China announces cap on energy use

China has unveiled a five-year plan to cap overall energy use, with a focus on coal consumption.

The state’s official Xinhua news agency quoted the country’s former energy chief, Zhang Guobao, as saying that consumption would be capped at 4 billion tonnes of coal equivalent by 2015.

China’s energy use was 3.25 billion tonnes of coal equivalent in 2010, up 5.9 per cent year on year, according to Chinese government data. This is expected to rise by 4.24 per cent annually from 2011 to 2015.

China also aims to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced per unit of gross domestic product by 40 to 45 per cent by 2020, with a target for the 2011-2015 period expected to be included in the 12th five-year plan.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has already indicated that his country – the world’s most populous and one of the most polluted – would cut energy and carbon intensity by 16 to 17 per cent over the five-year period.

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