China targets 21 % less energy use

China aims to cut its energy consumption per unit of industrial value-added output by 21 percent during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said Monday. China is expected to save the equivalent of 670 million tonnes of coal during the five years, according to the country's industrial energy conservation plan for the 2011-2015 period posted on the ministry's website. The plan also sets detailed targets for cuts by several energy-intensive sectors. 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, according to the plan. 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 10,000 yuan (1,587 U.S. dollars) of industrial value-added output dropped from 2.59 tonnes of coal equivalent in 2005 to 1.91 tonnes in 2010, said the plan.