sustainability 4
A profitable problem
Lu Feng details China’s efforts to curb CO2 emissions
CHINA is hotting up, and not just the
economy. From 1986 to 2005, the country
has seen 20 consecutive warm winters. The
glacier in northwestern China has shrunk
by 21% and the permafrost in some areas
of the Daxing’ Anling region has thinned
from 107 m to 67.5 m between 1978
and 1991. The trend shows no signs of
stopping anytime soon.
However, as China is listed as a
developing country in the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), it is not required to reduce its
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the
Kyoto Protocol until 2012. Plus, thanks
to the Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol, which
allows industrialised countries to offset
their own carbon emissions by helping
countries like China cut theirs, China
to some extent sees CO2 emissions as a
golden problem. Many experts and officials
say that by cooperating with developed
countries, China can not only foster the
development of environmental protection,
but also attract large amounts of foreign
investment.
current emissions
According to the Initial National
Communication on Climate Change of the
People’s Republic of China, which was
released in June 2007, China’s total GHG
emissions in 1994 were 4060m t of CO2
equivalent, of which 3070m t was CO2.
By 2004, the total had reached 6100m t
of CO2 equivalent, of which 5050m t was
CO2. This means that from 1994 to 2004,
The Huitengxile China’s GHG emissions grew by around
wind farm in 4%, and the share of CO2 in the total
Inner Mongolia is increased from 76% to 83%. According to
China’s first ever the latest statistics by the Netherlands
CDM project Environmental Assessment Agency, in 2006
36 tce september 2007
China overtook the US as the world’s
top emitter of CO2, although Chinese
authorities say the figure is unjustified.
Daniel Dudek, senior economist with
the American Environmental Defense
Fund, explains: “The mounting energy
consumption in recent years has pushed
the development of China’s economy, but
meanwhile leads to more than half of
Chinese cities’ air quality falling below
standard.”
The high CO2 emissions coincide with
the country’s growing GDP and huge
energy consumption. For the past ten
years, China’s GDP has been growing
at more than 8% a year on average,
accelerating to an 11.5% rise in the
first half of 2007. The high GDP growth
has been supported by rocketing energy
consumption. In 2006, China’s energy
consumption was 16% of the world’s
total, an 8.4% increase over the previous
year. And since China’s energy mix is
dominated by coal, this directly leads
to high CO2 emissions. In 2005, China’s
total primary energy consumption was
2233 megatons of coal equivalent (Mtce),
of which raw coal accounted for as much
as 68.9%. The world’s average was only
27.8%.
The other main reason for China’s high
GHG emissions is its low energy efficiency
and outdated technologies, which are still
found in many of China’s key industries.
For example, small steel mills emit some
200 kgce per ton of steel than their
large counterparts. In fertilisers, small
producers emit some 300 kgce more per
ton of fertiliser than large and medium
companies. Owing to the lack of advanced
technologies, as well as the large
proportion of out-of-date processes and
technologies, China’s energy efficiency
is about 10% lower than that of the
developed countries, and its per unit
energy consumption of energy-intensive
products is about 40% higher than the
advanced international level.
solving the problem
China’s government sees the Kyoto
Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM) as a golden opportunity. Because
it allows industrialised countries to meet
their emission targets by purchasing
certified emission-reductions from
developing countries, it can be a win-win
scenario.
“Chinese enterprises acquire advanced
technologies and financial investments,
which help improve energy efficiency and
lower production costs, while developed
countries can meet their Kyoto Protocol
commitments at a relatively low cost”,
says Liu Shunde, deputy director of the
Global Climate Change Institute, Tsinghua
University.
In June 2005, China’s first CDM
project, the 25.8 MW Huitengxile wind
farm in Inner Mongolia, was officially
registered with the UFCCC CDM board. The
owner of the project, the Inner Mongolia
Long Yuan Wind Power Development
Company, will receive around €2.75m
($3.75m) over the next ten years from
SenterNovem, which is buying the
certified emission reductions on behalf of
the Dutch government.
By April 2007, China had already
signed off 279 CDM projects, which
cover half of the globally-deducted
GHG emissions under CDM, at a total
investment of $9b.
But CDM alone is far from enough.
China plans to increase its share of
renewable energy from 4% in 2005
to 16% by 2020, and quadruple GDP
by 2020 while only doubling energy
consumption. This will require a major
leap in energy efficiency.
Thanks to a new law on energy
conservation in 1998 and previous
relevant regulations, China’s energy
intensity (energy consumption per
million GDP at a constant 2000 yuan)
went down from 268 tce to 143 tce
between 1990 and 2005 – a decrease
of 4.1%/y. The energy consumption per
unit of energy-intensive products in the
industrial sector also declined strikingly.
In 2004, as compared with 1990, for
generators with a capacity of 6 MW and
above, the unit energy consumption
for thermal power supply decreased
from 0.427 kgce/kWh to 0.376 kgce/kWh;
comparable energy consumption per ton
of steel in key companies decreased from
997 kgce to 702 kgce; and comprehensive
energy consumption per ton of cement in
medium and large enterprises decreased
from 201 kgce to 157 kgce. Year-on-year
from 1991 to 2005, China saved an
accumulated 800m tce of energy through
restructuring and improved energy
efficiency, equivalent to a reduction of
1.8b t of CO2 emissions.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government

has been shutting down small-scale power
plants, since they consume 30–50% more
coal than large plants. In 2006, plants
producing 1212 MW of power were closed
down, followed by 156 more with a total
capacity of 5510 MW in the first half of
2007. By 2010, the Chinese government
plans to close 50 GW of small thermal
power plants, which it says will reduce
annual CO2 emissions by 17m t.
While reducing the use of carbonic
energy sources like coal, China is
striving to improve its use of renewable
energies. By the end of 2005, the
country had installed 117 GW of
hydropower, accounting for 23% of
total power generation capacity. The
corresponding power generation was
401 TWh, accounting for 16.2% of total
electricity generation. Other renewable
energies, like biogas, ethanol biofuel and
windfarms also saw dramatic increases. In
2005, China used 166m tce of renewable
power, accounting for 7.5 % of its energy
consumption.
Other methods that the Chinese
government is considering to help rein in
its CO2 emissions include afforestation,
tighter regulations, and improving R&D.
China’s forests currently cover 175m ha,
and from 1990 to 2005, the percentage
of forest cover increased from 13.92% to
18.21%. It’s estimated that from 1980 to
2005, this absorbed 3.06b t of CO2.
In 2004, the National Development
and Reform Commission (NDRC) launched
its first medium and long-term energy
conservation plan. A renewable energy
law followed in February 2005, followed
by further measures to encourage energy
saving in August 2006. The aim is to
quadruple China’s GDP by 2020 but only
double energy consumption.
China has spent 4.6b yuan ($600m)
since 2006 on science and technology to
reduce CO2 emissions and curb temperature
rise. These projects and studies focus
on raising energy efficiency, developing
renewable energy and clean coal, carbon
capture and sequestration, biological
absorption of carbon, and cutting GHG
emissions through improved farming
methods. China’s one-family-one-child
policy should also be seen as a way of
reducing GHG emissions, the government
argues. Based on the International Energy
Agency’s figure for average per capita
emissions, the policy has averted
1.3b t of CO2 being emitted – a
“significant contribution” in the fight to
cut global warming, China’s government
says.
future prospects
According to the IEA, China’s emission
intensity (CO2 emission per unit of GDP)
halved between 1990 to 2004, falling to
sustainability 4
Reduction amount
Field Concrete measures
(2005–2010)
Development of abundant hydropower resources, with an emphasis on
Hydropower 500m t CO2
western regions and small-scale hydropower.
Construction of nuclear power stations in the coastal regions with faster
economic development and heavy electricity requirements should be expedited.
Unification of technological approaches and adoption of advanced technology
Nuclear power to realise independent and domestic construction of large-scale power 50m t CO2
stations and improve the overall capacity of the nuclear power industry on the
principles of self-reliance, international cooperation, technology transfer and
the promotion of independence.
Emphasis on small-scale distributed natural gas or coal bed methane electric
power generation. Development of 600 MW or higher supercritical (ultra-
Technological
supercritical) units and large combined-cycle units and other high-efficiency
improvements
and clean power-generation technologies; head and power cogeneration,
in thermal 110m t CO2
cogeneration of heat, power and coal, and a combined head-electricity-coal-
power
gas multiple supply; strengthened power-grid construction by adoption of
generation
advanced power-transmission, transformation and distribution technologies,
and decreasing losses of power transmission, transformation and distribution.
Vigorous development of CBM and CMM. Major incentives, including full or
Coal-bed
partial exemption from utilisation fees for prospecting and mining rights for
methane (CBM)
surface extraction and exploring projects; preferential tax policies for CBM
& 200m t CO2 equivalent
and CMM exploration and use; pegging price of CBM and CMM for industrial
coal-mine
and residential use to the price of natural gas with the same calorific value;
methane (CMM)
encouraging the cooperation of CDM projects.
Great interest in bio-energy, including marsh gas, biomass briquette and
biomass liquid fuel. Construction or reconstruction of straw-fired power
plants and small-to-medium scale boilers in major crop production areas
with abundant biomass. Waste incineration in areas with a more developed
economy but scarce land resources. Construction of marsh gas projects and
power-generation at large livestock or bird farms and sewage treatment
Bio-energy 30m t CO2 equivalent
plants. Vigorous promotion of marsh gas and gasification for agricultural and
forestry wastes, aiming at increasing the share of gas in rural residential areas
and using biomass gasification to ameliorate environmental problems caused
by rural residential and industrial wastes. Efforts to develop biomass solid
briquette and liquid fuels, supported by economic policies and preferential
measures.
Construction of large windfarms, promotion of new wind power technologies
and domestic production of wind power equipment to reduce costs; active
development of solar power and solar heating, including popularising family-
Development use photovoltaic power systems or small-scale photovoltaic power plants in
and use of remote areas; support of integrated solar energy building, a solar-energy-based
wind, solar, hot water supply, space heating and cooling pilot projects in urban areas and 60m t CO2
geothermal and household solar water-heaters, as well as solar greenhouses and solar stoves in
tidal energy rural areas; active promotion of geothermal and tidal energy for heating, hot
water supply and geothermal heat pump technologies; development of tidal
power in Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and other provinces while conducting
research on wave and other oceanic power.
Table 1: Based on material from the National Coordination Committee on Climate Change
2.76 kg CO2 /$ from 5.47 kg CO2 /$ . But the country seems confident.
By 2010, China plans to lower its “China is exploring a different
energy consumption per unit GDP by way of controlling greenhouse-gas
20% compared to 2005, and reduce its emissions. We will not follow the
GHG emissions by 950m t. Table 1 details western countries’ way of having high
the plans, as set out by the National emissions first, then reducing them”,
Coordination Committee on Climate says Wan Gang, the minister of science
Change. and technology.
As the world’s biggest developing The “different way” Wan refers to
country, and the world’s second biggest is turning energy-saving targets into
energy consumer after the US, China faces goals for CO2 emissions.
increasing challenges in the future as it Dudek estimates by 2020, China’s
tries to maintain its high GDP growth, energy consumption will be double
while doing its best to reduce GHG. the current level, and similarly for its
Meanwhile, China has to face the CO2 emissions. “Energy saving is the
post- Kyoto protocol time, when China essential tool for China to reach its
may have to take a bigger share of GHG emission-reduction goals.”
responsibility for reducing GHG emissions. Good luck China! tce
september 2007 tce 37