BEIJING – China now leads its Asian neighbors in the current global effort to utilize renewable energy resources and implement environment protection measures.
The Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos and Myanmar could very well take their cue from China on how this country was able to sustain its energy requirements while protecting its environment.
Next to US, the Philippines is the world’s second largest producer of geothermal power.
Geothermal energy accounts for roughly 19 percent of the Philippines’ total power requirements while the rest comes from the use of coal, hydro and imported fossil fuels.
But when it comes to the utilization of renewable energy resources, the Philippines still has a lot to learn from countries such as China. During the visit of ASEAN journalists here, Chinese officials said that the Philippines has the potential to tap its abundant supply of renewable energy resources such as sun, water and air without necessarily degrading the environment.
China for its part, took the initiative of legislating a comprehensive energy conservation (EC) program by tapping renewable energy resources.
Other countries like India, Thailand and Vietnam have also adopted similar measures, also taking into account the preservation of their ecosystems.
To meet the needs of its growing energy demand while restoring the health of its environment, China saw the only option is to follow a different development path.
With a total investment of 2 billion yuan, roughly $300 million, the Chinese government came up with a national policy which will encourage all companies to adopt measures and programs to recycle and conserve energy with the end result of cutting down their emission levels.
China developed the “Circular Economy” concept as a strategy to reduce its impact on natural resources as well as the damage on the environment. The CE concept simply calls for a very high efficient method of sustaining national development within natural and economic constraints.
He Bingguang of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said the concept would allow the national government to provide financial support and tax breaks to all companies that would adopt the CE measures.
He said this program urges industries to recycle their waste material, conserve energy resources and attain zero emissions without compromising national growth. “It was a difficult task laid on our Ministry,” He said.
Social responsibility
China has already overtaken Japan as the second leading economic power in the world.
China’s gross domestic product (GDP) stood at $5.8 trillion in 2010, surpassing Japan with a total GDP of $5.474 trillion.
Its burgeoning economy, however, pays a high price when it comes to energy consumption and degradation of ecosystems. China has already suffered enough while hosting the 2008 Beijing Olympics over concerns that the smog enveloping the city could threaten the health and safety of the athletes.
The Chinese government suspended all work in heavy industries in and near Beijing during the Olympics.
This apparently prompted the Chinese government to embark on a long term solution, taking into account the mounting energy demand spurred by its rapid economic growth.
Right after the Beijing Olympics, President Hu Jiantao signed the Circular Economy law that took effect in January 2009.
The CE law took into account China’s rapid economic growth demands.
State officials saw the present massive exploitation of natural resources and inefficient production practices cannot continue. They are also aware that a higher standard of living would not be feasible under local conditions.
And so, China decided to adopt the Japanese and German models of waste recycling.
Officials stressed the key measures under the CE would include strengthening the accountability system and tighter control and supervision of high polluting and energy consuming industries.
The central government has allocated 83.3 billion yuan to support 10 key energy-saving projects with the aim of promoting energy efficiency technologies.
State Council spokesman Chen Yao said the government is investing heavily in the industrial sector to eliminate obsolete production methods and control energy-intensive polluting industries.
Chen stressed the system would cut down carbon emissions and conserve energy resources.
While it would be almost impossible to attain a complete closed-loop circular economy since at some point, many materials are dissipated in the process of production, officials stressed this could be achieved by simply recycling some of the waste materials.
What is equally important, Chen pointed out, is that China being a rapidly growing country, took the right direction in the efficient use of resources.
Chen said the country’s dependence on coal had been reduced to 26 percent after the CE law was implemented. In 2005, the industrial sector consumes an average of 2.59 billion metric tons of coal annually, but this was reduced significantly to 1.9 billion metric tons after the CE law took effect.
Pitching in
He said most of the government’s spending under the CE program will go into the construction of industrial parks, transformation of urban mining industries, clean production, food waste recycling and staff development.
Zhou Changyi, director general of the department of energy conservation and resources utilization of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said the elimination of obsolete production capacity and controlling energy-intensive, polluting industries are the government’s main goals in the next five years.
Both officials stressed the CE concept is pegged on the basic principles of 3Rs — recycle, reuse and reduce.
“No other country has given it such a high priority,” He said.
The Chinese government is actively encouraging all enterprises in the provinces to adopt a variety of innovations on how to recycle energy and reduce plant emissions.
This effort was shown by the NDRC in establishing 178 demonstration units across the country. Some 1,300 companies have already joined the program.
The national government also imposed high environmental standards in the construction of new buildings, including the renovation of old buildings to make them warmer during winter months.
Old vehicles are being phased out and disassembled for recycling while motorists are given incentives and tax breaks to buy cars that are “greener”.
The public is also encouraged to take public transportation, usually by buses that run on electricity.
Riding bicycles in Beijing and other major cities in the country is also encouraged, which is the reason why China has the most number of cyclists on a given day. Most cities in China, particularly Beijing are “bike friendly” with a separate lane in every major thoroughfare.
Challenges
Chinese officials emphasized the CE program benchmarks the energy used by industries and monitor how it could be further reduced without compromising economic growth.
He said the cumulative value of the CE industry stood at 1 trillion yuan as of last year, and it is forecast to grow by at least 15 percent annually during the implementation period (2011-2015) of the project.
He emphasized China will focus on the application of the CE concept in industry, agriculture, services and green consumption.
“The (CE) policy will be implemented at all stages of the production, distribution and consumption processes, He stressed.
It was during the forum hosted by the China’s Economic Daily that ASEAN journalists were shown how China needs to industrialize rapidly to create some 20 million jobs a year and to build a consumption-oriented middle-class for a more balanced economy.
However, China’s rapid industrialization has triggered serious problems of depletion of natural resources and degradation of the environment.
China is still dependent on fossil fuel by over 50 percent, which is the primary reason why a national policy on energy conservation, recycling and zero emission must be adopted and implemented.
The Chinese government also realized the need to implement the CE national policy in the countryside that was ravaged by several years of rapid industrialization.
China’s great leap forward on renewable energy program is both instructive and an inspiration, not only to its neighbors in the region, but also to the whole world.
China’s success in its Circular Economy program would definitely set a new level of competitiveness in the global economy.
Developing countries like the Philippines should realize that China has already tapped its potential by creating an alternative economic development model which would allow social and political stability in a time of global economic dislocation and growing expectations.