China Focus: Energy conservation highlighted at level of national strategy,
By Han Qiao
BEIJING, June 16 (Xinhua) -- It is a 33-centigrade summer day, but Gao Fei, a young man working for China's Foreign Affairs Ministry in Beijing, did not go for the air-conditioner remote control when coming into the office. Instead, he opened the window.
The ministry's office building did not experience blackout. Gao is inspired by the "experiencing power crunch" program, themed in the ongoing Energy-Saving Week that ends on June 18. "Good ventilation is enough to cool the room," he said.
Faced by the severe power crisis, energy-saving is being highlighted in China's energy strategy, as the energy issue has topped the government agenda.
China set up a national energy leading group early this month, headed by Premier Wen Jiabao. One of the main responsibilities of the group is to promote "energy development and conservation". The first meeting of the group decided to greatly push forward the energy-saving work in the country.
China is suffering from a severe energy crunch. Last year, twenty- four of its provincial-level power grids experienced blackouts, and forty-percent of the oil supply is imported.
Before the Energy-Saving Week, Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan stressed that energy conservation is significant to achieve the country's goal to "quadruple China's gross domestic product (GDP) while only doubling energy consumption by 2020."
But social behavior might disappoint Zeng. The air-conditioners in many five-star hotels in China are set at 18 centigrade, making customers chilly in the hot summer. A recent news story said that in one residential apartment in Beijing, one public light was on day and night for one year due to a broken switch. But nobody cared to repair it or report the case.
Activities in the ongoing Energy-Saving Week demonstrate China' s potential in conservation. Thirty-odd star hotels in Beijing are subsidized to replace their lighting products to energy-efficient lights, saving electricity consumption by 70 percent.
Statistics show that the energy-efficiency rate of China stands at 33 percent, ten percentage points lower than the world advanced level.
China's huge energy consumption, especially in oil, has raised world concern. Will China be a threat to world energy security?
In response to the question, Ma Kai, minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's economic planning agency, said at the recent 2005 Fortune Global Forum that China will hinge on domestic supplies to solve its energy problem.
"In 2004, 94 percent of China's energy consumption came from domestic supplies, "he said.
"China does not, and will not pose a threat to the world energy security," said Ma.
The world is helping out. United Nation Development Program ( UNDP), along with Global Environment Facility (GEF) Monday initiated a program about improving energy efficiency in China's industrial and construction sectors. China will get 17 million US dollars from GEF in the first three-year phase.
As the government highlights energy-conservation at the level of national strategy, some individuals have showed improved energy- saving awareness. A recent survey of Shanghai citizens indicated that forty percent of the surveyed are willing to buy energy- efficient products.
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