China has put muscle into its drive for saving energy and
reducing pollution with 10 billion yuan funded by the central
government, according to the website of the country's top economic
policy-planning agency.
Through the allocation of 6.3 billion yuan in treasury bonds and
5 billion yuan from the national budget appropriated at the start
of the year, the country now has a total of 21.3 billion yuan in
its green drive war chest.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said that
as part of the effort, about 9 billion yuan, 13
times?of?the amount?allocated last year, will be
used in 10 key energy saving and pollution reduction projects.
"It is great that a government's efforts are reflected in its
policies and fund allocations, which correspond with its
commitments," said Zhang Jianyu, an environmental visiting scholar
in Tsinghua University.
"It also shows that the government is taking this (energy
conservation and emission reduction) as its own, rather than
allocating the responsibilities to enterprises," Zhang said.
China has set a target to cut energy consumption per unit of
gross domestic product by 20 percent from 2006 to 2010 compared to
the 2005 levels and reduce major pollution emissions, such as
sulphur dioxide and chemical oxygen demands, by 10 percent.
Ten key projects for energy saving and pollution reduction are a
significant part of the green effort, which planners estimate can
save 240 million tons of coal equivalent.
The projects include saving and seeking substitutes for oil,
improving coal-burning industrial boilers, developing regional
combined circular power plants (CCPP), increasing energy efficiency
in power generation systems, improving overall energy system
performance, developing energy saving construction and lighting
systems and requiring governmental lead in energy conservation, as
well as providing monitoring systems and related service
development.
Through saving and seeking substitutes for oil, the country is
projected to conserve 38 million tons of oil by 2010.
Improvement in coal-burning industrial boilers will help the
nation save 35 million tons of coal equivalent, while adoption of
regional CCPP technology is estimated to save 35 million tons of
coal equivalent.
The country's new buildings for both domestic and public use are
required to save 50 percent of energy from 2006 to 2010 by adopting
green technology and materials, which the NDRC estimates can
conserve at least 100 million tons of coal equivalent.
(China Daily July 28, 2007)
