China plans CO2 emission cuts in key industries by 1% of 2023 level

China aims to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of key industries by an amount equivalent to about 1% of the 2023 national total through efficiency gains in everything from steel production to transportation, according to a government plan released on Wednesday.
 

China, the world's top energy consumer and largest greenhouse gas emitter, also set a target for making economic growth more energy efficient, a step in line with President Xi Jinping's push for "new productive forces." The government action plan said China's economy would require 2.5% less energy for every unit of GDP growth in 2024.
 

It proposed to hit that goal by pushing for specific changes in industries, including building materials and petrochemicals.

 

China missed its energy intensity goal last year, and its desire to cut emissions and energy consumption is often at odds with the need to boost economic growth and living standards.
 

Lauri Myllyvirta, senior fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute, said it was possible China's CO2 emissions could have peaked in 2023, reflecting stalled growth in oil demand and expanding wind and solar and wind generation. China's official target remains for CO2 emissions to peak before 2030.
 

The plan repeated a target for non-fossil energy sources to make up about 20% of China's total energy use in 2025, up from this year's target of around 18.9%.

The plan said China would "strictly" control coal consumption, "reasonably" control petroleum consumption and promote use of biofuel and sustainable aviation fuel.
 

For natural gas - which Beijing sees as a bridge to reach its carbon-neutral goal by 2060 - the plan calls for the expedited development of resources such as shale gas and coal bed methane to boost domestic supply. It said the government would also prioritise gas use for winter heating of households.
 

The plan calls for building large-scale renewable power complexes and the development of offshore wind power so that non-fossil energy sources would account for some 39% of total power generation by 2025, up from 33.9% in 2020.
 

The plan said China would gradually abolish restrictions on purchases of new energy vehicles in all parts of the country, and would implement policies that support such vehicles.
 

The plan said the government would control production of metals, including copper and aluminium, while allowing the development of silicon, lithium and magnesium production, elements used in semiconductors and batteries.

It said state agencies would "vigorously develop" metal recycling.
 

China to invest more than $830 mln in solid-state battery research -source

China plans to invest more than 6 billion yuan ($830 million) in a government-led project to develop solid-state batteries with six firms eligible for state funding to work on the next-generation technology, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.
 

Solid-state batteries hold the promise of improved safety, a longer lifespan and faster charging compared with conventional lithium-ion batteries that use flammable liquid electrolytes.
 

But mass adoption remains some way off due to constraints in raw material availability, intricate manufacturing processes and the resultant high costs.
 

China is seeking to cement its lead in the global EV market after early and heavy investment in domestic supply chains helped it become the most cost-competitive battery and EV producer in the world.
 

Those picked as potential participants in the project include battery makers CATL and Nio-backed WeLion New Energy Technology, said the person.
 

BYD , which vies with Tesla for the title of the world's biggest EV seller and is a battery maker, as well as automakers FAW, SAIC and Geely have also been chosen, according to the person who was not authorised to speak to media and declined to be identified.
 

Geely declined to comment. The other companies did not immediately reply to Reuters' requests for comments.

Many auto industry officials and analysts expect solid-state batteries will determine the competitiveness of the next-generation EVs. Several global automakers are also looking into the technology, hoping to break China's dominance in the current EV battery technologies.
 

Japan's Toyota Motor, a laggard in EV development, has said it plans to launch vehicles powered by solid-state batteries in a couple of years.
 

Tesla has not detailed any solid-state development plans.
 

The official China Daily first reported news of the state-funded project.