Energy

Non-fossil fuels to take up 11.4% of China's energy use

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-04 14:54

BEIJING - China aims to increase the proportion of non-fossil fuels in overall primary energy use to 11.4 percent by 2015, Zhang Guobao, former head of the country's National Energy Administration, said Friday.

"In the next 10 years, China will commit to adjusting its current energy mix which now mainly relies on coal," Zhang, a member of the Standing Committee of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

The target has been included in the 12th Five-Year Plan draft and is mandatory, he said, adding that it will keep China on course to achieve its goal of 15 percent by 2020. Currently non-fossil fuels account for 8 percent of China's total energy consumption.

The draft plan will be reviewed and is expected to be approved by deputies to the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, which opens its annual session Saturday in Beijing.

China has grown to be the world's top energy producer and user, according to the China Energy Research Society. Its annual energy consumption totaled 3.25 billion tons of coal equivalent last year, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier, government data showed Monday.

Coal accounts for around 70 percent of China's energy mix, 30 percentage points higher than the world average level. The heavy reliance on coal has put China under great pressure in dealing with climate change and protecting the environment, he said.

The country should try to trim that dependency by promoting the use of cleaner fuels, he said.

"With determination, the goal can be achieved," Zhang said, adding that the development of clean energy needs to be further explored, such as nuclear power and wind, solar and biomass energy forms.

By the end of 2010, China's installed wind power capacity exceeded 41 million kilowatts to be the world's largest. China also is presently constructing 28.71 million kilowatts of nuclear power capacity, also the most in the world.

Zhang said the five-year plan will aim to boost the development of nuclear power while ensuring the safety. China will start construction of its first inland nuclear power plant this year, he said, adding that it will be built in either Hubei, Hunan or Jiangxi province.

By 2020, more than half of the 15 percent non-fossil share will come from hydropower, he added.

Move toward sustainability

Greater use of clean and renewable fuels is part of the government's efforts to promote energy saving and environmental protection as the country's economic success has come with steep costs: unsustainable growth and pollution.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Feb 27 that the government must not sacrifice the environment for the sake of rapid growth any longer.

Therefore, China has set its annual economic growth target at 7 percent during the five years to 2015, lower than the 7.5 percent goal set for the 2006-2010 period, Wen added.

Wen also said that China aimed to cut the amount of energy and carbon dioxide emissions needed for every unit of gross domestic product by 16 to 17 percent from this year to the end of 2015.

That is a step further toward the government's goal of 40 to 45 percent reduction in carbon intensity by 2020, relative to 2005 levels.

Zhang said the two goals will be included as mandatory in the new five-year plan, which will also demand higher energy efficiency.

Related readings:  Carbon intensity targets unveiled  Energy consumption per unit of GDP drops 4%  Expanding clean-energy cooperation  China's coal imports up 31% in 2010

The government will also impose a cap on its total energy consumption at 4 billion tons of coal equivalent by 2015, compared with 3.2 billion tons consumed last year, he said.

That meant the five-year period will see an average annual increase of 4.24 percent in energy use.

"The task of energy conservation and emission cuts is arduous," he said, as he compared the growth of energy use with the 7 percent of annual economic expansion set by the central government during the five years to 2015.

Furthermore, he said that energy security is also a significant job through the five years when China will increase strategic reserves of oil and gas, while constructing storage bases for natural gas and coal.

He warned of risks to energy security as the recent turmoil in the Middle East has driven up international oil prices.

"Oil security is the most important part of achieving energy security," he said, adding that "preparations for alternative energies should be made as soon as possible."