China targets 21 pct cut in energy use

China, the world's biggest energy consumer, aims to cut its energy consumption per unit of industrial value-added output by 21 percent by 2015, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Monday. China is expected to save the equivalent of 670 million tons of coal during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), according to the country's industrial energy conservation plan for the five-year period issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The plan also sets detailed targets for cuts by several energy-intensive sectors, Xinhua said, adding that the steel, non-ferrous, petrochemical and electronics industries are required to reduce their energy use per unit of value-added output by 18 percent from 2010. The chemical engineering, building materials and textile sectors must cut their energy consumption per unit of output by 20 percent, while the machinery industry should target a 22-percent fall in energy use per unit of output. The government has adopted a slew of measures to promote energy savings and emission reductions and to ease its increasing thirst for energy, including phasing out polluting industries and building energy-saving buildings. Thanks to the nation's efforts, energy consumption per CNY 10,000 (USD 1, 587) of industrial value-added output dropped from 2.59 tons of coal equivalent in 2005 to 1.91 tons in 2010, said the plan.