2. Energy Conservation

Enhancing target responsibility assessment. China has resolved and assigned responsibilities to fulfill set targets in energy conservation, and established a statistical monitoring and evaluation system to regularly evaluate the completion of energy conservation targets and the implementation of energy conservation measures by 31 provincial governments and 1,000 key enterprises. In 2010, China launched special supervision over energy conservation and emission reduction in 18 key regions. Strict target responsibility evaluation and accountability contributed to achieving the national energy conservation targets.

Promoting energy conservation in key fields. The Chinese Government has carried out 10 key energy conservation projects, including upgrading of industrial boilers and kilns, combined heat and power generation, electromechanical system energy conservation and residual heat and pressure utilization, conducted energy conservation in 1,000 enterprises, enhanced energy conservation management of key energy-consuming enterprises, and promoted energy audit and energy efficiency benchmarking activities. It has launched the low-carbon transportation action for automobiles, ships, roads and harbors in 1,000 enterprises, vigorously developed urban public transport. It has also improved the implementation rate of mandatory energy conservation standards of new buildings, quickened the energy conservation transformation of existing buildings, promoted the use of renewable energy resources in buildings, and conducted energy conservation transformation of government office buildings. By the end of 2010, the implementation rate of mandatory energy efficiency standards for new urban buildings reached 99.5 percent in the design stage and 95.4 percent in the construction stage. During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, the accumulated total energy-efficient floor space constructed was 4.857 billion square meters, with energy-saving capacity of 46 million tons of standard coal. The government has taken energy conservation actions in the retail sector by restraining the production, marketing and using plastic shopping bags, and curbing over-packaging.

Promoting energy-saving technology and products. China has released a total of 115 state key energy-efficient technology promotion catalogues in three batches, and specially promoted seven energy-efficient technologies in the iron and steel, building material and chemical industries. The government has launched a project to promote energy-efficient products for the benefit of the people, and promoted high-efficiency illumination products and air conditioners, energy-efficient motors and other energy-efficient products by way of government subsidies. The central treasury has appropriated subsidies to support the production of and promote the use of some 360 million high-efficiency illumination products, 30 million high-efficiency air conditioners and 1 million energy-efficient motor vehicles, which have realized an annual energy-saving capacity of 20 billion kwh. China has carried out energy conservation and new-energy vehicle demonstration and promotion, and taken the lead in using mixed-power vehicles, electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles. The government has established a preferential procurement system for energy-efficient products, released a government procurement list of energy-efficient products, and ordered mandatory procurement of nine kinds of energy-efficient products, including air conditioners, computers and illumination products. During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, a large variety of high-efficiency energy technologies were widely applied, including low-temperature waste heat power generation, new type cathode aluminum reduction cells, high-voltage frequency conversion, rare earth permanent magnet motors and plasma oil-less ignition. Meanwhile, the market share of high-efficiency illumination products reached 67 percent, and that of high-efficiency air conditioners, 70 percent.

Developing a circular economy. National “city mine” demonstration bases have been built to promote the concentrated, circular and high-added-value utilization of obsolete electromechanical equipment, waste household appliances, plastic and rubber, and other waste resources in key cities, and efforts are being made to promote the comprehensive utilization of major industrial solid waste. During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, China comprehensively utilized about 1 billion tons of fly ash, 1.1 billion tons of coal slag, and 500 million tons of metallurgical slag. The Central Government funded the industrialization of remanufacturing projects. By the end of 2010, China had formed a remanufacturing capacity of automobile engines, gearboxes, steering engines and electric generators, totaling 250,000 pieces (sets).

Promoting energy conservation market mechanism. The government is proactively pushing forward energy management through contract management, power demand side management, voluntary energy conservation agreements and other market mechanisms. In 2010, China issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Implementation of Contract Energy Management and Promoting the Development of the Energy Conservation Service Industry, increased financial support, adopted policy of taxation support and improved related accounting systems and financial services to strengthen support for the energy conservation service industry. From 2005 to 2010, the number of energy conservation service companies increased from 80 to over 800, the number of employees in this sector increased from 16,000 to 180,000, the industry scale was enlarged from 4.7 billion yuan worth to 84 billion yuan worth, and the annual energy-saving capacity rose from some 600,000 to more than 13 million tons of standard coal.

Improving related standards. The government has improved the energy-efficient design standards for residential buildings in three climate zones (freezing cold and cold, hot in summer and cold in winter, and hot in summer and warm in winter); improved energy-efficient design standards for public buildings and the code of acceptance inspection of energy-efficient building construction; issued 27 mandatory national standards for energy consumption quotas of high energy-consuming products and 19 mandatory national energy efficiency standards for major terminal energy-using products; formulated 15 national standards for the discharge of major pollutants; promulgated 71 environmental labeling standards; and released an energy efficiency labeling product catalogue.

Incentive policies. China has quickened the reform of the energy pricing mechanism, reformed the taxes and fees of refined petroleum products, adopted a differential electricity pricing policy for high-energy-consuming industries, imposed electricity pricing penalties on products with super-high energy consumption, and promoted the metered charging of heat supply by actual consumption of each household. The government has earmarked special funds for energy conservation and emission reduction. During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, the central treasury invested an accumulative total of 225 billion yuan to support energy-efficient technology upgrading and the popularization of energy-efficient products, forming an energy conservation capacity of 340 million tons of standard coal. The government meanwhile has been steadily pushing forward the reform of the resource taxation system, improving the export tax rebate system, adjusting the policy on vehicle purchase, and vehicle and vessel tax, using preferential taxation policies to promote energy and water conservation, the comprehensive utilization of resources, and the import of energy-efficient and low-carbon products.

Through the efforts of all sectors, China accomplished its energy conservation goals listed in the 11th Five-Year Plan. China’s energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped 19.1 percent from that of 2005 accumulatively, or a reduction of 1.46 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions. During the same period, China’s national economy expanded at an average annual rate of 11.2 percent, while its energy consumption grew only 6.6 percent annually on average. The energy consumption elasticity coefficient dropped from 1.04 in the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-05) to 0.59, which eased the contradiction between energy supply and demand.