China struggles to meet energy efficiency target

China is focusing on clean energy innovation, such as alternative-fuel cars, to meet its commitment to reducing greenhouse emissions but the country’s booming economy is making it difficult to meet an energy efficiency target for this year, said Vice Minister of Science and Technology Zhang Laiwu. Zhang said China’s goal of reducing its energy intensity by 20% over a five-year period that ends this year remains uncertain.  China has made key strides in many areas of clean technology, including solar, wind, and alternative fuels, but much of the country’s difficulty lies in the fact its economic development over the past three decades has relied on labor-intensive and energy-intensive growth, he said. The essential issue for us is whether or not we are able to move from low-end to high-end, and change from a resource-based economy to science and technology-based and a knowledge-based economy,” he said. (September 16, 2010)