China will try to make more use of solar, wind and geothermal
energy during the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-05).
"The country is bent on reducing its reliance on dwindling fossil
fuels and want to pursue sustainable energy development," said Shi
Dinghuan, a director from the Ministry of Science and
Technology.
Coal is currently the primary source of power in China.
By
2005, renewable energy will account for 0.7 percent of the total
annual energy used in China, and 2 percent by 2015, said Shi.
He
was due to attend an international symposium on Sino-Italian
environmental protection cooperation in Beijing today.
The country's wind power capacity is expected to reach 1.5 million
kilowatts by the end of 2005, with the use of other renewable
energy resources, such as solar and hydropower, projected to reach
or exceed the global average, Shi said.
To
achieve all of this, the state has mapped out a detailed scheme for
research and development of renewable energy during the 10th
Five-Year Plan period, Shi said.
The country has also carried out a series of favorable policies
including the reduction of import tariffs, value-added tax and
enterprise income tax to encourage the development of clean
energy.
Furthermore, the country will beef up cooperation with foreign
countries in such aspects as technology and equipment to help
develop renewable energy, Shi said.
Zhu Junsheng, chairman of the China Association of Renewable Energy
Industry, said China has already made some achievements in the
sector in the past few years.
The combined generating capacity of small hydropower plants in
China had reached 17 million kilowatts by the end of 2000.
The capacity of the country's geothermal power plants stood at
35,000 kilowatts, while that of wind power was 346,000
kilowatts.
"Energy development is an important part of the national plan,"
said Wang Jian, deputy secretary-general of the State Development
Planning Commission.
(China Daily 07/09/2001)