Pull plug on power thirst

More scientific development is required to combat power shortages, according to an article in People's Daily.

To ease the summer's increasingly serious power shortage, some industrial operations have been asked to shut down for four days per week in Hangzhou, capital city of East China's Zhejiang Province. The city says the emergency scheme is necessary to ensure local citizens have adequate electricity.

To tackle the severe power shortage the government has also issued circulars about controlling the use of air-conditioners and heightening conservation awareness, but citizens' power consumption accounts for only 10 per cent of the total.

Statistics show that although China's GDP takes 4 per cent of the world total, its consumption of resources accounts for 30 per cent. In this way China's electricity shortages come from its unscientific development mode.

This summer has seen a more serious power shortage with the power gap reaching 20 million kilowatts, equal to the installed capacity of the Three Gorges Power Station.

But with this plant completed, why does China still suffer from power shortages?

It is time to eliminate China's backward mode of production and balance our development values against criteria for resource conservation and environmental protection.

If power-wasting projects are not ceased, more serious shortages will take place.