On Sunday China's iron and steel giant Chuanwei Group said that
International Grid System Group (IGSG) of the Netherlands had
agreed to purchase greenhouse gas emission reduction credits from
their gas power project.
The project, with an investment of 200 million yuan (US$25.6
million), has given the two companies an opportunity to cooperate
under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), according to the
technical reform office of Chuanwei Group, based in southwest
China's Sichuan Province.
Chuanwei Group launched the gas power generation project in 2003
with an annual capacity of 200 million kilowatt-hours.
The agreement between Chuanwei and IGSG will help reduce carbon
dioxide emissions by 147,000 tons per year. At US$7.5 per ton the
value of the deal will reach 12 million yuan (US$1.5 million)
annually, according to the agreement.
The CDM programs encourage China to improve energy efficiency
and protect the environment by using clean energy for electricity
generation.
Established under the Kyoto Protocol the CDM is a market-based
mechanism that allows developed nations to fulfill their greenhouse
gas emission reduction obligations by investing in clean energy
projects in developing countries like China.
With rapid economic growth and a large population, China is
currently the world's second largest energy consumer and producer
and the third biggest oil importer. Coal use has caused much of the
atmospheric pollution in the country.
(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2007)