China's energy use down 2% in 2011

BEIJING -- China cut its energy usage by 2.01 percent last year to 0.79 tons of standard coal equivalent for every 10,000 yuan ($1,570) of China's GDP, according to government data issued Thursday.

Beijing posted the greatest decline, dropping its energy use by 6.94 percent to 0.45 tons of standard coal equivalent per unit of GDP, according to the figures released by the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Bureau of Statistics and the National Energy Administration.

West China's Qinghai province registered the greatest increase in power usage per unit of GDP. Its energy usage went up 9.44 percent, followed by a 6.96-percent increase in west China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and a 5.23-percent increase in south China's Hainan province.

The government also evaluated energy use per every 10,000 yuan of industrial value-added output. Beijing topped the list with a decline of 18.5 percent. West China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region ranked last, with a 14.72-percent increase in power usage per unit of industrial value-added output.

The Tibet autonomous region, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan were excluded from the calculations.

China plans to cut the energy use per unit of GDP by 16 percent by 2015 from the level in 2011. It also aims to lift non-fossil fuel energy usage to 11.4 percent of the country's total energy consumption from the current 8.6 percent.

To meet the targets, the government has adopted a range of measures, including the closure of outdated thermal power plants and iron and cement workshops and a push for the use of clean energy, such as solar and wind power.

The government also hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent compared to 2005 levels.