1. Enhancing U.S.-China Cooperation:
Energy Solutions, Environmental
Governance and Low-Carbon Development
2010 Washington Forum on China
Michael Davidson, China Climate Fellow
Natural Resources Defense Council
November 4, 2010

2. 2
About the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC)
 NRDC’s purpose is to safeguard the Earth: its
people, its plants and animals and the natural
systems on which all life depends.
 We use law, science and the support of 1.3 million
members and online activists to protect the planet's
wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and
healthy environment for all living things.
 We have 5 offices in the U.S. and an office in
Beijing, China

3. Overview
 China’s Commitments
 Highlights of U.S.-China Cooperation
 CERC on Building Efficiency
 Renewable Energy Policies
 Low-Carbon Development (sub-national)
 Environmental Governance: NGO partnerships

4. China’s Commitments
Energy Intensity
 Target: 20% reduction from 2005 levels by 2010
 Status: 15.6% by end of 2009
 Top-1000 Enterprises program:
Reduce energy demand by 100 million tce by 2010
Carbon Intensity
 Target: 40-45% reduction from 2005 levels by 2020
 Inscribed in Copenhagen Accord
12th
Five-Year Plan (2011-2015)
 Energy Intensity Target: 15-20% reduction likely
 Carbon Intensity Target
 New strategic industries: half in EE/RE
 Strengthen target responsibility system

5. GHG Reduction Potentials - 2030
 Energy Efficiency
2.4 Gt CO2
 Clean Energy
2.4 Gt CO2
China’s Green Revolution, 2009

6. Cost-benefit estimates of CO2 abatement (RMB/tCO2)
461
Buildings
41
Transportation
-133
Agriculture
-236
Industry
-287
Power
Every tonne of CO2
abated yields a net
benefit of 461 RMB
Can require large capital expenditures
or result in low or negative ROI
Positive
contribution to
"Profit & Loss"
statement
Negative
contribution to
"Profit & Loss"
statement
Every tonne of CO2
abated has a net cost
of 287 RMB
From Gray to Green: Buildings
Source: From Gray to Green, NRDC (2009)

7. Building Efficiency Highlights
 Agenda 21 Building (completed
2004)
 Current standards: 50% reduction
for new buildings
 Energy retrofit target: 150 mil m2
cold-climate residential by 2010
 Under development: energy rating
and labeling for residential and
commercial
 If meet 11th
FYP’s targets: 540 MtCO2
reduction*
*Source: NRDC calculations based on LBNL, “Assessment of China’s Energy-Saving and
Emission-Reduction Accomplishments and Opportunities During the 11th
Five Year Plan” (2010).
Shanghai Building Energy Label

8. US-China CERC: Building
Efficiency
 $50+ mil in joint U.S.-China
public-private funds
 5-year project
 LBNL-led U.S. Consortium:
(NRDC is a U.S. partner)
 Chinese consortium:
Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development - lead
 Industrial/cost share partners
 Technology R&D: materials, lighting, insulation…
 Analysis: markets, benchmarking, energy use/behavior
 Case studies: low-energy buildings

9. NRDC Priorities for Improving
Building Efficiency in China
1. Implement building labels at local levels for both
commercial and residential buildings, existing and new,
starting from government buildings.
2. Strengthen existing building codes, establish a revision
cycle to make sure the codes continue, and strengthen
enforcement and implementation.
3. Provide performance-based incentives and tax rebates
to encourage new buildings go beyond building codes.
4. Provide feasible financing mechanisms for building
retrofits, including integration of building EE into demand-
side management (DSM) programs.

10. Renewable Energy Policies
 2009 Amendments to Renewable Energy
Law:
 Mandatory connection / purchase policy
 Renewable Energy Fund
 Central-local coordination
Lessons from the U.S.:
 Renewables quota system:
 Nevada, New Jersey: examples of RE type-
dependent quotas and “multipliers”
 Technical standards for interconnection:
 Low-voltage ride through (LVRT) capability
 Power factor control
 Remote supervision/data collection
 All required by wind power in the U.S.
See: china.nrdc.org/files/china_nrdc_org/
NRDC - China Renewable Energy Legal Framework.pdf

11. Low-Carbon Development
 China is building 12 “clean energy economic zones”
 Converting old industrial facilities
 Leaders in clean energy & EE deployment
…potential for sub-national cooperation:
California-Jiangsu model is leading the way
 Exchanges for over 20 years
 2009: MOU on energy and environment (first-ever
sub-national climate agreement)
 Suzhou Industrial Park (est. 1994)
 Eco Science Hub: Low-Carbon Demonstration (2010)
 GHG accounting / development guide
 Green buildings
 Low-carbon community practices

12. Environmental Governance
Partnership with Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE)
 Pollution Information Transparency Index (PITI)
 2008: open environmental
information measures take effect
 Rated 113 cities on
disclosure performance
 Best practices:
 user-friendly
 detailed emissions data
 lists of enterprise violations
 prompt response to public information requests
 Benefits of transparency (U.S. experience):
 Empower media and public as environmental watchdogs
 Toxics release inventories engage consumers, banks, corporations
 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests have uncovered countless
violations
See: china.nrdc.org/library/PITI-EN

13.  Amending China’s Air Law
 Begun with 2008 MEP workshop
 RAP-Energy Foundation-NRDC
 Lessons from U.S. Clean Air Act and other
international experience
 Key areas:
 Ambient Air Quality Standards
 State Implementation Plans
 Permitting programs
 Information transparency
 Enforcement
 MEP also examining EPA’s GHG regulation
 Kicking off project on permitting with China Research
Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES)
Environmental Governance (2)
See: china.nrdc.org/AirLawAmendment

14. Take Home Points
Vast potential for U.S.-China cooperation
on climate and energy across…
multiple levels of government
NGOs, private sector as well
all fields – renewables, energy efficiency,
smart growth, governance…

15. Thank you!
 Contact:
 Michael Davidson (mdavidson@nrdc.org)
 Barbara Finamore, China Program Director
(bfinamore@nrdc.org)
 Read our China blogs :
switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/issues/greening_china/
 See our new reports on China:
http://china.nrdc.org/library/NRDCTianjin-side-event-reports
 China-U.S. Energy Efficiency Alliance:
www.chinauseealliance.org/

16. Additional Slides

17. China’s Efforts to Reduce
Energy Use
 11th
Five-Year Plan
 Reduce energy intensity by 20% between 2006 and 2010
(save 700 million tons of coal equivalent)
 Top-1000 program to save 100 million tce by
2010 (263 mt CO2 reduction)
 Government financial support: 7 billion RMB in
2007 (central/provincial)
 Officials' political career prospects dependent in
part on their energy-saving performance

18. China’s Efforts to Reduce
Energy Use (2)
 Distribute 150 million energy efficient light bulbs
between 2008 and 2010
 Shut down 71 GW of small inefficient coal power
plants between 2006 and mid-2010
 Implement efficiency dispatch rules – dispatch
power plants based on coal consumption level
 Adopt energy labeling for refrigerator, air
condition, washing machine, water heater,
induction cooker, fluorescent lamp, motor,
copier, computer monitor, etc.