2010-09-19 13:48

TAIYUAN - For China, coal has been both an economic driver and a source of pollution.

By Luo Gan

However, the world's fastest growing economy will continue to rely upon coal in upcoming decades to fuel its economic growth; the difference is that it is also striving to do so in a greener fashion to keep its promise on emission cuts.

China's economy has leaped forward in the past three decades and so has its energy consumption, with an annual growth rate at more than 8 percent in the past 10 years, according to data from the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Currently, coal supplies about 70 percent of China's energy use, mostly for the power sector and steel industry. Demand for coal has been rising in absolute terms as the world's largest coal producer and consumer needs more energy for economic development.

However, the massive burning of coal in an inefficient way has caused serious pollution, subjecting China to frequent criticism from western countries, labeling China the "biggest polluter".

"Coal consumption is the major cause for pollution in China, with more than 70 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions related to coal burning," said Shi Dan, researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

It also poses a threat to the country's energy security, experts said.

However, China's appetite for energy is growing, as it is still a developing country, fast on course to industrialization and urbanization.

Government officials, experts and companies attending the China (Taiyuan) International Energy Industry Expo from Sept 16 to 18 in coal-rich Shanxi province agreed that China would remain largely dependent upon coal for its main energy supply in the decades to come.

The key in dealing with the energy issue would be to make coal consumption greener through clean technologies and gradually reduce dependence on coal by expanding the share of renewable and clean energies, they said.

Dominant coal

In 2009, China's total energy consumption exceeded 3 billion tons of standard coal, of which 68.7 percent was from coal. Primary energy demand would be expected to hit 4.2 billion tons of standard coal by 2015 on the assumption of an 8 percent annual growth in GDP, according to the government's primary research.

About 3.8 billion tons would be supplied by coal, Fang Junshi, an official from the National Energy Administration, predicted in June.

"For China, coal is dominant in the energy mix, not only at the present time, but also in the coming 40-50 years", said Ni Weidou, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

He forecast that China would consume more than 90 billion tons of coal in the coming 40 years and coal would account for more than 35 percent of total energy consumption.

"We can't imagine how long our development would last if we continue the polluting and inefficient means of coal consumption to push up the economy", Vice-minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng said.