In response to growing pressure to reduce energy consumption and
better protect the environment, the government is to increase
efforts to develop and promote vehicles powered by clean fuels,
senior officials have said.
Shang Yong, vice-minister of science and technology, said in an
online interview at china.com.cn yesterday that with the Olympic
Games and World Expo just around the corner, the government wanted
to push vehicles powered by fuel cells, electricity and fixed
power.
Wu Ping, a section chief at the ministry, said it had spent 800
million yuan (US$106 million) on research work on the three types
of vehicles and had already made great progress.
A national campaign to promote the use of alternative fuels such
as liquefied natural gas has seen its introduction for buses and
cabs in Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing, Wu said.
"We have had major breakthroughs in battery, electric and
control-system technology," Wu said.
Although the new vehicles can cut energy consumption and
emissions in half, or even be pollution free, people shun them due
to price, Shang said.
"A key focus of our research is to cut costs," he said.
People were also slow to accept new technology, so the
government should first adopt them for its own use, he said.
"Promotion of the clean vehicles is not just a commercial
activity," he said. "They lower emissions, which can help protect
the environment."
Beijing authorities have said 50 "zero pollution" buses powered
by lithium-cell batteries will be used as shuttles at the Olympics,
while the organizers of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo have said all
buses used in the expo center will be pollution free.
"These events will be good platforms for the clean vehicles and
demonstrate China's determination to promote clean technology for
transport," Shang said.
Separately, Shang rejected accusations from some foreign media
that China is the world's biggest producer of greenhouse gases.
"Huge amounts of greenhouse gases, even according to Western
reports, were discharged by developed countries during their
industrialization processes, dating back 100 years," he said.
(China Daily August 1, 2007)