CAMBRIDGEA2GEOGRAPHYREVISION

ENVIRONMENTALMANAGEMENT12.2THEMANAGEMENTOFENERGYSUPPL

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TOPICSUMMARYChina overtook the US in total energy usage in 2009.The demand for energy in China continues to increase significantly as the country expands its industrial base.China’s energy policy has evolved over time. As the economy expanded rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s, much emphasis was placed on China’s main energy resource, coal.China was also an exporter of oil until the early 1990s, although it is now a very significant importer.

TOPICSUMMARYAccording to Greenpeace 80% of China’s carbon dioxide emissions and 85% of its sulphur dioxide pollution comes from burning coal.In recent years China has tried to take a more balanced approach to energy supply and at the same time reduce its environmental impact.The eleventh Five Year Plan (2006–2010) focused on two major energy-related objectives:

a. to reduce energy use per unit of GDP by 20% b. to ensure a more secure supply of energy

TOPICSUMMARYBecause of the dominant position of coal in China’s energy mix, the development of clean coal technology is central to China’s energy policy with regard to fossil fuels.The further development of nuclear and hydropower is another important strand of Chinese policy.Priority has also been given to building up the national oil reserve.Total renewable energy capacity in China reached 226 GW in 2009; 197 GW of this total was hydroelectricity.China’s wind power capacity grew thirty-fold between 2005 and 2009 to become the second largest in the world behind the US.The Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze River in China is the world’s largest electricity generating plant of any kind.

ADDITIONALWORK1. What impact is China’s rapidly rising demand for energy having on the rest of the world?2. Why is it important for a country like China to have an energy policy?

SUGGESTEDWEBSITESwww.chinadaily.comwww.eia.doe.govwww.efchina.org