BEIJING - China's environmental watchdog has punished eight power plants for violations of the law on control of sulfur dioxide emissions, a main indicator for measuring air pollution.

The eight power plants -- two of which are in Henan, and the others in Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Hunan, Guangdong, Sichuan and Gansu -- include some affiliated to Chinese power giants China Power Investment Corporation, China Guodian Corporation, China Huadian Corporation and China Datang Corporation, said a statement jointly issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the National Development and Reform Commission.

The plants were punished for excessive discharges of sulfur dioxide, deactivating desulfurizing or emission-monitoring equipment, as well as fabricating emissions data, said the statement published on the ministry's website.

The ministry has ordered the plants to correct their practices before the end of this year and pay fines for the violations. The fines in these cases were unspecified, but plants may be ordered to pay up to 50,000 yuan for fabricating emissions data, according to law, and between 10,000 and 100,000 yuan for excessive discharges of sulfur dioxide.

The statement also told relevant authorities to deduct the subsidies paid to the plants under the state's subsidy program for desulfurization efforts.

China has announced its aim to reduce the country's sulfur dioxide emissions by 8 percent during the nation's 12th Five-Year Plan period (covering 2011-2015).

According to a statement issued by the ministry last month, sulfur dioxide emissions in China totaled 11.14 million tonnes between January and June this year, a drop of 1.74 percent year-on-year.

Web link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-11/24/content_14157755.htm

Speeding Up Introduction of Green Technology

Hong Kong, Dec 5, 2011 - (ACN Newswire) - Since the introduction of the "Ambient Air Quality Standards" on 16 Nov 2011, and the announcement of temporary coal price intervention for power generation on 30 Nov 2011, from the "Sino-Japanese Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Comprehensive Forum" to the "United Nations Climate Change Conference" on 28 Nov ... during the end of this year, in slightly more than ten days, there have been frequent launches of major policies with regard to "Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection", and numerous relevant international cooperative activities. All of these proved that with increasingly scarce resources, ever more severe environmental problems, and emphasis on sustainable growth, "energy conservation and environmental protection" has become the main theme of sustained global growth, welcoming a golden age for the growth for related industries.

A logical choice in response to sustainable socio-economic development

On 26 Nov 2011, State Council Vice Premier Keqiang Li indicated in his opening speech for the "Sino-Japanese Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Comprehensive Forum", that with the worsening of the Euro Debt Crisis, many countries are experiencing slower growth and rising prices, the probability of a long-term global economic downturn has expanded. To maintain robust growth, an innovative growth model is more than necessary to provide strong momentum for a balanced sustainable growth. Emphasizing "Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection" is an important breakthrough for economic development transition, which helps create new driving forces, overcome the bottleneck from China's resource constraints, and eventually realizes sustainable socio-economic growth.

Vice Premier Li's latest remarks have attached greatest importance to the energy conservation and environmental protection sector. China's strong emphasis and its determination to promote the energy conservation, environmental protection and related industries is self-evident. In fact, this was not the first time a senior Chinese official highlighted the importance of energy conservation and environmental protection at an international forum. Looking at China's recent macro-economic growth, it isobvious that energy conservation and environmental protection has become a keyword in sustainable socio-economic growth. At the same time, its impact and status has been increasing.

Premier Wen has mentioned in the government reports that China will promote an energy conservation and environmental protection oriented, and civilized production and consumption model, and strive to build a resource conservation-orientated and environmentally-friendly society.

In 2009, during the "China International Energy Saving, Emissions Reduction and New Energy Technology Expo", President Hu put great emphasis on actively promoting energy conservation and emission reduction, and developing renewable energy, which are key measures to implement the concept of scientific development, and increase sustainable socio-economic growth.

According to industry experts, compared to developed countries, the efficiency of resource utilization in China is still very low. Based on the statistics, China accounts for 4% of the world's total GDP, while the consumption of coal, iron, and aluminium accounts for more than 30% of world's total resource. In recent years, rapid growth of China's economy posed great environmental impact on several parts of thecountry. Economic growth also resulted in more severe resource restraints.

Therefore, to ensure a fast and healthy economic growth, the structure of China's economy has to undergo a transition, i.e. to switch from a "high input, high energy consumption, high pollution, and low output" economic model to a "low input, low energy consumption, low pollution, and high output" economic model.

Undoubtedly, as the myth of global warming is turning into a reality, and China's economy finds itself at the crossroads of a major transition, energy conservation and environmental protection has already become the theme of both China and the world's development. This is not only driven by global trends, but also a logical choice.

Active rolloutof macro-policies

If we observe closely, policies that support energy conservation and environmental protection are being actively rolled out, with six to seven launched just in the second half of the year, which did not even include policies forsub-sectors.
November was the peak period for energy conservation and environmental protection policies introduction and meetings. Early that month, the "Nationwide Environmental Protection Regulations and Environment Economy Policy Formulation Plan for the 12th Five-Year Plan Period" was announced. On 16 Nov 2011, the "Ambient Air Quality Standards" were introduced. On 26 Nov 2011, the "Sino-Japanese Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Comprehensive Forum" was held. On 28 Nov 2011, the "United Nations Climate Change Conference" was held.

On 30 Nov 2011 this year, the announcement of temporary coal price intervention for power generation became a momentary nationwide subject of focus. Relevant responsible parties in the NDRC mentioned that these control measures not only benefit the coordinated growth of the coal and power industries, but also help keep unjustified energy consumption under control, especially for high energy consumption sectors with faster-than-expected growth, encouraging structural adjustments to the economy, and energy conservation and emission reduction.

What is the reason behind the active rollout of relevant policies? The answer may lie in the continuous socio-economic growth of the human society. Starting with the "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" in 1992, followed by the "Kyoto Protocol" in 1997, and followed by the "Copenhagen Accord" signed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in Dec 2009, international society is developing a heightened awareness, reaching a consensus, jointly calling for the development of standardized and quantifiable guidelines to control greenhouse gas emissions, control global warming, and realize harmonious development between human and nature. Global climate change has a far-reaching impact on the existence and development of the human beings, and already become a common challenge faced by countries across the globe.

Although China is a developing country, the mission to grow the economy and improve living standards is arduous. Foreseeing the importance of sustainable socio-economic growth and scientific development, the "Energy Conservation Law of the People's Republic of China" has been formulated in as early as 1997, which included energy conservation and emission reduction in the regulatory scheme. Its amendment formulated in 2007 further elaborated that energy conservation a basic policy of China. The State implements an energy strategy of promoting energy conservation and development concurrently while giving top priority to conservation". The "National Climate Change Programme" formulated in the same year laid out the guidelines, basic principles, key areas, policy measures, and detailed steps to address climate change. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009, China made a solemn commitment to reduce China's carbon emissions by 40%-45% by 2020 on the base of 2005, which is an ambitious target. Therefore, establishing a low-carbon economy and promoting coordinated, balanced and sustainable development will be the key area of focus of China's economic growth.

A Golden Age for Industrial Growth

As one of the key strategic new industries supported and cultivated by the State, industry experts foresee that along with China's increasing focus on and investments in the environmental protection industry, including the launching of supportive policies and raising of environmental standards, the energy conservation industry is welcoming a golden age of growth forwarding the next 5 years with enormous market potential. In addition, with the increased policy support, the growth of key sub-sectors and leading players in the energyconservation and environmental protection industry will exceed the industry average.

President Hu pointed out at the APEC CEO Summit that during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, China's environmental protection industry will continue to grow rapidly. In 2015, the gross industrial output value of the environmental protection industry is expected to exceed Rmb 2 trillion. From 2011 to 2015, investments in the environmental protection industry will reach Rmb 3.1 trillion, doubling that of the past five years. China's green industry and environmental protection industry will become the key fields for attracting and utilizing foreign investments. The strong demand for green technology and the favourable investment environment will provide a broad market and enormous investment opportunities for international and local enterprises. At the same time, according to some sources, the "12th Five-Year Development Plan for Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Industry" will be launched soon, and the National Environmental Protection Conference which will be held every five years, is going to be held, and the meeting may talk about the growth rate of the environmental protection industry will exceed that of fiscal income in the same 12th Five-Year Plan period. At the same time, China encourages leading and competitive energy conservation and environmental protection companies to expand in size and strength. During the 12th Five-Year Plan period, around 100 environmental protection companies with over Rmb 1 billion of annual output will be formed. It is evident that the promotion of the energy conservation and environmental protection industry will permeate the entire process of China's modernization, creating a positivemarket outlook and bringing in unlimited business opportunities.

Web link: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/511395