<strong>China: STMA Reports Progress in Energy Conservation, Emission Reduction</strong>

Source from:  TobaccoChina Online 03/25/2013

The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) – the regulator of China's tobacco industry – issued on March 12 a report on progress made by the tobacco industry of China in energy conservation and emission reduction in 2012, summing up achievements already made hereof, and urging efforts to full targets and tasks for the next few years.

The report points out that in 2012, the tobacco industry, closely in accordance with the policy of "promoting cigarette production and marketing to a higher level", continued to strengthen efforts for energy conservation and emission reduction, further raised the efficiency of utilization of energy, and strictly controlled the total emission of pollutants, relatively well fulfilling the annual tasks for energy conservation and emission reduction.

The report reveals that in 2012, the consumption of energy, consumption of water and carbon dioxide emission per 10,000 yuan (per 1,588 U.S. dollars) in industrial value added respectively reached 25.3 kilograms, 0.92 tons and 33.6 kilograms, respectively down 14.8 percent, 23.3 percent and 26.3 percent year-on-year.

In the year, the consumption of energy per 10,000 cigarettes by cigarette making enterprises went down by 2.0 percent year-on-year, the consumption of energy per ton of tobacco sheets went down by 7.4 percent year-on-year, and the total emission of sulfur dioxide reached 4,518 tons, down 10.9 percent year-on-year. In particular, the provincial-level China Tobacco regional industrial companies and tobacco machinery manufacturers in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong, and Sichuan and Chongqing basically realized zero emission. The chemical oxygen demand (cod) emissions totaled 2,532 tons, down 3.7 percent year-on-year. In particular, China Tobacco Fujian Industrial Co., Ltd. basically realized zero emission in this respect, according to the report.

The report points out that in 2013, the tobacco industry's general energy conservation and emission reduction targets for 2013 are that the consumption of energy per 10,000 yuan (per 1,588 U.S. dollars) in industrial value added shall go down by 8 percent year-on-year, that the consumption of energy per 10,000 cigarettes by cigarette making enterprises shall go down by 1 percent to 3 percent year-on-year, the total emission of sulfur dioxide shall go down by 5 percent year-on-year, and that chemical oxygen demand (cod) emissions shall go down by 3 percent year-on-year.

In face of new targets and new tasks, the STMA required adherence to the policy of taking improvement of the quality and efficiency of economic growth as the focus; earnest implementation of the working program and targets of the tobacco industry for energy conservation and emission reduction in the 2011-2015 five-year period; focusing of energy on promoting "green" development, circular development, low-carbon development; strengthening of whole-process conservation management; sharp reduction of the intensity of energy consumption; and practical promotion of in-depth development of the work of energy conservation and emission reduction, according to the report.

It is essential to establish and execute energy management systems, promote the level of energy management by enterprises on a full scale, promote normalized operation of energy management, promote efforts to raise the efficiency of energy use by scientific and high-efficiency means of management, control excessive growth in energy consumption by enterprises in technological transformation, actively explore practically effective channels for energy conservation in face of new conditions for energy use, strengthen energy management, work out targets for energy conservation, and realize delicacy management of the work of energy conservation, the report points out. Enditem