From Overseas Press

Five ways to cut China energy use

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-07-22 16:14

The announcement from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that "China energy use has surpassed that of the US" was later denied by the Chinese government, but its chief economist Fatih Birol shared with The Christian Science Monitor on July 21 five ways of how China can "reduce its energy consumption over the coming decades."

Birol suggested first that China put "stringent regulations on energy efficiency to decrease energy waste." He noted that this was "a major factor in America to cut its energy consumption over the past several years."

His second piece of advice for the Chinese government is to "end subsidies on fossil fuels," said the article. "Subsidies encourage higher consumption and waste, which exacerbates the harmful effects of energy use on the environment, while also impeding the development of more environmentally benign energy technologies, according to the IEA's 2009 World Energy Outlook."

He praised China's efforts to "move fast on installing more wind and solar devices than other countries in the world in 2009," since renewable energy is a third way to reduce energy consumption, although "investments in wind and solar depend on a healthy economy," and the financial crisis led to investments in 2009 drop 18 percent from 2008, according to the IEA's World Energy Outlook.

Birol said China should follow the world to "offer more subsidies on clean energy technology," although "of 60 nuclear power plants under construction worldwide, one-third are going up in China." According to the IEA's World Energy Outlook, "China had 16 nuclear reactors but had a capacity for 15,220 by the end of August 2009." However, "planning and construction for one plant takes up to 15 years."

He pointed out that in 2009, "China has surpassed the US for the first time ever as the world's largest automobile market. Where Europe and the US have reached saturation points, China has tremendous room for growth and will dictate the future of the sector." Therefore, his last suggestion for the Chinese is to drive fuel-efficient cars to "slow the nation's pace of energy consumption."

Birol concluded that "What kind of cars Chinese choose will determine the car production line. The choices of the consumers in China will have effects for the rest of us."