Alliance, China Sign Energy Agreement

As one of the world’s most rapidly developing nations, China is feeling the impact of rising energy consumption and the strain of increasing demand. Last year, China accounted for 12 percent of global energy resource consumption. In an effort to address their energy needs and discover potential solutions, the Chinese government is actively exploring energy efficiency. In April, the Alliance welcomed a delegation from the Beijing Development Reform Commission (BRDC) to discuss the introduction and application of new energy-efficiency technologies in China and strengthen cooperation between the two groups. At the meeting, a Memorandum of Intent was signed.

The Energy Conservation Environment Protection Center (ECEPC) delegation was dispatched by the BRDC to gather information about energy saving and environmental protection strategies in the U.S. The Alliance to Save Energy agreed to a long-term working relationship with the ECEPC to study Chinese energy consumption and demand, help construct and conduct communications and outreach activities, assist with the preparation of policies and programs that advance energy efficiency throughout China as well as a range of other actions. These activities include workshops and professional training, mutual information exchange, and commercial building pilot projects.

The goal, according to the signed Memorandum, is to advance the mutual understanding of energy management and energy-efficiency practices in both countries. The Alliance will continue to work closely with the BRDC to identify opportunities for mutual collaboration.

This relatively new approach to energy efficiency is part of China’s latest Five-Year Plan. Ambitious guidelines aim to cut nationwide energy consumption by 20% in 2010, which includes an audit of 100 of the country’s most energy intensive industrial facilities, installation of more green lighting, including 4 million energy-efficient light bulbs, and an increased focus on clean coal, combined heat and power, and alternative fuel and renewable energy technologies.

As China’s traditional agrarian economy and lifestyle gradually gives way to urbanization and industrialization, as population continues to grow, income levels rise, and the middle class expands, resources and the most efficient use of them are increasingly at a premium. Every year, the Chinese are eating more grain, buying more cars, burning more coal, using more water, cutting more trees and building bigger buildings and skyscrapers. In the city of Beijing alone, there are approximately 158 million square meters of public building space. That’s roughly equivalent to 60 square miles, or the size of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Even while it scours the globe for additional supply sources to feed its growing population and economy, the Chinese government realizes it must also take a proactive stance on building codes, industrial efficiency, climate, transportation, and residential water and energy use.