Economics
China Sets Energy Consumption Cap That Researcher Deems `Loose'
- Country aims to keep use below 5 bln tons of coal equivalent
- Target allows for expansion of 3.2% a year in energy usage
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China, the world’s second-largest economy, will seek to cap energy consumption at a maximum of 5 billion metric tons of standard coal equivalent by 2020, a ceiling that a researcher says should be easy to achieve.
The target represents a 16 percent increase from 4.3 billion tons in 2015, or growth of about 3.2 percent a year in the world’s largest consumer of energy. Use expanded 0.9 percent last year, slowing from a rise of 2.2 percent in 2014 and 5.9 percent in 2010. The ceiling was contained in the Five-Year Plan for 2016-2020 released at the annual legislative meeting in Beijing on Saturday.