Coal to be reduced in China's energy mix to cut emissions

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-12-07

A worker loads up a truck with coal in Shanxi. (File photo/CNS)

China is well on track to optimize its energy mix by reducing the proportion of coal, as it looks to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, the Beijing-based Economic Observer reports.

The State Council has issued an energy development action plan for 2014 to 2020 on Nov. 19.

Under the plan, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong will aim to reduce total coal consumption by 100 million tonnes. The Yangtze and Pearl river deltas will also work to reduce total coal consumption and replace coal by gradually stepping up the proportion of external power transmission, raising the natural gas supply, and enhancing non-fossil fuel utilization intensity, among other measures.

China aims to cap coal consumption at 4.2 billion tons by 2020, so that coal constitutes no more than 62% of the primary energy mix by that year, the report stated.

In response to the plan, China National Coal Group Corporation, the country's second-largest coal producer, is considering adjusting its strategy. It has transformed into a coal-chemical industry over the past few years and plans to become more involved in the sector.

China's coal-fired power generation units are capable of increasing generation efficiency to 48% and restricting their average coal consumption to 256 grams per kWh of electricity generated, both the highest standards in the world, the report said.

However, the development of the high-potential new energy sector in China has not been as rapid as expected, mainly due to the high cost of power generation in the sector, the report stated.

Currently, the cost of renewable energy generation has been reduced by 70% and according to the target set under the action plan, China's non-fossil fuels will account for 15% of the total consumption of one-time energy by 2020.

Since China is the world's largest renewable energy market, various government agencies, particularly the environmental protection division, should provide support for the development of the industry to help power producers cut costs and make power prices more reasonable and affordable.

Currently, wind power prices are higher than the costs of coal-fired power generation, but coal-fired power generation produces more pollution, the report said.

Renewable power plants should step up the construction of facilities, make more efforts in research and development of technology to improve renewable energy generation capacity and cut power generation costs, the report added.