【明報專訊】On 27 January 2010 China's State Council announced the establishment of the National Energy Commission (國家能源委員會), which was tasked with coordinating and devising a comprehensive national energy policy. However, six years after its creation, China's energy policy is undergoing a fundamental shift.
◆How is energy generated in China？
Coal
Coal is the major source of energy in China. According to a BBC report, as of 2013, coal accounted for 65% of the source of China's installed power capacity, the intended power output of facilities such as power plants. Furthermore, China consumed 93 million tonnes more coal that year than it did 30 years earlier (in 1983).
Hydropower
What came second was large hydropower, which constituted 15% of China's installed power capacity in 2013. Clean energy, including wind power, small hydropower and solar energy, made up a total of 14% of the capacity. Other energy sources included natural gas (3%), nuclear power (1%), oil and diesel (1%) and others (1%).
◆The problem with coal consumption
The burning of coal impacts on the environment significantly. One reason is that it releases a huge amount of greenhouse gases (溫室氣體). China has remained the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases ever since 2007, when it overtook the United States in the chart.
Coal consumption generates a lot of particulate matter (懸浮粒子), which is also known as "PM". It causes air pollution. It is believed that such fine particles may cause asthma (哮喘), bronchitis (支氣管炎) and acute and chronic respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath and painful breathing. They may also cause premature death. In China, the smog (煙霧) in Beijing is one of the most talked-about issues. Some observers believe it could threaten social stability.
◆Policy change in recent years
These problems have compelled the Beijing authorities to alter its energy policy in recent years. In 2014, for the first time in 15 years, government data showed China's annual coal consumption had declined 2.9% and carbon dioxide emissions had fallen 1%.
Greater reliance on greener energy sources
It is clear from its 12th Five-Year Plan (十二五規劃) that Beijing is pursuing a new energy policy. As summarised by Alex Hsu (許峻賓), a Taiwanese political science researcher, that Five-Year Plan is composed of such new directions as the shift from reliance on coal to reliance on greener and more diverse energy sources, as well as the shift from the over-reliance on domestic (國內的) energy supply to cooperation with other countries to obtain energy supply.
Getting oil from abroad
So how will China obtain energy sources from abroad? Perhaps the One Belt, One Road (一帶一路) policy is one of the answers. As observed by Simon Shen (沈旭暉), China's plan to build a railway linking Xinjiang and the Strait of Hormuz (霍爾木茲海峽) has much to do with its intention to circumvent the interference of Russia and India with a view to importing oil directly from the Middle East. In recent years, the Chinese government has shouldered most of the cost of Gwadar Port (瓜達爾港) in Pakistan, which could become the midway point (中轉站) for the import of Middle East oil.
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