China To Close 2,000 Factories In Energy Crackdown 242
Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has published a list of 2,087 steel mills, cement works and other energy-intensive factories required to close by September 30 after discussions with provincial and municipal officials to identify industrial operations with outdated, inefficient technology. The goal of the factory closings is 'to enhance the structure of production, heighten the standard of technical capability and international competitiveness and realize a transformation of industry from being big to being strong,' the ministry says. The current Chinese five-year plan calls for using 20 percent less energy this year for each unit of economic output than in 2005 but surging production by heavy industry since last winter has put in question China's ability to meet this target. In addition to the energy-efficiency objective in the current five-year plan, a plan announced by President Hu Jintao late last year called for China to reduce its carbon emissions per unit of economic output by 40 to 45 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels."
Nah, can't be (Score:4, Funny)
Earlier this summer, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China promised to use an “iron hand” to improve his country’s energy efficiency,
While less energy/carbon intensive as the steel, to get the iron for the hand he'll still need to use carbon. Consequence: his grip on the problem will very likely be 20% softer to the end of this year and about 40% softer in 2020.
Re:So who will be the next China? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Playing Civ (Score:4, Funny)
What would China know about civilization? (runs)
Re:Meanwhile, here in the West... (Score:2, Funny)
Government subsidies, of course! Make the rich pay their "fair share" of taxes to cover it!
The U.S. (Score:4, Funny)
The U.S. also tackled this problem. We did it by shutting down ALL of the steel mills and outsourcing to the low bidder in China. Hey! How's that economy doing?