but the country should prevent redundant construction, Yu Datai, a professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing, told the newspaper. Yu also called for an industrial standard.
State Grid is a State-owned enterprise building and operating power grids and supplying electric power.
China Southern Power Grid Co Ltd opened two recharging stations in Shenzhen in December last year. They are capable of recharging a total of 18 vehicles at the same time.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-06/24/content_10015969.htm
Green car subsidy trials start in five pilot areas.
June 3 (China Daily): HANGZHOU - News of sector incentives pushes lithium-battery maker shares up
Beijing - The government has rolled out the long-awaited incentive program for fuel-efficient vehicles on a trial basis in five cities.
The response from industry observers has been cautiously optimistic due to the small size of the program, which does not encompass Beijing, the city with the greatest vehicle ownership per capita.
The five cities selected for the pilot project are home to major automobile assembly plants including Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Changchun and Hefei.
Effective June 1, buyers will get a 60,000 yuan (8,784) incentive for a wholly-electric car, or 50,000 yuan for a plug-in hybrid car, according to a Ministry of Finance statement.
But the incentives will not go to car buyers but to automakers directly, who will lower the actual purchase price on relevant models accordingly.
Doing so is apparently easier, said Jia Xinguang, an independent consultant in the auto industry, "although there may be problems in transparency and also in the supervision of how the policy is being carried out."
Chinese automaker BYD's spokesman Xu An told China Daily that the incentive program can cover as much as one-third of the price of the company's F3MD, a hybrid passenger vehicle, which sells for between 100,000 yuan and 130,000 yuan.
News of the government's incentive program sent shares of lithium battery makers up in the domestic stock market, with analysts predicting that their revenues would see a rapid rise between 2011 and 2015, when all major domestic automakers are forecast to have first-generation green models on the market.
The five-city pilot project will have a limited impact on carmakers for now. "If the subsidy plan applies only to a few cities, it won't fully boost new-energy vehicle consumption in China," said Kevin Wale, GM China's president and chief executive.
BYD Vice-President Wang Jianjun agreed that the subsidy program would have a limited influence while there are also many other factors affecting the car market. For example, it will take time for consumers to get familiar with green vehicles and businesses will need time to develop related services such as roadside recharging stations, Wale said.
Therefore, BYD's production goal for its green cars is only 1,000 units in 2010 and it has no plans to shift to mass production this year, Wang said.
One remaining problem to affect the spread of green cars is that, even with the subsidy, most green cars will be selling for 200,000 yuan per unit (more than $29,000), and are still more expensive than the gas-powered models, according to Zhao Hang, director of China Automotive Technology Research Center.
Previously, the central government announced it would invest up to 10 billion yuan in the development of new energy vehicles, so that by 2015, there will be between 500,000 to 1 million green cars on Chinese roads.
Auto industry consultant Jia said that, although China is keen on new energy vehicles, especially electric cars, it doesn't mean it's the time for mass sales.
"The fact that new energy vehicles are still in the trial stage is the major reason why the subsidy program is only carried out in five cities," said Zhao, director of China Automotive Technology Research Center.
"To compete with conventional vehicles in the market, companies must speed up technical development and the government needs to increase subsidies," Zhao said.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/hangzhou/e/2010-06/03/content_9927651.htm
China extends 'old car for new' subsidy to Dec 31.
June 14 (Xinhua): BEIJING - China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Sunday it will extend the auto replacement subsidy from May 31 to Dec 31.
The move aims to accelerate the elimination of high-emissions and polluting vehicles, and stimulate automobile consumption, said the MOC in an online statement.
Consumers who trade-in their used small-and- medium-sized trucks and some types of mid-sized passenger cars for new ones can receive subsidies ranging from 3,000 ($349.2) to 6,000 yuan.
The government rolled out the "old car for new" subsidy last June, to encourage people to replace their old cars. It was initially scheduled to end May 31, 2010.
As of May 31, relevant departments had handed-out 1.7 billion yuan in subsidies that had resulted in 127,000 vehicles being replaced, boosting domestic automobile spending by 15 billion yuan, according to MOC data.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-06/14/content_9976577.htm
China infographic: 200 million vehicles on China's roads by 2020.
June 11 (CNN) - It looks like Beijing soon won’t be the only Chinese city with terrible traffic. China Infographics have put together a graphic showing the massive increase in demand for autos (defended as cars, trucks and buses) in the Middle Kingdom from 1980 (the beginning of China’s Opening and Reform) to 2020. By the latter date, there will be around 200 million vehicles on China's roads, according to the data.
The image from China Infographics shows that “the auto number in the country has been growing constantly, from 1.78 million in 1980 to 64 million in 2009.”
Why choose to end the graphic at 2020?
Other than running out of room on the page, the makers of the image explain that “analysts suggest that China’s GDP will be able to overtake U.S. in early 2020s. Although the forecast is somewhat over-optimistic, the impact of China’s GDP expansion is far-reaching.” That will affecting the auto industry -- China is already the world’s largest auto consumer -- as well.
What will these cars looks like at this watershed year? If Chinese urban youth have their way, according to enoVate, they'll be tricked out with everything from mp3 and AUX interfaces to multi-function steering wheels. Not exactly their parent's rides.
Also look for many of these cars to be electric.
Although many consumers are wary of making the switch, "they are well aware of the long term savings an electric car offers (100 km on RMB 5, versus RMB 50 with petrol)," says enoVate. The current issue holding them back ? Price and pre-conceptions about owning an electric car .
"The Chinese youth unanimously acknowledged electric cars as the 'vehicle of tomorrow.' But therein lies a problem: 'the vehicle of tomorrow,'" writes trend blogger Nick. Due to their price, "Chinese youth don’t think electric cars are worth buying today. Companies like BYD may find it difficult to convince the emerging consumer they should invest in electric cars now."
Will the issues of price and pre-conceptions about electric cars be overcome for the upcoming car boom predicted by China Infographics? We'll find out in 2020 we guess.
http://www.cnngo.com/shanghai/life/china-infographic-see-chinas-auto-demand-1980-2020-869635
China Designs a Negative-Emissions Vehicle.
June 9 (Foxnews) : SHANGHAI - The YeZ (a take on the Mandarin word for 'leaf') may look like something out of the next “Tinkerbell” movie, but the organic two-seater was designed by a real automaker, General Motors’ Chinese partner, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC).
The “negative carbon emissions” vehicle features an all-electric drivetrain that draws the bulk of its power from photoelectric converter mounted on the yez…, roof of the vehicle. Similar to the way a plant grows towards the light, the solar crystal films that make up the system can track the movement of the sun to maximize solar energy collection. Illuminated power lines that mimic the veins of a living organism carry the electricity to the battery of the vehicle via streams of light. Additional electricity is generated by small windmills mounted on each of the wheels.
What takes the car to the new levels of environmental friendliness, however, is a body comprised of metal-organic framework materials, or MOFs, that capture water and carbon dioxide from the surrounding air through adsorption, and combine the two through a process of artificial photosynthesis that not only generates electricity, but also creates air conditioning refrigerant and “exhales” oxygen back into the atmosphere. Hence, “negative carbon emissions”.
While the technology behind the YeZ is theoretically sound, SAIC admits that it will be 2030 – at least – before any of it has been developed to the point that something like this concept car can become reality.
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2010/06/09/china-designs-negative-emissions-vehicle/
Volkswagen showcases eco-cars as China's electric-vehicle market grows.
June 14 (Xinhua): SHANGHAI -- German automaker Volkswagen is displaying three all-electric cars and one hybrid at its week-long 2010 E-workshop in Shanghai, as the automaker stakes a leadership claim on the electric-vehicle industry.
The "Lavida blue-e-motion," one of the three zero-emission models on display, was fully developed by Shanghai Volkswagen and tailored to the needs of Chinese consumers, a Shanghai Volkswagen spokesperson said.
Powered by a lithium-ion battery, the model can travel 130 to 150 kilometers on a single charge. Production of the model will start soon.
The other two all-electric models on display are the "Up! blue-e-motion" and the "Golf blue-e-motion." Production of the "Golf blue-e-motion" will begin in 2013.
The "Touareg Hybrid" is representing Volkswagen's hybrid cars at the workshop.
Volkswagen's 2010 E-workshop ends Monday.
As the world's biggest auto market, China attaches great importance to the development of environmentally-friendly cars.
China said earlier this month it will subsidize all-electric vehicle purchases with a subsidy of up to 60,000 yuan (8,784 U.S. dollars) in the five cities chosen for its green-car subsidy program - Shanghai, Changchun, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Hefei.
Buyers of plug-in hybrid cars will receive a subsidy of up to 50,000 yuan.
http://english.sina.com/business/2010/0614/324776.html
Climate Change
WWF: China plays a unique role against climate change.
June 4 (China.org.cn) - China is in a unique position to combat climate change because it possesses a strong willingness to reach its emissions' targets while also supporting other developing countries in their efforts to fight climate change, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) representative for China said on Monday.
China announced its emission targets before the United Nations Copenhagen Summit last December. It aims to reduce its carbon intensity by 40-45 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels.
"Along with other BRIC (Brazil, Russian, India, China) countries that have rapid growth, China's emission target shows it's willing to play a constructive role tackling climate change," said Dermot O'Gorman, the WWF's representative in China.
He said China has continued to push the principle of "common but differentiate responsibilities" (CBDR), which was formulated at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, in an effort to have developed countries significantly cut their emissions while providing financial aid and technology transfer to support developing countries.
"On the way to Cancun (Cancun Climate Summit, December 2010) we need to see developed countries commit more, but we are also going to see many developing countries do more, because we all realize the importance of tackling climate change and the transfer to low-carbon economy," he said.
He added that the WWF will continue to see how the developing countries can be helped in terms of technology transfer to ensure them to use the best technologies.
"There are strong energy efficiency targets and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in China," O'Gorman said. "They've supported the renewable-energy sector the last five years, such as the wind-power industry and the domestic solar-energy sector, and it would be a significant achievement if China could overshoot its targets."
At the latest round climate-change talks, representatives from 182 governments gathered in Bonn, Germany, on May 31, and continued debating unresolved issues from Copenhagen.
"At the Copenhagen climate talks, the expectations were huge and people were disappointed about the results, but now we see how the accord there put us in a better place," O'Gorman said.
He said he's hopeful about progress in Cancun but doesn't want to make any predictions.
"There is a lot to discuss, and we hope countries step up more, but at this stage it's too early to say what will happen in Cancun," O'Gorman said. "But the talks currently underway help to advance the framework and the operation of the Copenhagen Accord."
There are signs that climate-change awareness is growing in China. The WWF has been working with China's Ministry of Education to promote environmental education, especially activities for children, and Earth Hour, a world-wide event in which individuals and businesses switch off their lights to stand against climate change, attracted hundreds of millions of people in China this year.
O'Gorman believes as more and more people in China are educated about the issues, the goal of saving energy and countering climate change becomes easier to achieve.
http://www.china.org.cn/environment/2010-06/04/content_20187439.htm
'We must work on climate change'.
June 11 (Bloomberg) - The U.S., China and Brazil joined dozens of nations criticizing a draft climate treaty issued in Bonn, leaving in place divisions holding up a United Nations agreement on global warming.
The negotiating text eliminates some potential targets to limit climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, paring back alternatives from a document published in May. As two weeks of talk concluded today, delegates voiced concerns and urged the diplomat who produced it, Zimbabwe’s Margaret Mukahanana- Sangarwe, to revise it.
“There is something wrong with your kitchen,” Mohammad Al Sabban, Saudi Arabia’s lead negotiator, said at the meeting. “The recipe we have discussed over the last two weeks has been taken by you, and you gave us a very strange meal.”
The document is intended to guide discussions leading up to an eventual treaty aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions from factories and power plants. It also would channel aid to nations most at risk and encourage the spread of clean energy technologies such as wind and solar power.
“The text contains a number of ideas that the United States could not accept in an agreed outcome,” U.S. negotiator Trigg Talley said.
Chinese delegation chief Su Wei called the text “unbalanced.” Yemen, which spoke on behalf of the G-77 group of developing nations, objected along with India and Brazil. So did Spain, speaking for the European Union’s 27 members.
“A number of countries are critical of the text, they find it unbalanced,” said Yvo de Boer, who supervises the talks as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change executive secretary. “It isn’t the perfect final document.” He said it’s still an advance and a basis for future talks.
Copenhagen Failure
These are the last talks de Boer will steward since he announced in February he was stepping down. Costa Rica’s Christiana Figueres replaces him on July 8. He failed in an attempt to martial more than 190 nations into a treaty at a UN summit in Copenhagen in December, which was attended by 110 world leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama.
The current proposal seeks to limit warming since industrialization began to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), or 1.5 degrees. It eliminates a prior option of keeping the temperature gains to 1 degree.
In Bonn, advances were made in two areas that may help unlock a wider deal, said Jake Schmidt, climate policy director for the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council. They are the governance of climate aid and how to measure, report and verify -- MRV in UN jargon -- emissions reductions made by developing nations such as India and China, he said.
‘Baby Steps’
“There have been some baby steps and some emerging signs of progress,” Schmidt said in an interview. “MRV and finance are the keys to unlocking other issues having some kind of conclusion in Cancun,” the site in Mexico for the next major UN climate summit, to be held in November and December.
Delegates meet again in Bonn in August. Bangladeshi envoy Quamrul Chowdhury said the new document postpones decisions to the UN’s year-end summit in 2011 in South Africa, rather than this year’s meeting in Cancun, Mexico.
“The text is really watered down, and it’s biased against the least developed countries,” Chowdhury said in an interview. “It shows us the way not to Cancun, but to South Africa, with all major decisions shipped in a deliberate way to South Africa, which is tragic.”
Draft Text
The draft calls on developed nations to reduce emissions by 25 percent to 40 percent by 2020. It doesn’t give a base year and eliminates previous options for greater reductions. It calls for global emissions to peak by 2020 and scrubs reference to goals for 2015. Global emissions reductions would total 50 percent to 85 percent from 1990 levels in 2050.
Earlier today, delegates spent half an hour condemning the treatment of Saudi Arabia after a leaflet was circulated showing the country’s nameplate broken and in a toilet, under the caption “Feeling a bit blocked?” Lebanese delegation chief Roula el Cheikh said the Saudi flag was also disrespected.
Yesterday, the world’s biggest oil exporter blocked a request by island nations for the UN to study the impacts of a 1.5-degree temperature-rise. Non-governmental organizations attending the talks frequently stage protests against countries they say are holding up progress. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat said it’s investigating the incident.
Kyoto Successor
Without a global agreement, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol’s limits on greenhouse gases for more than 35 nations expire in 2012, ending the only global restrictions on heat-trapping gases that scientists link to rising global temperatures.
Today’s text, while leaving open the question of whether a final accord will be legally binding, would assign new targets for countries that signed up to the Kyoto treaty.
The proposal also would establish a separate agreement that draws in the U.S., the only major developed nation that rejected Kyoto, and developing countries, which have no gas targets. It leaves open the prospect of eliminating the Kyoto accord, according to Bolivian envoy Pablo Solon, who said it ignores many demands made by his and other countries.
“How are we going to negotiate if we have such an unbalanced text?” Solon said to reporters. “If this document is going to be the outcome of Cancun, then the future of humanity, of mother Earth, is really in danger.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-11/world-takes-baby-steps-toward-climate-change-treaty-at-un-talks-in-bonn.html
China calls for efforts in environment challenges.
June 10 (Xinhua): GENEVA - The Chinese ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva on Wednesday called for persistent international efforts in dealing with environment challenges such as climate change and the shortage of energy and natural resources.
"Finding appropriate solutions to address these challenges is our shared long-term goal ... we must work together to find common solutions to these common problems," said He Yafei at a briefing to Geneva-based diplomats and journalists on the next Group on Earth Observations (GEO) ministerial meeting to be held in Beijing in November.
"The recent financial and economic crisis has diverted some of the attention of governments from these environmental challenges. But although the impacts of the global financial crisis are still with us, we cannot allow ourselves to be distracted from the many global environmental challenges that humanity is facing," He said.
Over the years, China has actively promoted international understanding and cooperation on addressing global economic and environmental issues, according to the ambassador.
"We have worked hard to play an effective and constructive role in major international conferences. As a large developing country, we expect to contribute to global efforts to address these challenges," he said.
He praised the efforts made by the GEO in developing a so- called Global Earth Observation System of Systems, or GEOSS, which aims at supporting national and international action on climate change, biodiversity conservation, food security, the UN's Millennium development goals, etc.
The GEO, which was created in 2005, has assembled "a unique international partnership" consisting of both governments and leading organizations, he said.
"GEOSS provides an opportunity for the international community to deepen our understanding of the earth on which we are living. It assists us, policy and decision makers, with the best available information about those global environmental issues," he said.
The ambassador expressed hope that the GEO ministerial meeting in Beijing would further promote the GEOSS development process.
He added that China was always willing to share its experiences with others in developing environmental monitoring and observation systems.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-06/10/content_9959765.htm
China to take lead in utilizing green technology.
June 17 (China Daily) - China has taken a leading role in utilizing many green technologies and is expected to be a major market for carbon capture and storage technologies, said industry leaders.
Both research institutes and companies have shown great enthusiasm for the technology, but commercialization will take time due to high costs and safety issues, said analysts.
"Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a tough issue but there's an opportunity. If it can make sense in any place, China can take the leadership," Christoph Frei, secretary-general of World Energy Council, told China Daily.
China has outperformed in many aspects of renewable energies and pulled down the price of new energy, particularly in the solar energy sector, Frei said.
"China will become a major market for carbon capture," Philippe Joubert, Alstom Power president, told China Daily in a recent interview.
The cost of CCS would decline "very quickly" if all countries invested, said Joubert. The French power generation equipment company plans to provide CCS solutions commercially in 2015.
A pilot program may be announced in the next two years on a partnership with local Chinese utilities, said Philippe Paelinck, director of carbon dioxide systems business development at Alstom.
The components of its future CCS projects in China, such as boilers, will be locally produced in China to cater to local conditions and lower cost, he said.
Some State-owned enterprises, such as Shenhua Energy Co and China Huaneng Group, have started CCS pilot projects in cities including Beijing and Shanghai.
"Both companies and research institutes are enthusiastically involved in CCS," said Chen Wenying, a professor at Tsinghua University.
All three major CCS technologies, post-combustion capture, oxy-firing and pre-combustion, plus some more advanced technologies, are in their experimental stages at Tsinghua.
The demonstration projects mainly use domestically developed technologies. In a future joint demonstration project with the European Union, some technology transfers may be involved, industry analysts said.
"China is not lagging behind in some core technologies, but compared with international peers, little effort has been made on storage site studies and crisis management," Chen said.
China may levy a carbon tax during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), which may encourage coal-fired power plants to adopt new technologies such as CCS to mitigate carbon emissions, analysts said.
Due to its high cost and unresolved safety issues, it's unlikely that CCS will be commercialized in China soon. It's not economically feasible for coal-fired plants to adopt the technology on a larger scale, Chen said.
The tax would be as high as several dollars per ton, but it costs at least $30 per ton to capture carbon dioxide based on current technologies, without calculating transportation and storage costs.
It's also a problem how to apply the technology in a power plant which generates millions of tons of carbon dioxide annually, she said. Storing the carbon dioxide will become as very big challenge as volumes become larger, said analysts.
The risk exists that the carbon dioxide could leak back into the atmosphere exist, said Liu Shuang, climate and energy project director of Greenpeace China.
However, China is very likely to need CCS in the next 20 or 40 years to address climate change, as the scale of the renewable energies would be limited, so China should catch up in the initial period, Chen said.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-06/17/content_9982315.htm
Tibet uses forests to help China fight climate change.
June 28 (People’s Daily Online) Currently, the amount of carbon sinks in Tibet Autonomous Region has reached 953 million tons, ranking first in China, according to the Forestry Administration in Tibet Autonomous Region. Tibet is using the forests' function of exhaling oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide to improve China's capacity to address climate change.
Tibet's forests play an important role in the development of China's carbon sink forest industry and addressing climate change. Therefore, protecting Tibet's forest resources is crucial, said Li Yucai, deputy chief commander of the Fire Protection Headquarters under the State Forestry Administration.
Experts from the Tibet Forestry Administration said that the forest's carbon sink function means that forest can exhale oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. Each cubic meter of forest can absorb more than 1.8 tons of carbon dioxide and exhale more than 1.6 tons of oxygen. Therefore, accelerating forestry development and enhancing forests' carbon sink function has become an important method of addressing climate change worldwide.
Currently, there are nearly 1.9 billion tons of plant species in Tibet's forest and 953 million tons of carbon sinks. Both account for 12 percent of the entire country and rank first in China.
http://chinatibet.people.com.cn/96069/7043610.html
More audits will track green effort.
June 15 (China Daily) : GUILIN, Guangxi - China's top auditor has pledged to strengthen environmental audits in a bid to achieve sustainable economic and social development.
"Environmental audits are crucial to a timely discovery and prevention of problems or risks in environmental protection," said Liu Jiayi, auditor general of China in an interview.
"We will explore a tailored path for Chinese environmental audits and protection."
Liu, head of the China National Audit Office (CNAO), made the remarks on the sidelines of the Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) meeting under the United Nations that ended last Thursday.
A total of 127 auditing professionals from 57 countries and international organizations gathered in Guilin and discussed using auditing to monitor and promote resources and environmental protection.
The CNAO has been carrying out a national audit of energy conservation and emissions reduction since last October.
The audit focuses on whether the fiscal fund earmarked by the central government to upgrade productivity is being properly used, and if local governments and high-polluting industries such as electricity, cement or iron ore, have reached their green targets.
Ahead of the Copenhagen summit last year, China pledged to cut the amount of carbon dioxide produced for each unit of GDP by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 from the 2005 levels, which is considered "a very tough mission" by many domestic scholars.
China is trying to transform its economic development mode into one featuring "less input, less consumption, less emission and high efficiency," and pledges to cut the energy consumption used to generate one unit of GDP by 20 percent and major pollutants emissions by 10 percent between 2006 and 2010.
The central budget earmarked 50 billion yuan in 2010 for a special fund to push for energy conservation and emissions reduction. That total is 20 billion more than 2009's total.
China's environmental audits will scrutinize energy consumption and emissions reduction, especially in water and mine resources, said Ding Yan, deputy director general of the Department for Audits of Agriculture, Resources and Environmental Protection, under the CNAO.
"There was no specialized environmental audit organization in China until 1998, but we have made very big progress these last few years," she said.
The most challenging part is that China's huge population and limited resources could easily lead to overexploitation and pollution, she said.
Since 2000, China has launched several large-scale audits to check the collection, management and utilization of funds for resource and environmental protection projects.
Based on fund tracing, auditors evaluate the projects, the effects, and the government policies, then make suggestions for corrections or improvements.
Ding said they have audited projects including the return of farmland to forests, prevention and control of water pollution of major rivers and lakes, and ecological protection along the Qinghai-Tibet railway.
China is making remarkable progress in environmental protection, Ding said. The energy consumption per unit of GDP has reduced by 14.38 percent from that of 2005, and the forest coverage has grown to 20.36 percent from 13.92 percent in the early 1990s.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-06/15/content_9978248.htm
Green fight 'goes beyond pollution'.
June 5 (China Daily): BEIJING - Environmental protection is about choosing the right path for economic growth and the right consumption model, beyond pollution control, environment minister Zhou Shengxian said on Friday.
"We have not successfully put the brakes on severe pollution - a result of the country's vulnerable ecosystems, large population, extensive economic growth that relies heavily on resource consumption and unsound environmental supervision systems," said Zhou at a ceremony to mark World Environment Day, which falls on Saturday.
The country needs to step up its green economic policies to facilitate the shift to a "highly effective and low-emission" growth mode, Zhou said.
To that effect, the Ministry of Environmental Protection will continue to promote the reform of energy use and pricing to reflect market demand and supply, resource shortages and environmental prices, he said.
A tax system that encourages energy saving and environmental protection will be established, and the existing environmental economic policy tools, such as green security, green purchase and green trade, will be improved, Zhou said.
Encouraging a green lifestyle has also been highlighted as a crucial measure to curb excessive consumption and reduce emissions.
Consumption choices, such as preferences for smaller cars and energy-efficient appliances, could have deep impact on green production, analysts have said.
Faced with mounting challenges to fight the country's environmental problems, Zhou was particularly concerned that with the strong economic rebound, emissions may rise again as production capacity expands.
"In some places, backward facilities or enterprises which have already been phased out may surface again," Zhou said.
In the first quarter of this year, China already saw a 1.2 percent increase in the emissions of sulfur dioxide, a major air pollutant, compared with the same period last year, as the country's economic growth accelerated to 11.9 percent.
China has witnessed a steady drop major air and water pollutants in the past three years, thanks to stringent environmental regulations and the closure of highly polluting, energy intensive companies.
Still, new environmental problems such as heavy metal pollution have also emerged in recent years, Zhou said.
The ministry received 12 cases related to heavy metal pollution last year, with 4,035 people suffering excessive blood lead levels and 182 people afflicted with excessive cadmium levels.
"We have also seen an increase in the frequency of severe pollution accidents throughout the country," Zhou said.
Last year, the country recorded 171 emergency pollution cases, a 26.7 percent rise year-on-year.
Last February, 1 million residents of Yancheng, Jiangsu province, were reportedly left without tap water after highly toxic carbolic acid from a local chemical company contaminated drinking water sources.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-06/05/content_9938418.htm
Low Carbon Development
China’s Tianjin May Be First APEC Low-Carbon City (Update1).
June 19 (Business week) : Bloomberg - Asia-Pacific nations will establish as many as 20 low-carbon model cities to test new technology including smart grids and renewable-power generation as part of efforts to reduce pollution and dependence on crude oil.
Tianjin, northeastern China, may be the first city picked for the project, Japan’s trade minister, Masayuki Naoshima, said today after a meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation energy ministers in the western Japanese town of Fukui. The cities will be chosen within three years, he said.
The meeting comes as the BP Plc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico heightens concerns about environmental degradation and global dependence on crude oil. APEC wants to spur the development of low-carbon, non-oil energy sources in the region, which accounts for 60 percent of world energy demand and where pollution is forecast to rise the fastest.
APEC will also seek to cooperate on financing new nuclear plants as the region adds reactors to meet rising power demand without emitting more carbon dioxide or importing additional oil, according to a joint statement released after the meeting today.
APEC will also evaluate the potential of unconventional sources of natural gas, which include gas extracted from shale rock and from coal seams, as demand grows for the cleaner- burning fuel, it said.
The 21-member body will set up a task force to choose cities for the Low-Carbon Model Town Project, and will consider a proposal by China for Tianjin, Naoshima said.
Smart grids are advanced power transmission networks that are able to efficiently integrate renewable energy such as wind and solar power.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-19/china-s-tianjin-may-be-first-apec-low-carbon-city-update1-.html
China's 1st carbon capture plant to start operation by year-end
June 2 (Xinhua) - HOHHOT: China's first commercial carbon capture and storage plant is expected to be operational by the end of the year as construction of the plant's liquidification facility has started, company managers said Wednesday.
The environmentally-friendly plant is being built by Shenhua Group - China's top coal producer - in Ordos city on the steppes of northern China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.
The 210 million yuan ($30.8 million) project is expected to capture 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year, Wang Heming, a senior manager in Shenhua Group's Ordos division, said.
China heavily relies on coal to sustain its economy, the world's third largest. But authorities have pledged to slash the carbon intensity of its gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent from 2005 to 2020. Carbon capture technology has been identified as key to reaching the goal.
Wang said Shenhua is also conducting a feasibility study into a second liquidification facility that will be capable of handling 1 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.
He said a third - and much larger - facility capable of handling 3 million tons annually is being planned. But no timetable for its construction has been set.
Wang said tests show Shenhua's liquidification facilities pose no harm to the environment, with carbon dioxide being compressed, liquefied and pumped into rocks about 1,000 - 3,000 meters beneath the earth's surface.
A surveillance network will be set up to monitor leaks, Wang said, adding that the storage facility "is tested not to leak for 1,000 years."
But he said the commercial viability of the project is not yet clear.
Standards for the carbon capture industry internationally have not yet been set, and the Chinese government has yet to give companies in the industry favorable treatment, Wang explained.
He said the operating costs of the 100,000-ton facility are estimated at around $50 per ton.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-06/02/content_9925355.htm
First China Low Carbon Index launched.
June 7 (Eco-business): BEIJING - The China Beijing Environmental Exchange (“CBEEX”) and VantagePoint Partners, a global leader in CleanTech investing, today launched the first Chinese low carbon equity index. The China Low Carbon Index (“the Index”) is the first index to track China’s CleanTech sector and the first RMB-denominated low carbon index. The China Low Carbon Index was officially announced at the Earth Temple Forum being held in Beijing.
The Index will provide investors with valuable insight into Chinese CleanTech companies, which have often outperformed their peers in other markets: VantagePoint’s research and analysis of China’s CleanTech sector found that the market capitalizations of the companies included in the China Low Carbon Index have increased more than 259 percent since 2007.
The Index, which includes 35 publicly-traded Chinese companies, covers four main CleanTech sectors including clean-energy generation, energy transfer and storage, clean consumption and production, and waste management. Within these four sectors, the companies on the Index fall into nine distinct segments: solar energy, wind power, nuclear power, hydropower, clean coal, grid equipment, battery, energy efficiency, waste management and water treatment.
As of May 28, 2010, renewable energy companies (including solar, wind and hydro power) comprise 55 percent of the Index.
“Faced with the reality of global climate change, China has become a vanguard in developing a low carbon economy,” said Yan Xiong, Chairman of CBEEX.
“However, we are also aware that, as a country in the midst of industrialization and urbanization, our low carbon economy is still small in scale.”
In creating the China Low Carbon Index, “CBEEX and VantagePoint sought to develop a benchmark for the Chinese low carbon investment community to represent China’s CleanTech sector in a transparent and comprehensive manner,” said Dewen Mei, General Manager of CBEEX.
In addition, by raising the profiles of China’s leading new energy companies, the Index will play a role in enhancing their long-term development, both domestically and abroad.
Until the launch of the Index, many investors had been unaware of the number, scale, and financial success of these companies. “We are very glad that VantagePoint was able to lend their experience and expertise in the CleanTech sector to assist us in creating this valuable tool,” added Yan.
“China already leads G-20 countries in clean energy investments and is second only to the U.S. in terms of installed renewable energy capacity,” said Melissa Guzy, Managing Director of VantagePoint in China.
“In addition, the Chinese government is clearly committed to promoting the development of renewable energy for the long-term, with ambitious and mandatory targets in place for the next 10 years.”
http://www.eco-business.com/news/2010/jun/08/first-china-low-carbon-index-launched/
China's 8th environment equities exchange opens.
June 3 (Xinhua) - DALIAN: The first environment equities exchange in northeast China - the eighth nationwide - opened Wednesday.
The exchange in Dalian, a coastal city in Liaoning province, provided a platform to help develop a low-carbon economy, said Zhang Jun, deputy mayor of Dalian.
It is mainly served as an international market to trade environmental technologies, pollutant emissions, energy performance contracts and carbon dioxide emissions, based on the government-certified emission standards, said Wang Weidong, chairman of the exchange.
It was a platform for buyers and sellers with environmental trade needs, based purely on supply and demand as with a property rights exchange, and hopefully would see its first transactions within the month, said Wang.
Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Hebei, Yunnan, Shanxi and Hubei have operated similar exchanges since August 2008.
The international carbon emissions trade has witnessed a rapid growth over the past five years. It surged 31 percent year on year to 48 billion tons in 2008, seven times more than the volume in 2005.
However, the environment trade market in China was challenged by low public recognition and unformed pricing systems, said Zhang Xingwen, of Dalian University of Technology.
Environment exchanges would help China establish relevant policies and industry standards for a mature market and have a say in forming carbon trade pricing, he said.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-06/03/content_9928192.htm
Climate Change Capital Eyes Low-carbon Opportunities in China.
June 12 (21 Century): Clean energy project investment manager Climate Change Capital Ltd. (CCC) is tapping into China’s fast growing carbon financial market.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Second Dalian Economic Forum, CCC China President Lu Yuebin told the 21st Century Business Herald that the company has secured RMB 6 billion for 50 projects, of which RMB 2 billion has already been paid out.
He said his company accounts for 10% of Chinese investments in the carbon trading market.
According to publicly available information, aggregate revenue of listed low-carbon- and environmental protection-related companies for 2008 reached $534 billion and is expected to reach $2 trillion by the end of 2013.
“We have investments in the CDM (clean development mechanism) projects of 50 Chinese companies, such as China Huaneng Group, Huadian Power International Corp. Ltd. and China Guodian Corp., covering power, coal, steel, biomass energy, coal-bed methane, etc. Most of our partners are large state-owned enterprises, and most of our investments are in CDM trading.” Lu said.
As a well known private equity (PE) and CDM fund, CCC has not yet made any PE investments in China.
CCC may invest in a project in Europe through both PE and CDM, but would find it hard to do so in China, according to Lu. “Unlike other markets, China has price protection policies for CDM transactions, which makes PE-CDM dual investments inoperable.”
“We will put more capital and effort into PE investments in China,” Lu said, adding that CCC has reached agreements with a number of Chinese local governments and investment institutions.
Apart from CDM and PE investments, CCC has “green property” assets in Europe, which the company bought and transformed with low-carbon technology, and now leases out.
Lu reckoned the investment model has the potential for immense growth but said the Chinese market is not yet mature enough to sustain it.
http://en.21cbh.com/HTML/2010-6-12/xMMDAwMDE4MjIxMw.html
Greenhouse gases emission cut not optimistic.
June 3 (Xinhua) - BEIJING: To reduce China's polluting emissions was a daunting task and the immediate outlook was not good, said a senior environment official here Thursday.
Sulfur dioxide emissions had increased by 1.2 percent year on year in the first quarter, said Zhang Lijun, vice minister of environment, at a press conference.
"The situation is not good," he said.
Output of energy-consuming industrial products has increased quite fast this year, which is one of the reasons causing the increase, he said.
He also attributed the emissions increase to the severe drought in southwest China early this year, slow development of some projects to cut pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as weakening efforts of some local governments and enterprises.
The Ministry of Environment has introduced some measures to cope with the new problems, including releasing a blacklist of regions and enterprises not performing well in curbing polluting emissions, he said.
China has set a target to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions and chemical oxygen demand (COD), two main indicators of air and water pollution, by 10 percent from 2006 to 2010.
China's COD and sulfur dioxide emissions fell 9.66 percent and 13.14 percent last year compared to those in 2005, respectively.
The average sulfur dioxide concentration in the air over Chinese cities stood at 0.035 milligram per cubic meter last year, a reduction of 16.7 percent from 2005 and had not changed since 2008, Zhang said.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-06/03/content_9929758.htm
Training targets emissions awareness.
June 17 (China Daily): BEIJING - Intertek, a provider of testing and inspection services, will soon offer training to help Chinese enterprises better understand the challenges and opportunities concerning reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
"Our training program will help educate Chinese companies on the present policy framework and help them plan a path towards meeting carbon dioxide reduction targets and capturing business opportunities from the market in the most efficient way for their business," Wolfhart Hauser, chief executive officer of London-based Intertek, told China Daily.
"The course will prepare Chinese companies for carbon emission calculations and carbon-credit trading regimes in future," he said.
According to Hauser, Intertek is looking at ways to bring its 100 years of global experience with the oil, gas and petrochemical industries to China's petrochemical industry.
"The framework for carbon dioxide emission limits, measurement standards, carbon-credit generation and trading schemes will continue to evolve fast and there are variables in corporate and governmental approaches worldwide", said Hauser.
"Therefore, both industry and regulators need to have a good framework that aims to not only support business activity and industry needs, but also to ensure the targets, compliance and measurement schemes are clear and can be met effectively at the operational and supply chain level," he added.
In November 2009, the government officially announced its carbon intensity targets to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product in 2010 by 40 to 45 percent compared with the level of 2005. Officials are now conceiving the regulatory and market mechanisms to engage business to improve their energy efficiency and bring down their carbon emissions.
Chinese businesses are expected to face increasing pressure from home and abroad to decrease their carbon footprints in the future. However, it seems that the basic approach of testing, auditing and measuring the environmental footprint of their operations and products is still a tough task for the majority of Chinese companies.
"The local industry has not developed a deep perception of sustainability, although energy conservation, emissions reduction and low carbon economy as terms are widely quoted," said Fred Bai, president of Intertek China. "That's the main reason we plan to launch this tailor-made training course for Chinese enterprises," he said.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-06/17/content_9983885.htm
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