At the three-day Sixth Chinese Scientists Forum that ended on Monday, or July 16, five ace scientists "felt the pulse" of China's "ill" energy issue and enunciated their views from their respective angles on the country's present situation with energy development and prospects.
China's energy development faces challenges
The gross domestic product or GDP in China quadrupled in two decades from 1980 to 2000, whereas its energy consumption only doubled in the same period. The pace for the country's energy consumption growth exceeded that of GDP in five years between 2001 and 2005, and the excessive energy consumption has thus drawn wide attention of scientists.
On China's current energy situation, Wang Dazhong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and a nuclear reactor engineering expert, said China has become the world's second energy producer and consumer, the first coal producer and consumer, the second petroleum consumer and importer, and the second electric power producer. "China has such a vast population and so its total energy consumption quantity retains at a high level," noted Wang, who was also former president of prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing, "although its per-capita annual energy consumption amounts to only 1.72 tons of standard coal, or 74 percent of the global average level.
Meanwhile, Wang said, energy development in China is currently confronted with four major stark challenges, and they are protruding, acute contradictions between the supply and demands with a limited per-capita share of resources, abnormal energy consumption in recent years, a low energy utilization rate (only 33.4 percent, or 10 percent less than the advanced level) with an arduous task for energy saving, and a deteriorated environment pollution with relatively high pressures for sustainable development.
It is imperative to raise energy-saving awareness
What has brought about a supernormal growth of energy consumption in recent years? There are two factors, according to Wang, and the first is the excessive growth of high consumption energy, grave pollutions and the over-growth of heavy chemical industry and the second is the fact that the communications and building industries have been turned into the new growth points of energy consumption along with the acceleration of urbanization process and upgrading of consumption mix. The combined housing floor space of residential quarters nationwide rose 244 percent in five years between 2000 and 2005 and, from 2000 to 2006, China became the biggest car manufacturer globally.
Huo Yuping, a CAS academician and a noted theoretical physicist, acknowledged that the ownership of cars in Beijing has topped the three-million mark, and other major cities follow suit. China requires sustainable development; it currently has 1.3 billion people and the figure is expected to reach 1.6 billion in the middle of this century. With such an immense demand for energy, every one has to increase its awareness to enhance his or her understanding about energy saving.
Particular attention should be given to energy conservation in the communications and building industries in the course of urbanization, scientists have claimed, and Japan should be taken as an fine example for Chinese to follow instead of emulating the American way of life, which consumes so much energy.
Sustainable development is of vital importance
In the present energy consumption mix, coal makes up 69 percent, and so Ni Weidou, another CAS academician and a dynamics machinery engineer, said: "Why do we always talk of coal, and the very reason is that coal will remain the principal source of energy till the year 2050 and even beyond.
The crux of matter is what should be done in the face of stark reality, noted the academicians. Ni Weidou suggested for applying the modern use of coal with its gasification to be taken as the strategic direction so as to cope with challenges. As long as relevant departments or units in the coal, chemicals and electric power and other relevant industries pool their efforts and do away with restrictions of divide between the trades, it is viable to set up large-scale exemplary, joint production installations or equipment in a matter of three to five years and popularize their use on a marked scale around 2020.
In this 21st century, the world enters into an era for energy mix re-adjustment and China should keep up the effort. The heart of the matter is to lower the proportion of fossil fuel energy, said Yan Luguang, also a CAS academician and an electrical engineering expert. To this end, he proposed going in for acquiring the highly-efficient and clean transferring technology, ensuring the supply of petroleum oil and natural gas, making the maximum development of hydro-electric power and nuclear power, tapping in a massive way renewable energies other than hydro-energy, giving an adequate support to the research and development of new-type future energy.
It is crucial to formulate formal new energy plans
Enacting new formal energy plans represents the first primary issue of importance in the speech of Huo Yuping at the forum. Till today, he added, China still neither has an energy plan as the very one in true sense worked out by France, nor any sustainable, medium or long-term energy demand forecasts. So, there will be very great changes with regard to China's energy plans even on a short-term basis. For a big developing nation like China, it is of vital significance to map out a scientific energy plan and enact its steady energy policy in line with specific national conditions in the country.
Moreover, it is absolutely essential to institute an independent energy ministry or an energy commission to plan, lead or direct the establishment of China's energy system, he noted.
Furthermore, Du Xiangwan, also a CAS academician and an applied nuclear physicist, called special attention to the "conservation of energy", which he cited as a "huge, low-cost and fine-quality green energy." He notified that energy consumption for per GDP unit had been downed by 50 percent in a decade from 1995 to 2005 but per product energy consumption in the high energy consuming industries was still 40 percent higher as compared with the advanced world level. Consequently, it will be imperative to set right the one-sided outlook on development, that is "'GDP' is an absolute principle" and constinue to foster the concept that only scientific development is an absolute principle and to guard against and avoid the crude tapping or utilization of energy. In addition, energy saving should be propped or backed up with corresponding laws or systematic set-ups.
By People's Daily Online
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