CHINA / Figure that Matters
Coal output to reach record 2.5b tons
By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-03-18 07:01
Top energy planners are seeking, in the next five years, to raise China's
coal output to an unprecedented level and, at the same time, reduce the
number of large mining disasters.
China's coal output will be between 2.5 billion and 2.6 billion tons in
2010, as compared with 2.19 billion tons in 2005, according to Guo
Yuntao, director of the China Development Research Centre for the Coal
Industry, in an interview with China Daily.
The growth rate being forecast by the planning team led by Guo is much
slower than in the last five years, when China's coal output rose from
about 1.3 billion tons in 2000.
The forecast was based on the belief that the overall economy will become
more energy efficient and that demand is likely to rise significantly
only in the power sector, Guo said.
His centre is drafting China's coal industry development blueprint for
the coming five years, following the national 11th Five-year (2006-10)
Social and Economic Development Plan approved by National People's
Congress (NPC) deputies at its annual session that closed in Beijing on
Tuesday.
The team is providing the final touches to their draft before submitting
it, at the end of March, for approval by the National Development and
Reform Commission and the State Council, China's cabinet.
Guo said coal will remain China's fundamental energy source, both for
production and consumption.
In terms of production, coal accounted for 76 per cent of China's energy
needs in 2005, calculated using the Standard Coal Equivalent (SCE)
measure. According to Guo, that level has a chance to climb all the way
up to 80 per cent after 2010.
To satisfy growing domestic energy demands, the country will decrease its
coke exports in the coming years, the planning director said.
China's rapidly growing economy, which is expected to register an annual
growth rate of 7.5 per cent for its gross domestic product (GDP) this
year, will create enormous demand for energy supplies. But the nation's
energy conservation campaign is just beginning, which should mean more
energy efficiency.
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