China is spending $372 billion on energy conservation and
anti-pollution measures over the next three-and-a-half years, reports Reuters.
The measures, meant to reduce China’s dependence on fossil
fuels and slow down its carbon emissions, are part of the so-called 12th
five-year plan. They will center on energy-efficiency, emissions reduction and
recycling projects, says the China State Council.
The investments will help the country get halfway toward
its goal of cutting energy intensity by 16% below 2010 levels by 2015, says the
council.
China is the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases; it plans to
cut its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45% from 2005
levels by 2020.
While the country’s ministers did not detail exactly
where the money will be spent, $155 billion will go toward energy efficiency
projects, especially those in the industrial sector.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
(MIIT) is targeting a 21% reduction in energy intensity by 2015. That means
steel producers must cut energy use per unit of production by 25%, coal-fired
power plants by 8% and cement manufacturers by 3%.
The investments disclosed this week are in large part
meant to reduce China’s growing depend on imports of oil, gas and coal to fuel
its economic growth. That growth has made it difficult for the country to curb
greenhouse gas emissions. Last year, China was responsible for 29% of the
world’s total C02 emissions.
Despite that dubious distinction, China earned the No. 7
spot on a recent ranking of national energy efficiency focused on the world’s
top 12 economies.
The analysis by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient
Economy (ACEEE) considered 27 categories, divided into four groups: National
policies and three sectors primarily responsible for energy consumption in
economically developed countries -buildings, industry, and
transportation.
China is making green building projects a particular
focus of its efficiency plans. 30% of new construction in China will be
energy efficient by 2020, according to a document released in May by the
Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
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