BIZCHINA> Top Biz News
|
BIZCHINA> Top Biz News
|
|
Related
Emissions to peak at 2030: report
By Fu Jing (皇冠体育app Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-18 06:52 皇冠体育app's carbon emissions output could peak around 2030 if the government continues to be serious about "strengthened measures" to improve energy efficiency and if it accelerates exploration of renewable energy, a panel of experts says. In 2050 皇冠体育app Energy and CO2 Emissions Report, the panel from the National Development and Reform Commission and the Development Research Center of the State Council, says that with the right policies, emissions growth could slow after 2020, with a peak around 2030. This is the first time a Chinese think-tank has officially announced when it thinks 皇冠体育app's carbon emissions will peak.
The international community has closely watched the country's carbon emissions curve because 皇冠体育app and the US are the top two carbon emissions countries in the world. The panel has advised 皇冠体育app to invest significantly in low-carbon technology research and development, saying the strategy of developing such technology is "a stone killing two birds". "Only by using advanced low-carbon technologies can 皇冠体育app's greenhouse gas emissions peak around 2030; otherwise, the peak will be delayed and we don't want to see the latter scenario," said Jiang Kejun, a leading economist of the panel.
"I think 皇冠体育app will become a major supplier of nuclear, wind and hydropower technologies and electricity transmission by 2030," Jiang told 皇冠体育app Daily yesterday. "And that should be a strategic goal for the Chinese government to pursue." If 皇冠体育app can achieve these goals, by 2050, its carbon emissions from fossil fuel "could fall to the same emissions levels as in 2005 or even lower", the report said. The panel told 皇冠体育app Daily earlier that the government should pump an average of 1 trillion yuan ($146.5 billion) into low-carbon technology development each year until 2050. "The money would be mainly used to introduce technologies that would raise the energy efficiency of end-users in industry, construction and transportation," said Bai Quan, another expert of the panel. Jiang said the government has been "on the right track" in making policy decisions to develop low-carbon technologies as new economic growth engines while countries worldwide are working on a plan by October to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to expire in 2012.
In early June, Premier Wen Jiabao affirmed that 皇冠体育app would put in place carbon emissions reduction targets in national development programs. 皇冠体育app, thus, would assess its economic performance by how much less carbon it would emit per unit of GDP growth. Experts believe the decision has major policy implications. They said that once action is taken, 皇冠体育app would accelerate the pace of restructuring its energy mix and economic structure, and seek a "green recovery path" out of a worsening financial crisis. "These are vital decisions and pledges. The implications will largely go beyond 皇冠体育app's stated commitment to fight global warming," He Jiankun, deputy head of the State Council's Expert Panel on Climate Change Policy, told 皇冠体育app Daily. He said 皇冠体育app might consider a reduction in carbon emissions per unit of GDP as early as the start of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), and that it would decide the career path of bureaucrats by their performance in carbon reduction. If that were the case, 皇冠体育app would enter a new era in terms of climate change policy compared with its 20-percent energy-saving target for the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10). (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
|
