Saturday, June 8, 2013

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By Wei Tian and Chen Jia in Chengdu ( China Daily)
China will become the world's energy laboratory for decades to come, as the country continuesto create a greener economy, experts said at the Chengdu Fortune Global Forum on Friday.
"The transition from fossil fuels to green energy will take decades, but we can start withsomething such as natural gas," said Sun Simin, chairman of the Asia Clean Energy InnovationInitiative.
He said that China and the United States have already launched cooperation projects tofacilitate such a goal. For instance, some major State-owned enterprises are importing liquefiednatural gas from the US to benefit from the low energy prices caused by the shale gasrevolution in the country.
Matt Fox, executive vice-president of exploration and production at ConocoPhillips, said that hiscompany is also helping bring LNG from Australia to China, in cooperation with China NationalPetroleum Corp.
The imports are to meet increasing energy needs amid the continuously expanding economy,which is expected to nearly double between now and 2020.
China accounts for 20.7 percent of global energy demand, and China's energy consumption isgrowing four times faster than the rest of the world, according to a report compiled by Dupont.
"China's growth in energy consumption will profoundly reshape the global energy market incoming years, by boosting energy prices and stimulating scientific innovation across the energy sector, from fossil fuels to renewable energy," the report said.
But in the process, China will still be heavily dependent on fossil fuels in the foreseeable future.
China depends on coal for about 80 percent of its electricity generation. Such dependencecarries heavy environmental costs: Environmental degradation, pollution, and associatedhealth problems cost an estimated 11 percent of China's annual GDP, according to a report bythe Lawrence Livermore National Lab.
"The government is very much aware of the issue and is taking the people's discontent onboard in setting future policies," said Felix Zhang, executive director of Envision Energy Ltd.
He said the distributed power generation system introduced by the National Development andReform Commission was a good example and is a further step towards more energy efficiency.
"We're also working with the authorities on some pilot programs, and the government is stilltrying to find out the most efficient way to implement them," he said.
"Major Chinese energy companies such as Shenhua, Huaneng and State Grid have used theirState funding and own resources to develop biofuels, shale gas and smart grids," the Dupontreport said.
Ling Wen, CEO of China Shenhua Energy Co, said that SOEs should assume more socialresponsibilities, and energy giants such as Shenhua are obliged to provide clean energy to thepeople.

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