Isra-Mart srl:China touts success of five-year energy efficiency target

www.isra-mart.com

Isra-Mart srl news:

China has slashed its energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by a fifth over the past five years, according to reports confirming the government successfully met its energy efficiency target for 2010.

Detailed data is yet to be released, although state-run news agency Xinhua reported that Zhang Ping, director of China's economic planning body the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), had said the country would "basically meet its goal".

However, the government was forced to take drastic action to ensure that the five-year target was met. The country's energy consumption per unit of GDP, also known as energy intensity, rose 3.2 per cent in the first quarter of last year and, faced with the prospect of missing the target, premier Wen Jiabao threatened to close poorly performing plants, factories and mines.

There have been unconfirmed reports that a number of plants were indeed shut to ensure the target was met.

China has targeted a 40 to 45 per cent cut in carbon intensity against 2005 levels by 2020, but has yet to announce its goal for the next five years. Reports from inside the country last year suggested that it could aim to reduce consumption by a further 17.3 per cent by 2015. The final version of the five-year plan, which is also expected to include significant increases in clean tech and renewable energy investment, is expected to be announced in the next few months.

In related news, South Korea has today announced plans to ramp up spending on renewable energy by 24 per cent as it looks to raise the contribution from wind and solar from about five per cent of its energy mix currently to 11 per cent by 2020.

An emailed statement from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said the country would raise the budget from 808.4 billion won (£465m) to 1 trillion won to provide financing for new renewable energy projects.

South Korea is Asia's fourth-largest economy, but is keen to reduce its dependence on crude oil and liquefied natural gas imports, as well as cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost its domestic renewables industry.

The country plans to add £5bn worth of offshore wind farms, including a 900MW project, to an already established solar industry as part of a £22bn, five-year ''green growth'' strategy announced in October.

Earlier this week, reports quoted South Korean president Lee Myung-bak declaring he expected the country's burgeoning renewable energy sectors to achieve exports of $40bn (£26bn) in 2015 compared with $4.6bn in 2009.