Net export of embodied energy in international trade from China
has grown in recent years because of the country's trade surplus,
according to a study released yesterday.
Embodied energy refers to that required for raw material
procurement, manufacture, transport, construction, maintenance and
repair.
A new report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS)
with the support of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) was
delivered on the sidelines of the UN climate change conference in
Bali.
"The embodied energy in import and export has always been
ignored in studies on international trade and mitigation scenarios,
even in international climate change negotiations," said Pan
Jiahua, deputy director of the Research Center for Urban and
Environmental Studies under CASS.
His studies showed that in 2002, the net export of embodied
energy in international trade from China was about 240 million tons
of coal equivalent, accounting for 16 percent of the world's total
primary energy consumption. In 2006, that figure became 630 million
tons of coal equivalent, accounting for 25.7 percent of primary
energy consumption.
"The figures showed a tremendous growth of net export of
embodied energy from China, no matter in absolute value or increase
rate," the report said.
The consumption of embodied energy leads to a large degree of
greenhouse emission.
In 2006, the amount of the embodied emission from China's export
was around 1,846 million tons of coal equivalent, and that from
import was around 800 million tons of coal equivalent. So the net
export was more than 1,000 million tons of coal equivalent, Pan
said in his report.
The rapid increase in China's emission is not only driven by
domestic demands, but also by international trade because of
China's position as the world's processing factory, the report
said.
(China Daily December 11, 2007)
