Yen for change

China's push for energy conservation and pollution reduction has attracted the attention of several high-level Japanese technology firms.

At the third Sino-Japan Energy-Saving Forum held recently in Beijing, Japan's Hitachi Group signed contracts with two plants in southwest China's Yunnan province, selling them four frequency converters that help raise energy efficiency.

The transformers will help Kunming Iron & Steel Group Co Ltd and a chemical plant, Yuntianhua Group Co Ltd, save more than 20 percent of their energy used annually, according to Hitachi. None of the companies involved the revealed the price of the equipment.

Hitachi is also finding customers for its energy saving technologies in other provinces. North China's Shanxi province, the country's coal heartland with more than 500 million tons of coal produced annually, has also suffered from coke oven gas pollution for years.

Coke oven gas is a byproduct of the manufacture of iron and steel. It consists mainly of hydrogen and methane, more than 70 percent of which could be recycled as fuel. With this in mind the provincial government and Hitachi focused on a power plant under construction in the city of Hejin in order to recycle the coke oven gas waste as fuel.

Hitachi sold three sets of gas turbines to the Hejin plant that will be instrumental in converting the coke gas to energy.

When the power plant is fired up, a total of more than 830 million cu m of coke oven gas can be converted annually. And it is expected that in 2009, the recycled energy can be sent to the public through the Hejin power grid. Meanwhile, steam produced during power generation can also be used for heating in community buildings and factories.

By 2010 China hopes to reduce the per unit energy consumption of its gross domestic production by 20 percent compared to the 2005 level. It is also targeting sulfur dioxide levels that it has targeted for a 10 percent reduction within the same five-year period. However, about half of that time has passed and by 2007 China has still not reached its initial target of cutting energy use by 4 percent and pollution emissions by 2 percent.

Hitachi sees a business opportunity in the pollution reduction challenge and has formed an energy saving and environmental protection promotion team to promote its products throughout China. Along with China's National Development and Reform Commission Hitachi is promoting its expertise and products in provinces such as Yunnan and Shanxi.

Hitachi isn't the only big Japanese name seeking to cash in on China's need for cutting edge environmental solutions.

Fuji Xerox (China) has joined with the Chinese government to develop the nation's fledgling e-waste recycling industry.

The Japan-based Mizuho Corporate Bank has provided financial support to China to develop wind power generation and waste treatment methods.

The Japanese bank used the Equator Principles, a voluntary set of guidelines to incorporate social and environmental issues, in project financing.

The State Environmental Protection Administration signed a deal with the International Finance Corp in January to introduce the Equator Principles in China.

Financing is provided only to projects that will be conducted in a socially and environmentally responsible way in line with the principles.

China introduced the green loan concept last July, part of its enforcement of eco-friendly economic policies.

(China Daily 03/03/2008 page5)