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China CDM Fund to Have $1.5 Billion for Clean-Energy Projects
2010-10-22 06:58:58.127 GMT
By Bloomberg News
Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- China CDM Fund, the government body
that invests money from carbon credits, will almost double its
available cash for renewable energy projects to 10 billion yuan
($1.5 billion) in 2012, the vice director of the fund said.
The fund, which manages 6 billion yuan currently, will add
as much as 3 billion yuan a year through 2012, Jiao Xiaoping,
deputy director general of China CDM Fund, said in an interview
in Shanghai yesterday. The money is mainly raised from the cash
Chinese companies earn from selling certified emission
reduction credits (CERs), Jiao said.
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the 1997 Kyoto
protocol allows companies in industrialized countries to buy
carbon credits from developing nations in order to comply with
requirements to reduce emissions. Chinese companies have sold
229 million metric tons of CERs under the UN-backed CDM
mechanism since 2005, or half of the total, Jiao said.
The fund has been approved by the government to be used
for low-carbon research and planning, equity investment,
preferential loans to energy-saving and renewable projects,
according to Jiao.
China has pledged to cut its output of carbon dioxide per
unit of gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 from
2005 levels. It has reduced energy intensity by 15.6 percent
since 2006 to 2009 and the government has said it may be
difficult to meet the 20 percent reduction five-year target by
the end of this year.
Trading Tests
The Chinese government wants to begin a pilot program in
an industry or city to test the impact of an emissions cap on
growth ahead of a possible nationwide move to carbon trading,
officials at top economic planner National Development and
Reform Commission said earlier this month.
"It's still under a testing period and hard to give a
timetable when the cap-and-trade program will officially
start," Jiao said. China has started voluntary carbon trading
programs in Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin on a trial basis.
China's plan to begin carbon trading may be held up by
difficulties in negotiations with cities and industries over
how to set a limit for emissions as any cap set on emissions
will inhibit economic development, NDRC officials said during
climate talks in northern China's Tianjin city this month.
The country, which relies on coal for almost 80 percent of
its energy use, aims to boost the share of renewable sources,
including solar, wind and nuclear, to 15 percent by 2020 from
7.5 percent in 2005.
For Related News and Information:
Most-read environment news: MNI ENV <GO>
Climate-change stories: NI CLIMATE <GO>
Most-read alternative energy news: MNI ALTNRG <GO>
--Winnie Zhu. Editors: Clyde Russell, Jane Lee.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Winnie Zhu in Shanghai at +86-21-6104-3046 or
wzhu4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Clyde Russell at +65-6311-2423 or
crussell7@bloomberg.net.
