Issues: Oil & Energy

Most of China's electricity comes from burning coal, the fossil fuel with the highest emissions of particulates, sulfur dioxide, mercury and carbon dioxide. Luckily, China has other options. Investing in energy efficiency will put billions of dollars back into the economy. China's energy efficiency goals will save the country 700 million metric tons of coal equivalent by 2010 -- around $200 billion at current coal prices. Switching from coal to renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass will dramatically decrease pollution and health problems, and has already supplied 7.5 percent of the country's total energy consumption and reduced its annual CO2 emissions by 400 million tons. And using advanced coal technologies will also help reduce carbon and other pollutants during power generation.

NRDC collaborates with various Chinese partners, such as the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and its Energy Research Institute, the Ministry of Science & Technology, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and several provincial and municipal governments.

NRDC promotes clean power by emphasizing efficiency and renewable energy as the priority choices. Together with Chinese partners, we have been working on:

• Providing technical assistance in formulating China's relevant energy laws to promote greater utilization of energy efficiency and renewable energy;
  
  
• Developing sound regulatory policies that reduce power plant emissions, provide incentives for clean energy development, and make energy efficiency profitable;
  
  
• Organizing an annual Demand Side Management (DSM) Forum to promote DSM as a valuable energy resource;
  
  
• Producing a national DSM implementation manual to standardize energy efficiency implementation procedures;
  
  
• Organizing study tours and training programs to build capacity for energy efficiency;
  
  
• Promoting the development in China of environmentally sound and non-farmland biofuel to help cut pollution and ease China's demand for oil;
  
  
• Designing energy efficiency standards for computers and other electronic equipment;
  
  
• Fostering public participation in energy and environmental decision-making to ensure that people have a voice in decisions that affect them; and
  
  
• Encouraging the development and deployment in China of carbon capture and storage capacity and more efficient coal power generation technologies, such as gasification-based polygeneration, to the extent that coal is still in use.
  
  

NRDC works with some of the most polluted provinces in China, as well as some of the most advanced, to test how innovative energy policies improve the environment and human health. Our work includes:

Beijing Municipality and Jiangsu, Guangdong and Hebei Provinces
• Designing new incentives and financial mechanisms that help provincial governments promote energy efficiency -- instead of building new power plants -- while helping factories save money;
  
  
• Collaborating with local government to adopt new energy efficiency technologies in building projects, such as renewable energy utilization, in order to reduce emissions and air pollution;
  
  
• Developing virtual "energy efficiency power plants" to build economy of scale for energy efficiency;
  
  
• Developing administrative models for effective energy efficiency implementation;
  
  
• Conducting comprehensive energy audits to raise awareness and help factories to focus on energy efficiency opportunities; and
  
  
• Developing energy service company (ESCO) mechanisms for effective DSM deliveries.
  
  

Shandong, Shanxi, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang Provinces
• Providing policy assistance to help these provinces reduce power plant emissions and provide incentives for the development of cleaner energy sources.
  
  

Chongqing
• Facilitating Columbia University's research on how reducing air pollution from burning coal will benefit the health of newborn infants and children.