The US green industry leaders are lauding that Chinese president Hu Jintao's announcement of cutting carbon intensity has shown the country's comment in reducing global warming gases and restructuring its economy.

Chuck Wells, chief Scientist for OSIsoft, a US company aimed at boosting energy efficiency said he was very pleased with Hu Jintao's position on Climate change policies and China's policy toward greenhouse gas emissions will set the stage for other countries, including the US, to aggressively tackle this real problem.

"The common man throughout the world recognizes that humans have put the world at risk over the past 200 years by disrupting the natural carbon cycle," Wells told China Daily after Hu made the speech at UN climate change summit Tuesday in New York.

"This disturbance can be corrected by prompt policy changes on use of carbon. So we praise China’s new policy directions," said Wells, believing that major impacts on emissions can be made immediately by focusing on energy efficiency and demand response programs coupled with deep integration of wind and solar into the grid.

Jing Su, Director of US-China Program of American Council on Renewable Energy said Hu's commitment to significantly reducing carbon intensity shows that China, as an emerging power, is ready to take on a global leadership role in tackling climate change based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

She said China has already taken a batch of actions to transform its economic growth into a more sustainable pattern. First, energy efficiency is now a pillar of China's growth policy, and China plans to reduce its energy intensity by 20 percent from 2006 through 2010. China's fuel economy standards today are higher than the US standard to be met by 2016.

Second, China has national targets for renewable electricity production, leading to the emergence of innovative technologies. It plans to produce 10 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010, and 15 percent by 2020.

Third, China has new industrial zones dedicated to the production of low-carbon technologies.

"President Hu's speech confirms China's determination to find a comprehensive solution to global climate change," said Su. "After Copenhagen, I believe China will take a more aggressive approach to reduce its carbon footprint."

Su's colleague Tim Cronin said Hu's announcement of China's ambitious energy intensity goals highlights the need for US-China collaboration on renewable energy.

For China to reach its targets for lowering carbon emissions per unit of national income, US and Chinese firms must cooperate to develop and transfer new technologies, said Cronin.

Additionally, policymakers from the US and China will need to coordinate their efforts to decrease society’s carbon footprint. "Leaders in the two countries have a diversity of governing experiences that will make a sharing of best practices important when evaluating how to scale-up renewable energy deployment," said Cronin.

Cronin said President Hu's announcement affirms China's commitment to fostering economic development while at the same time combating climate change.

"My organization shares this commitment and is working diligently to facilitate the types of US-China collaboration that are necessary to meet China's energy intensity goals and simultaneously bolster renewable energy markets globally," said Cronin.

(chinadaily.com.cn September 23, 2009)