Set energy-saving goals and forge ahead
In the face of the international financial crisis, Yunnan Province actively took response measures, and the provincial economy achieved its expected goals. The healthy and orderly development of the provincial economy cannot be separated from the solid advancement of energy-saving and emission-reduction work throughout the province.
Yunnan Province took the lead in the country in formulating 15 programmatic documents on energy conservation and emission reduction, including the "Yunnan Province Energy-Saving Target Responsibility Evaluation and Assessment Measures." Over the past 4 years, the province has achieved energy savings of 11.6 million tons of standard coal, equivalent to reducing sulfur dioxide emissions by 186,000 tons and carbon dioxide emissions by more than 3,000 tons, equivalent to creating additional GDP of more than 74 billion yuan. Yunnan's energy conservation and emission reduction work has stepped into the forefront of the country.
Multiple measures to promote energy conservation
Reviewing the energy-saving and emission-reduction work in 2009, all relevant departments of the province are promoters and practitioners of the scientific development of energy conservation and emission reduction. The Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government have listed energy conservation and emission reduction as one of the 20 important tasks under key supervision in the province, making great efforts in strengthening civic education and popularizing knowledge of energy conservation and environmental protection, comprehensively raising the awareness of energy conservation and environmental protection in the whole society, so as to pool the efforts of all parties to jointly promote energy conservation, emission reduction, and low-carbon economic development in Yunnan Province.
Regarding the energy conservation and emission reduction work in Yunnan, Liu Shaozhong, Director of the Provincial Commission of Industry and Information Technology and Deputy Head of the Provincial Leading Group for Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction, said that under the correct leadership of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government, Yunnan Province has taken the Scientific Outlook on Development as the overall guiding principle, accelerated economic structural adjustment throughout the province, made great efforts in energy conservation and emission reduction work, successively formulated 15 programmatic documents on energy conservation and emission reduction including the "Yunnan Province Energy Conservation Target Responsibility Evaluation and Assessment Measures", and a series of policy measures for energy conservation and emission reduction adopted are gradually taking effect.
In 2009, the Provincial Commission of Industry and Information Technology and relevant departments actively guided and helped enterprises to maximize their efforts to obtain national special funds for energy conservation support, and organized a batch of key projects to be reported to the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. They actively cooperated with the national review team to successfully complete the energy-saving reviews of 41 energy-saving projects in Yunnan Province and on-site reviews of backward production capacity elimination of more than 390 enterprises. The on-site preliminary review of energy savings for the 41 energy-saving projects was 1.046 million tons of standard coal, and it is expected to obtain national incentive funds of 265 million yuan. Provincial-level special funds for energy conservation were allocated to help enterprises achieve quality and efficiency improvement through energy-saving technological transformation and enhance their ability to withstand crises. After approval by the provincial government, an investment plan of 45 million yuan was promptly issued in June to support the construction of more than 50 projects, with a total investment of 1.824 billion yuan for these projects, which is expected to achieve energy savings of 377,400 tons of standard coal.
In October 2009, the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government organized and carried out special supervision of energy conservation and emission reduction work throughout the province. Personnel from the Provincial Government Supervision Office and eight departments including the Provincial Commission of Industry and Information Technology formed three supervision groups to supervise 16 prefectural (municipal) people's governments, relevant provincial departments, 36 key enterprises for energy conservation and emission reduction, and 210 key provincial projects for pollution reduction, effectively ensuring the implementation of various work measures. They vigorously promoted energy efficiency comparison management activities in key enterprises, and compiled energy efficiency comparison guidelines for more than 10 products in 8 industries including steel, electricity, chemical industry, building materials, nonferrous metals, and tobacco. The energy efficiency comparison guidelines for 4 nonferrous products such as copper smelting were used as a model by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association for promotion and application nationwide.
Enterprises should take the lead in energy conservation
At the beginning of 2009, the provincial government signed the 2009 Annual Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Target Responsibility Documents with the municipal and prefecture governments, relevant industries and enterprises, clarifying energy-saving indicators such as the decline of energy consumption per unit of GDP in various regions and targets for eliminating outdated production capacity. The relevant competent authorities of Yunnan Province organized the formulation of the "Yunnan Province Energy-Saving Technology Products Promotion Guidance Catalogue (First Batch)" to guide enterprises in accelerating the promotion and application of energy-saving technology products. They actively organized special meetings on energy-saving technology promotion in cement, ferroalloy, nitrogen fertilizer and other industries, building a platform for technology owners, users and banks, and implementing the technology promotion model of "one key opening three locks at the same time." In strengthening Yunnan's energy-saving service industry, conditions were created for energy-saving service companies to develop their businesses, and a group of strong energy-saving service companies were selected and cultivated to promote and apply new energy-saving technologies and products through market means.
In industries and enterprises such as steel, chemicals, non-ferrous metals, coal and building materials, they actively implemented the "Opinions of the Yunnan Provincial People's Government on Promoting Industrial Product Sales and Maintaining Steady and Rapid Industrial Development," vigorously promoting key technologies such as waste heat recovery, high-voltage variable frequency power saving, and coalbed methane (gas) power generation, accelerating the technological transformation of enterprise energy saving, and giving full play to the leading role of demonstration projects. Yuntianhua Group adopted internationally advanced low-temperature waste heat recovery and utilization technology to retrofit 14 sets of sulfuric acid production units, with a total expected investment of over 1 billion yuan. After full implementation, it can save 340,000 tons of standard coal annually, and the first batch of four production lines have been successively put into use. Yunnan Jiehua Group Co., Ltd. implemented a project to utilize the tail gas from an annual output of 150,000 tons of dimethyl ether to increase the production of 80,000 tons of synthetic ammonia. This project is a comprehensive utilization of waste gas. Calculated at 2.9 tons of lignite consumed per ton of synthetic ammonia, it can save 232,000 tons of lignite annually (equivalent to approximately 109,000 tons of standard coal). Yunnan Datang International Honghe Power Generation Co., Ltd. installed variable frequency speed regulation devices on the condensate pump motors of the generator sets, which can save 20% of electricity and 9,278 tons of standard coal annually, reducing production costs.
Further efforts were made to strengthen the rectification of polluting enterprises, resolutely close polluting enterprises, accelerate the elimination of outdated production capacity, and strengthen the construction of the ecological environment. While firmly controlling pollution, systems such as "one position with dual responsibilities" were explored. The relevant person in charge of Kunming City stated in an interview with reporters that in 2009, Kunming City intensified efforts to crack down on illegal pollutant discharge, closed 43 enterprises with problems such as lacking environmental protection procedures, excessive emissions and serious pollution, and lawfully eliminated 32 outdated production lines from 19 enterprises, closing and eliminating 3.53 million tons of outdated production capacity in the cement industry and 332,000 tons of outdated production capacity in the ironmaking industry. Among them, Kunsteel dismantled two 20-square-meter sintering machines of the No. 2 Sintering Plant built in 1971, and three 20-square-meter sintering machines of the No. 1 Sintering Plant built in 1966 were also successively dismantled. "The annual output of these five sintering machines is 1.45 million tons. After dismantling, sulfur dioxide emissions will be reduced by about 3,500 tons per year. Compared with the newly built 300-square-meter sintering machines, the process energy consumption can be saved by 20% per year," said Zhang Zhuming, chief engineer of Kunsteel Co., Ltd.
"Green Lighting" brings many benefits
On November 13, 2009, Zhang Zhixue, who lives in the Guodong Group of Guodong Village Committee, Aziying Town, Panlong District, Kunming City, welcomed the district government staff who came to deliver free energy-saving lamps at his doorstep. He received 3 energy-saving lamps and replaced 3 incandescent lamps with them, which can save nearly 300 yuan in electricity bills per year, making him very happy. The 2009 "Green Lighting" rural activity carried out by the Panlong District Government specially allocated 300,000 yuan in funds, and distributed 76,900 energy-saving lamps free of charge in 4 streets and towns including Shuanglong, Songhua, Dianyuan and Aziying, with more than 24,000 households receiving 2 to 7 free energy-saving lamps. Yunnan Tongshida Lighting Co., Ltd., the enterprise that won the bid for energy-saving lamp sales, donated 10,000 lamp holders to the above 4 streets and towns free of charge.
Taking advantage of activities such as the National Energy Conservation Promotion Week and World Environment Day, the Provincial Industry and Information Technology Commission, together with relevant provincial departments, organized the "Thousands of Miles of Lamp Delivery, Green Lighting into Frontier Ethnic Minority Villages" campaign. Four vehicle fleets, more than 40 energy-saving vehicles, and 100 energy-saving volunteers were organized to visit ethnic minority villages in 8 prefectures and cities including Diqing, Pu'er, Nujiang, and Lincang, traveling 6,500 kilometers. They donated more than 25,000 energy-saving lamps to 21 ethnic minority villages, 5 schools, and 3 welfare institutions, benefiting 3,830 households of 13 ethnic minorities including the Dai, Jinuo, Wa, Tibetan, Nu, Lisu, and Hani peoples. These energy-saving lamps can save 1.57 million kWh of electricity annually, saving 780,000 yuan in electricity costs.
The year 2010 is the decisive year for achieving the energy-saving targets of the 11th Five-Year Plan, and the critical year for Yunnan Province to ensure the completion of various energy-saving goals and tasks. The Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government clearly stated the need to ensure the completion of the provincial unit GDP energy consumption reduction target for the 11th Five-Year Plan. Yunnan's energy conservation and emission reduction work will focus on energy saving and consumption reduction, promoting the development of a low-carbon economy. We are taking great strides forward on the development path of grasping both energy conservation and emission reduction, and economic construction with both hands, both of which must be firm.