China has big ambitions for low-carbon urbanisation

Qian Zhimin, deputy director with the National Energy Administration, told a low-carbon forum sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) in Tianjin that by 2015 China will establish 100 model cities, 200 model counties, 1,000 model districts, and 10,000 model towns of green and new energy.

The is projecting that urbanites will be 52 percent of its population by 2015 and 65 percent by 2030, according to the government's 12th Five-Year-Plan (2011-2015).

Technologies such as smart grids, solar power utilities and clean energy-powered vehicles will be promoted in city planning, Qian said, adding that the development of public transport and rail transport will be prioritized.

The official said cities should steadily increase the ratio of clean energy, including solar power, hydro-electric power, nuclear power, in the energy consumption mix while improving the efficiency in using the traditional fossil energy.

China has grown into a large energy consumer in the world over the past five years. Its per capita consumption of primary energy averaged 2.38 metric tons of standard coal in 2010, a rise of 32 percent over 2005, and the per capita natural gas consumption was 88 cubic meters, 2.4 times more than in 2005.

Coal remains the mainstay of China's energy supply, and its raw coal output has ranked first in the world for years. In 2010, its raw coal output topped 3.2 billion metric tons, about 45 percent of the world's total.