China races to fulfill emission cut target

BEIJING - Chen Yi, a government civil servant, found the room temperature of her office in downtown Beijing was much higher than before, not only because of the particularly sultry weather this summer, but also the air conditioner which was set at 26 degree Celsius.

"We are told the room temperature should be higher than 26 degree Celsius in the summer. It is not a new rule, but has never been strictly implemented like this year," Chen said, and recalled, in past years, scorching summer days which required wrapping up in a coat in the artificially cold office.

China's national campaign on energy savings and emission cuts was apparently also felt by the general public, as room temperature controls were enforced in places ranging from government offices to shopping malls, and the world's toughest emission standard has been forced onto auto consumers. Even to save electricity normally used by power-guzzling elevators, more people have begun to climb stairs on foot.

Despite its efforts, China faces a grim forecast for meeting its energy efficiency goals. China seeks to cut energy consumption per unit of economic output by 20 percent by the end of 2010 from its 2006 level. The government reported in July that energy use had been reduced by 15.69 percent by the end of 2009.

However, this trend was reversed during the first quarter of this year as energy use per unit of GDP rose by 3.2 percent year on year. Also, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on Tuesday that the figure for the first half of this year was 0.9 percent higher year on year.

"It is rather difficult to meet the five-year energy saving target in time," Li Zuojun, a researcher with the National Development and Research Center of the State Council, said.

A construction boom followed by the stimulus package to tackle the global financial crisis drove up demand in power-consuming industries such as steel, cement, and petroleum. This explained the reduced energy efficiency figures in the first quarter, the NBS said in a statement.