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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, November 18, 2003

Coal, a relatively long and basic energy for China

Despite the soaring consumption in petroleum and natural gas, an integration of various domestic and foreign predictions shows that coal will remain in the first place the exhaustible basic energies in China with a consumption rate of about 60 percent by the year 2020.


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Despite the soaring consumption in petroleum and natural gas, an integration of various domestic and foreign predictions shows that coal will remain in the first place the exhaustible basic energies in China with a consumption rate of about 60 percent by the year 2020.

For the moment coal takes up 67 percent in the consumption of primary energy in China while the world average is 25 percent, said Fan Weitang, president of the China Coal Industry Association, at the international symposium on energy strategy and policy sponsored by the Development and Research Center of the State Council (DRC) November 16.

The serious environmental pollution lies in the process of using coal, Fan admitted. At present, the transformation rate of coal in China is comparatively low while the proportion of direct burning is unduly high. Over 75 percent of the exhaust of sulfur dioxide comes from the burning of coal therefore the air quality in many cities far exceeds the standard level.

Fan pointed out that coal, however, can be used as a clean energy. In the process of selection and washing, 50-80 percent of the dust and 30-40 percent of the sulfur can be removed. With smoke purification technology, 90 percent of the sulfur can be removed after the burning. The Chinese government has brought out relevant policies to support the development of clean coal technology. With the same volume of heat released, coal is the cheapest energy. In the research report "Basic Ideas on the National Energy Strategy", the Development and Research Center of the State Council (DRC) pointed out that with China's energy condition of "abundant coal and fewer deposit of oil", coal will still play an important role in the energy structure in China. This situation will possibly last for a relatively long time to come. In view of the energy amount alone, the coal resources in China can guarantee a medium or long period: if calculated at an annual production of 2.5 billion tons, the supply of coal can last for some 80 years.



By PD Online staff Gao Lanrong


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