China steps up green energy push with revised renewable target of 35 per cent by 2030
Plan aims to ease reliance on fossil fuels and fight pollution but there are concerns coal-fired power stations are still being built.
China is stepping up its push into renewable energy, proposing higher green power consumption targets and penalising those who fail to meet goals to help fund government subsidies to producers.
The world’s biggest energy consumer is aiming for renewables to account for at least 35 per cent of electricity consumption by 2030, according to a revised draft plan from the National Development & Reform Commission seen by Bloomberg.
Previously, the government had only set a goal for “non-fossil fuels” to make up 20 per cent of energy use by 2030.
The NDRC and National Energy Administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and calls to their press offices went unanswered. The new plan, known as the Renewable Portfolio Standard, is an update of an initial draft published in March.
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The standard – which sets minimum consumption levels of electricity produced from renewable sources – is among efforts to ease the world’s most populous nation’s reliance on coal and combat pollution.