Expert calls for wiser investment in China's energy sector

BEIJING, Sep 01, 2012 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Investment in the Chinese energysector should be cautious as the country's energy consumptiongrowth is likely to slow down, a Chinese energy expert warned onSaturday.

Zhou Dadi, standing vice president of the China Energy ResearchSociety(CERS), said it is unsustainable to boost the energy sectorby expanding energy production capacity.

"Energy consumption growth will inevitably slow to a reasonablepace," said Zhou in a news briefing, at which the CERS annualChina Energy Development Report was released.

Unadvisable expansion in the sector may lead to business risks,according to Zhou. He called on energy firms to coordinate moreand put more focus on profitability of investment.

According to the CERS report, China's energy consumption needsto be streamlined, as 68.8 percent of the country's energy wasprovided through coal burning in 2011, up 0.8 percentage pointsyear on year, while the average proportion worldwide is less than30 percent.

High coal consumption dependence will also hamper China's greenefforts for the 2011-2015 period, it points out.

The CERS called for an increase in supplies of cleaner energyincluding hydroelectricity, solar and wind power to replace fossilenergy.

China plans to cut its energy use per unit of GDP by 16 percentby 2015 from the level in 2011. It also aims to lift non-fossilfuel energy usage to 11.4 percent of the country's total energyconsumption from the current 8.6 percent.