BOAO: China's future energy demands will rely more heavily on clean power such as wind and solar, but more oil would be stockpiled in case of emergencies, a top official has said.

China aims to boost its oil reserves to amounts equivalent to 30 days worth of imports by 2010, Chen Mingde, vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said during the two-day annual meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia, which closed yesterday.

Oil reserve sites should be located at places where transport infrastructure was advanced, ideally next to refineries, Chen said during a panel discussion.

It was the first time that an official from the commission revealed details about the oil reserve plan.

Chen said the country does not plan to increase its reserves to the levels of many developed countries - oil imports up to 90 days.

"We have so many areas that need money - education, healthcare and social security," he said.

"We are short of funds. On the other hand, oil prices at international markets are still fluctuating at high levels. If we increase our reserves very aggressively, that will have impact on the price."

Chen said China had decided that it needed oil reserves to deal with emergencies.

He said rules were being drafted concerning the issue of oil reserves. The rules will stipulate that the government's oil reserves should reach a certain amount in some years.

Enterprises in the oil business will also be required to keep a reasonable amount of reserves, he said.

Nuclear power

Chen said China regarded nuclear power as a "transiting replacement" for part of the demand for oil and coal but nuclear was not a long-term solution in the world's search for replacement of fossil fuels.

He said China's solution to the energy problem was to boost energy efficiency and harness the benefits of renewable energy.

Renewable, clean energy includes that produced by wind farms, hydropower and solar power-generating facilities.

"Nuclear power can not save us because the world's storage of uranium and other radioactive mines needed for generating nuclear power is very limited," he said.

In addition, there was still no real solution worldwide to how to properly dispose of nuclear waste. "All the countries generating nuclear power just bury the waste, which could leave a problem for the generations to come," Chen said.

"(For our descendants), the price for disposing of them could be very high."

China's current capacity for nuclear power generation is about 7 million kilowatts.

By 2020, the figure will grow to 40 million kilowatts, with facilities to produce 18 million kilowatts currently under construction.

"But we still don't know where we should obtain all the needed material," he said.

"We are still searching."

China announced earlier this month that it would also build uranium reserves.

Responding to a question about the growing reliance on cars and the energy demands, Chen said China does not want its people to use cars as a primary means for transportation.

The country will vigorously promote public transport such as buses and underground rail in cities.

Light rail trains will become the major means for inter-city transportation, he said.

China now has more than 36 million cars.

Source: China Daily