Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
remains to be an important measure to solve energy supply problem, reduce
environmental pollution and deal with global climate change. For China, it is
impractical to abandon nuclear completely. Under the premise of guaranteeing
security, it is necessary to develop nuclear power.
4.2
Problems and Challenges in Energy Development
4.2.1 Energy Consumption Level Is Still Very Low
and Will Continue to Increase in the Future
In the past 12 years, China's total energy consumption accumulated to add nearly
1,800 million ton coal equivalent with an annual average growth of 216 million ton
coal equivalent. However, China's energy consumption level is still very low. Both
per capita energy consumption and per capita power generation capacity are less
than half of those in developed countries.
From the basic situation of the stage of China's social economy development
and economic development, economic aggregate has leaped to second place in the
world while economic development level is still very low (see Fig.
4.11
). Economic
development between east and west, urban and rural area is in huge unbalanced
(see Fig.
4.12
). It is foreseeable that China's economic society will maintain a fast
growth pace in the coming 10 years or even longer period, and its energy demand
will continue to increase.
In the eighteenth national congress of the communist party of China, Chinese
government put forward to double the GDP and the annual per capita income of
urban and rural Households in 2020. That means China's economic will maintain a
fast growth in the coming ten years. China's annual GDP growth rate is expected to
reach about 8 % and its total GDP volume will reach 0.69 million RMB (the price in
2005) in 2020. Provided that the energy use per unit of GDP remains unchanged as
the end of 2012, total amount of China's primary energy demand will reach
6.7 billion ton coal equivalent by 2020. If the energy use per unit of GDP in the
coming ten years reduces by 30 %, total amount will still be up to 5 billion ton coal
equivalent.
Figure
4.13
demonstrates the possible development of China's energy demand in
the next 8 years. No matter from energy supply capability, regional environmental
protection, or global climate change alleviation, we can draw the conclusion that
sustainable development in China in the future will face a severe pressure.
4.2.2 Energy Consumption Structure Depends Mainly on Coal,
Which Leads to Heavy Pressure on Environmental Pollution
Coal-based energy consumption structure in China not only brings frequent coal
mine accidents, huge transportation pressure and other social problems, but also
aggravates the contradiction between energy utilization and environmental
