China Eyes Carrots and Sticks for Energy Efficiency

China is planning both incentives and harsher penalties to push companies and local governments to meet energy saving goals that Beijing fears may not be achieved amid strong economic growth, state media said on Sunday.

The revised regulations would strengthen enforcement and supervision, and include both incentives for saving energy and punitive measures against waste, said the state news agency Xinhua, which interviewed an unnamed National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) official.
Beijing wants to reduce the energy usage of its booming economy by 4 percent this year and 20 percent by 2010, aiming to reduce a growing reliance on imported oil and the environmental impact of dirty-burning coal.

But with gross domestic product (GDP) rising 10.9 percent in the first half of the year, pushing up energy usage by 0.8 percent for each unit of GDP, the prospects of reaching efficiency goals are dwindling.

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