China´s Energy Plan to Reduce Its Dependence upon Coal
According to a U.S. Congressional Executive Commission on China, which held a series of Issues Roundtables in
late 2004, it was estimated that 12 Chinese mine workers die for every million
tons of coal produced. Most are killed by methane gas explosions while inside
the coalmines. China Business Weekly reported in July 2000, to prevent gas
explosions, China emits 6 billion cubic meters of methane from mines annually,
seriously polluting the environment Last year, instruments on the world’s
largest environment-monitoring satellite, the European Space Agency’s Envisat,
revealed the world’s largest amount of nitrogen dioxide was hanging over
Beijing and north-eastern China. Because the country emits more methane from
its coal mining than any other coal producing country, China pollutes the earth’s
atmosphere with about one-third of the total annual emissions of methane.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, methane traps heat twenty
times more than carbon dioxide, which impacts global warming.
On March 6th, People’s Daily reported, Shanxi, China’s largest coal-producing province, plans to put the brakes on the further expansion of coal mining in the next five years Shanxi Governor Yu Youjun at a recent press conference announced, we can not continue the rough way of development any more and must limit coal production strictly with the guidance of scientific concept of development While only slightly reducing the country’s aggressive GDP growth, China has instituted reforms to maximize its energy efficiency and minimize the environmental damage and loss of human life. Not only is the country stamping down on the causes of these problems, it wants western technology to help become more efficient.
Since September 2005, Shanxi shut down nearly 5,000 illegal mines and fined or imprisoned more than 1,200 operators, including 60 local officials. Coal produced about 70 per cent of China’s energy supply in 2005. The Chinese government worries China’s dependence upon coal could rise above 80 per cent over the next five years. The country is second only to the U.S. as a net importer of petroleum. Non-traditional sources are being encouraged to clean up the environment and reduce China’s dependence upon foreign oil. StockInterview.com has widely discussed China’s scramble for uranium as the country has embarked upon the most aggressive nuclear power program since the United States in the 1970s. Along with nuclear energy, China hopes to exponentially expand its natural gas program as a means of lowering its astronomical levels of air pollution.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told the National People’s Congress earlier this month that the country’s growth rate would be reduced to 7.5 per cent over the country’s next five-year plan. Economic growth reached nearly 10 per cent in 2005. The strain imposed on China’s natural resources and labour has been taking its toll. According to the next five-year plan, China’s government policy will concentrate on building a resource-efficient and environment-friendly society. Their idea is to sustain the high output while reducing waste.
That may not be so simple. On February 20th, China Daily reported, the bulk of China’s gas-fired power plants are on the verge of closure due to a shortage of natural gas. Wang Yonggan, secretary general of China Electricity Council, said nearly 40 per cent of China’s power plant capacity remained unused because of the lack of gas supplies. Wang warned a plan drafted the National Development and Reform Commission to increase China’s gas power capacity to 30 gig watts by 2010 (up from 10.7 now) would make such targets impossible to reach because of the gas shortfalls.
On March 6th, People’s Daily reported, Shanxi, China’s largest coal-producing province, plans to put the brakes on the further expansion of coal mining in the next five years Shanxi Governor Yu Youjun at a recent press conference announced, we can not continue the rough way of development any more and must limit coal production strictly with the guidance of scientific concept of development While only slightly reducing the country’s aggressive GDP growth, China has instituted reforms to maximize its energy efficiency and minimize the environmental damage and loss of human life. Not only is the country stamping down on the causes of these problems, it wants western technology to help become more efficient.
Since September 2005, Shanxi shut down nearly 5,000 illegal mines and fined or imprisoned more than 1,200 operators, including 60 local officials. Coal produced about 70 per cent of China’s energy supply in 2005. The Chinese government worries China’s dependence upon coal could rise above 80 per cent over the next five years. The country is second only to the U.S. as a net importer of petroleum. Non-traditional sources are being encouraged to clean up the environment and reduce China’s dependence upon foreign oil. StockInterview.com has widely discussed China’s scramble for uranium as the country has embarked upon the most aggressive nuclear power program since the United States in the 1970s. Along with nuclear energy, China hopes to exponentially expand its natural gas program as a means of lowering its astronomical levels of air pollution.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told the National People’s Congress earlier this month that the country’s growth rate would be reduced to 7.5 per cent over the country’s next five-year plan. Economic growth reached nearly 10 per cent in 2005. The strain imposed on China’s natural resources and labour has been taking its toll. According to the next five-year plan, China’s government policy will concentrate on building a resource-efficient and environment-friendly society. Their idea is to sustain the high output while reducing waste.
That may not be so simple. On February 20th, China Daily reported, the bulk of China’s gas-fired power plants are on the verge of closure due to a shortage of natural gas. Wang Yonggan, secretary general of China Electricity Council, said nearly 40 per cent of China’s power plant capacity remained unused because of the lack of gas supplies. Wang warned a plan drafted the National Development and Reform Commission to increase China’s gas power capacity to 30 gig watts by 2010 (up from 10.7 now) would make such targets impossible to reach because of the gas shortfalls.
