China to Boost New Energy Development

China intends for renewable energy to become its main source of power generation over the course of the next decade as the nation attempts to resolve the global crisis of climate change, a senior official said Tuesday.

Renewable energy sources, including wind, solar and biomass energy, need to be developed fast. The energy produced from such means will account for a large proportion of the energy consumed in the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), said Shi Lishan, deputy director of the National Energy Administration's new-energy and renewable energy department, at the 21st Century China Low-carbon Development Summit in Beijing.

Zhang Xinping, deputy director of the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said that climate change offers Chinese enterprises a great opportunity to develop renewable energy resources. China is now trying hard to redirect its industry away from heavily polluting manufacturers towards greener industries; and developing renewable energy resources is a major part of this move.

Li Xinmin, an official from the Department of Pollution Emission Control under the Ministry of Environmental Protection pointed out that the amount of traditional energy resources, including oil, natural gas, and coal, is limited and the continued use of these kinds of energy resources not only emits large amounts of CO2, many dangerous pollutants are also left behind .

Li added that the most dangerous pollutants created from burning fossil fuels are the hazardous waste materials they leave behind, which are sometimes illegally dumped by factories and enterprises. These pollutants destroy the soil and damage the natural environment.

Mikko Puustinen, Press and Cultural Counselor at the Embassy of Finland in China, gave a more thorough outlook than his Chinese counterparts on the moves being carried out within his own country to reduce carbon emissions within industry. The detailed summary was a sign of Finland's maturity in the area of carbon reduction compared to the efforts of Chinese companies.

Puustinen said that a clean industrial process is the main way for enterprises to reduce pollution in Finland; bio-energy and wind energy have already taken the place of traditional energy resources, and are used to promote energy efficiency. He also said that the responsibility to develop a low carbon plan lies with the government, citizens and enterprises; everyone needs to be educated about the importance of the environment.

The development and use of renewable energy not only provides people with a peace of mind they might not possess when thinking about the hazards of using fossil fuels, it also reduces carbon emissions. Recently, China has been pressing hard for carbon emission reduction at UN climate talks, and the nation played a huge role in the Durban Climate Change Conference, which sought to advance the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol and the Bali Action Plan.

In addition, Chinese enterprises are striving to use and provide renewable energy in an attempt to help tackle climate change, according to the 2011 China's Low Carbon Enterprise Developing Report issued on Tuesday.

The report was jointly issued by the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the 21st Century Business Herald at the summit.

At the summit, Luo Yong, a researcher of the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said that the details of the report outlined at the event are an important part of the steps being made to shift industry away from heavily polluting factories, and towards greener industries.

Low Carbon Enterprise Developing Report was issued at the 21st Century China Low-carbon Development Summit in Beijing on December 6, 2011. [CRIENGLISH.com]