Chinese Academy of Sciences set out strategic plan for the development of China's energy industry until 2050

To quadruple its per capita value of the 2000 GDP by 2020, China must develop a sustainable energy system as soon as possible.

The report by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) that has set out a strategic plan for the development of China's energy industry until 2050 is not only farsighted but also urgently needed.

The new report argued that, to ensure the stable transition from the current fossil fuel-based energy system to a sustainable energy system, there should be no more than 50 percent increase in the total consumption of fossil fuels by 2050 as compared to that in 2005.

For a developing country like China that is undergoing fast industrialization and urbanization, the shift toward a sustainable energy future will be very difficult.

As the world's fourth largest economy, China has risen to be the single largest contributor to world growth now. But as a developing economy, the country's energy efficiency remains much lower than that of developed countries. As a result, the country's robust economic growth is often associated with an ever growing energy need and increasingly serious environmental consequences.

The Chinese authorities are keen to address the country's energy needs in a sustainable manner. The government's vow to cut energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent between 2006 and 2010 is just a part of the country's sustainable energy efforts.

Yet, the fact that China relies on coal for about 70 percent of its energy consumption indicates that the country still has quite a long way to go before it can develop a sustainable energy system.

The CAS report has come up with some important suggestions that are essential to China's energy sustainability.

For instance, it urged that the energy pricing system with due consideration of environmental cost and resource scarcity should be established, and measures such as favorable taxation and governmental subsidies be taken to encourage the development of clean energy sources.

Obviously, only with effective demand- and supply-side solutions can China accelerate its transit to a sustainable energy future.

Policymakers should make greater efforts to bring into place such measures to ensure its energy system can generally meet the domestic demands of economic development in coming decades.

2007-10-24