China adopts national coal use target to limit air pollution

China has unveiled a government action plan aiming to reduce the share of coal in its primary energy consumption below 65% by 2017 and to boost clean electricity and to limit air pollution. China is also eyeing a 20% cut in industrial energy efficiency (energy consumption per unit of industrial value added) between 2012 and 2017.

The plan tackles energy efficiency and pollution in industry. CHP will progressively replace decentralised coal-fired boilers in industrial clusters and new equipments (desulfurization, denitrification and dedusting units) to limit pollution will be installed in coal-fired power plants, steel and cement plants. China aims to upgrade equipments in energy-intensive industries and to close outdated production capacities by 2014.

The plan also includes measures to upgrade technologies in refineries, to improve the quality of oil products and limit emissions; "yellow-label" (heavy-polluting) vehicles should be cleared from roads by 2017.

China seeks to raise the share of non-fossil fuel energies to 13% of primary energy consumption and will develop alternative energy sources, such as gas, coal-based synthetic natural gas (SNG) and coal-bed methane. New gas pipelines with a total capacity over 150 bcm will be installed by 2015, covering the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and both the Yangtze and Pearl River delta regions. Nuclear option will also contribute to energy consumption, with nuclear capacity reaching 50 GW by 2017.

At a regional level, the government has also unveiled a 5-year plan to improve air quality, including a cut in annual coal consumption by 13 Mt (from 20 Mt in 2012 to 10 Mt in 2017).