Reduce Power Waste, Another Path to Low Carbon

In order to work towards lowering carbon emissions nations need change their attitudes and encourage innovation, and China needs a solution to lower its energy costs, experts said on Sept 15 in Dalian, Liaoning Province.

China is now number one in the world for wind-power and solar-power capacity, but these new forms of energy production contribute a limited portion to the county's energy mix, said Lin Boqiang, director of China Center for Energy Economic Research of Xiamen University, during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions.

According to experts, China needs to increase its commercial renewable energy consumption count to higher than 9.5 percent of its total power consumption, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 18 percent in five years time.

Technology in the new energy field is mostly possessed by developed countries, and usually costs a large sum to obtain, Tulsi Tanti, chairman and managing director of Suzlon Energy from India, said at the forum.

The new energy sector, energy saving and environmental protection sector are among the country's seven emerging strategic sectors, and energy efficiency company Danfoss A/S considers the energy-saving approach to be more achievable now.

"With great impact, we can save electricity from heating and cooling," as it is hard to stop residents driving fuel powered cars or reduce industries' energy consumption, Danfoss A/S' Chairman Jorgen M. Clausen told China Daily website on Sept 16 in an interview at the sideline of the forum.

China has been using waste heat from thermal power plants in some regions to warm water that is then piped into residents' heaters. This heating method avoids the necessity of warming the water using coal consuming boilers.

"The free heat from power generation is the cheapest heat… but its use could be improved far better," Clausen said. He believes carbon emissions could be cut by 10 percent, or 40 percent in new communities.