Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Outlook for Energy Supply and Demand
in China
Yande Dai
Abstract
In the new century, China has entered the phase of Homeland Construction. As
the process of urbanization and industrialization accelerates, demand on energy
has experienced unprecedentedly rapid growth. By far, China has become a net
importer of almost all the primary energies except electricity, most notably; its
crude oil dependency on foreign countries has been more than 50 %. Therefore,
the Chinese government has taken a series of vigorous measures to promote
the exploration and exploitation of domestic energy resources. Efforts have been
enhanced to develop natural gas and renewable energy resources, especially in
the context of climate change. During the “11th Five Year Plan”, the Chinese
energy self-sufficiency rate is projected at around 90 %, which is the highest
among the world's top energy consumers.
Currently, however, China's economic development and energy consumption
remain relatively low. In the coming 10 years and beyond, China's society will
continue to pursue rapid growth, which means the rising demand on energy is
hard to contain. In order to ensure a sustainable economy and alleviate the
pressure on the biological environment from energy consumption, China is
pushing a sustainable energy development strategy in next 10 years. On the
supply side, China will actively promote improved fossil-fuel production and
also develop green energies, such as water, wind, solar, biological and nuclear
energies. On the demand side, China will create incentives to save energy and
reduce total energy consumption.
Keywords
Energy supply and demand Energy consumption Green energy Energy
development strategy Energy conservation and emission reduction
