What Causes Energy Scarcity?

Energy shortage refers to the phenomenon that the supply of energy cannot meet the needs of people's living and production. China's economic and social development has entered a stage of large energy consumption, and its own energy is poor.

energy shortage

1. Considering the sustainability of energy and the sustainability of national economic competitiveness ^[1]

(A) attaches great importance to conservation, and actively carry out energy conservation ^[2]

China's energy conservation work started relatively late. Although many advances have been made, there are still gaps and deficiencies. Far from meeting the requirements of the new situation and new tasks. In order to better promote the rational use and full use of energy in China, it is necessary to learn from advanced practices and successful experiences of foreign energy use and energy conservation. Mandatory implementation of energy efficiency labeling system and promotion of cleaner production technologies in the production area. Strengthen the supervision and inspection of energy conservation work. Promote enterprises to adopt new energy and energy-saving technologies and equipment. Promote and popularize energy-saving technologies in the consumer sector. Reasonably guide consumption and encourage consumption of energy-saving products. Gradually forming a saving mode of consumption.

Two aspects need to be paid attention to when carrying out energy conservation work. The first is the government's example. In addition to deeply understanding the urgency and importance of energy conservation, the government must take firm measures from the aspects of system, legal system, system, mechanism, policy, organization, publicity, science and technology. Formulate and implement plans, laws, and regulations. Do a good job of supervision, management, and guidance; the government should start from the self, from the first to establish a sense of conservation. To energy conservation, water, land, vehicle use, office costs Take the lead. For example, in the promotion of resource-saving products and technological processes, the government should give priority to purchase. On the one hand, the government's priority procurement can promote the market promotion of such products and provide financial support for enterprises, on the other hand, it can set an example for the whole society and drive the whole society to save. The second is publicity and education. In promoting China's energy conservation 1 = for further development, we must also rely on the active participation of enterprises and the public. Therefore, we must cultivate public awareness of energy conservation through a variety of media tools and publicity and education methods. In order to fully mobilize the majority of enterprises and the public to participate in energy conservation activities Enthusiasm.

(2) Vigorously develop new energy technologies and energy-saving technologies. Science and technology are the primary productive forces.

In energy conservation work, science and technology should also and must play their due role as the "first productive force." Generally speaking, the role of science and technology in energy conservation should be brought into play from two aspects: On the one hand, actively research and develop new energy technologies and energy conservation technologies. Science and technology are a powerful guarantee for promoting energy conservation. Can greatly improve the ability of society to save energy. In the process of solving the energy shortage problem, the government should provide funding for technological research and development of new energy sources and energy conservation, so that enterprises attach importance to the development and utilization of new energy technologies and energy conservation technologies. Also. It may be considered to make protective provisions for the research and development and production and operation of new energy companies in relevant laws such as the intellectual property law, bankruptcy law, etc., to provide a good market environment for new energy development and market operation, and to ensure the scale and development of new energy development. sustainable development. On the other hand, speed up the development and promotion of new energy-saving products. The government can cooperate with enterprises, subsidize new energy development enterprises, issue new energy utilization plans and other active policies, while the state invests in demonstration zones and enterprises. Multi-channel and multi-field support for the development of new energy-saving products. Increase efforts to transform new energy technologies and energy-saving technologies into energy-saving products. In addition, the government can provide subsidies for buildings to install new energy equipment such as solar, wind, and biological energy. Each year, special funds are allocated for training management personnel related to new energy and new energy-saving products, and policies such as subsidies for purchasing machines and compulsory purchase of green home appliances are introduced. The application of new energy and new energy-saving products is promoted.

(3) Strengthening the adjustment of economic structure

Energy saving is not just a micro-level issue. The first is the macro-level thing, that is, the structural problem of the national economy. Today's conditions and the international environment determine that China cannot follow the old-style industrialization path of pollution first and then governance: the basic national conditions of a large population and insufficient per capita resources determine that China should not and cannot imitate the consumption of some developed countries, which is characterized by squandering resources. mode. We must adhere to the road of new industrialization with Chinese characteristics and vigorously adjust and optimize the industrial structure. On the one hand is to accelerate the development of the tertiary industry and increase its proportion and level. And optimize the internal structure of the secondary industry, and vigorously promote the integration of information and industrialization. Promote high-tech industries. Limit the development of high energy-consuming and highly polluting industries. Specific measures such as: setting energy consumption standards for different industries, surcharges that exceed energy consumption standards; eliminating backward technology and facilities and equipment within a time limit, encouraging industries and enterprises to adopt advanced technologies and equipment; and continuing to shut down enterprises with uneconomical scales, In particular, large energy consumers, improve the economic management level of enterprises: At the same time, we must increase the resource recycling of waste generated in economic activities. On the other hand, it is reasonable to arrange industries. According to the principle of gardening, you can arrange the industries with relatively large energy consumption in the north with relatively rich energy resources. The industries with less energy consumption are located in the south with relatively poor energy resources. In this way, the country's energy resources can be coordinated. Projects such as the "North Coal Transport to the South" can be reduced. It can also ease the tension of the railway and other transportation systems across the country.

(4) Form a reasonable energy price mechanism

Take the electricity price as an example, and compare it with the electricity price levels of major countries in the world: In 2006, the highest industrial electricity prices in the top 10 countries, such as the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, and Italy, were 14 cents per kilowatt-hour to 23 cents per kilowatt. In the meantime, China's industrial electricity price was 6.47 cents per kilowatt hour. It can be seen that China's electricity price level is relatively low. The same is true for other energy prices. Energy prices have been lower than resource costs for a long time and cannot accurately reflect the scarcity of resources. The resulting price distortion must give the wrong market signal. Faced with consistently wrong price signals, it will become more difficult for China to achieve its goal of building a resource-saving and environment-friendly society. On this basis, the high export growth rate is actually equivalent to China subsidizing consumers in various countries in the world by consuming it. Therefore, there is an urgent need to liberalize the energy market so that prices can reflect the scarcity of energy resources, so that energy resources can be used reasonably and fully.

The energy price formation mechanism needs to be improved and perfected. Establish a cost constraint mechanism to promote enterprises to reduce energy consumption and improve efficiency. In a market economy, energy prices must reflect market supply and demand and the scarcity of resources, and are mainly priced by the market. The first is to improve the time-sharing pricing method of electricity, guide users to use electricity reasonably, save electricity, and continue to implement differential electricity prices. And expand the scope of implementation; the second is to implement a comprehensive oil price adjustment plan to gradually rationalize domestic refined oil prices; the third is to comprehensively promote the market-oriented reform of coal prices; the fourth is to continue to promote natural gas price reforms and establish a price-linked Dynamic adjustment mechanism; Fifth, actively promote the commercialization and monetization of urban heat supply, and study and formulate policies to increase energy consumption over the limit.

(5) Improve the energy reserve system and participate in international cooperation

Energy markets face significant economic variables and global uncertainties. New risk factors are constantly emerging, including terrorist attacks on energy channels and the mainstay of the energy trade. And political unrest in oil-producing countries. In many cases these changes are further complicated by market fluctuations. therefore. It is necessary to establish energy reserves to deal with energy problems. Energy reserves in emergencies are the most effective way to deal with possible short-term supply fluctuations. Energy reserves include energy product reserves and energy resource reserves. The former includes petroleum, natural gas, and natural uranium products, while the latter includes petroleum, natural gas, natural uranium, and special and rare coal resources. The state should establish and improve the energy reserve system. Standardize the construction and management of energy reserves, improve energy emergency response capabilities, and ensure energy supply security.

When dealing with energy shortages, we must continue to adhere to the basic domestic policy and increase domestic resource exploration. Strengthen the development and utilization of coal, oil and natural gas, actively develop water energy resources, accelerate the development of nuclear power, and encourage the development of new and renewable energy. Optimize the energy structure. At the same time, it is also necessary to actively carry out international energy and resource cooperation and make full use of two international and domestic markets and two resources. According to the energy medium-term and long-term development plan based on "energy saving first, efficiency-oriented; coal-based, diversified development; domestically, overseas development; overall planning of urban and rural areas, reasonable layout; relying on science and technology, innovative systems; protecting the environment, ensuring safety". Support energy companies Utilize overseas energy resources and develop overseas markets: Encourage companies to participate in international technology exchanges, jointly develop and use alternative and renewable energy sources, improve energy efficiency, and develop clean fuels: Actively organize relevant parties to properly resolve energy disputes through dialogue and negotiation. The conflict caused by the energy shortage will be effectively resolved.

(VI) Establishing new energy and renewable energy development funds with Chinese characteristics

The development and utilization of new and renewable energy is an important measure to protect the environment and combat climate change. It is also an important choice to open up new areas of economic growth, promote economic transformation, and expand social employment. The development and utilization of new and renewable energy is the basic requirement for implementing the scientific development concept and building a resource-saving society. At the World Energy Council's Asia work conference held in Nanning, Guangxi in July 2008, some experts on Chinese and foreign energy issues also mentioned that China is currently facing four major issues in the development of renewable energy: First, the development of renewable energy The necessity and value of the whole society have not been truly unified. Second, the scale of development and utilization of renewable energy is small. The total investment is insufficient. One direction. The third is insufficient research investment, lack of scientific and technological personnel, and weak ability to support the development of renewable energy technology. Fourth, the supporting policies and service support system lag behind. As a result, the development of renewable energy is still a high threshold, high cost and high risk area, and social capital is difficult to enter.

Faced with some problems in the development and utilization of new energy and renewable energy sources, from the experience of Britain, the United States, Japan and other countries, the establishment of a new energy and renewable energy development fund is a good solution. Combined with China's national conditions. China's energy conservation and renewable energy development fund should be established on the basis of legal and regulatory guarantees, construct a fair and competitive scientific management model, and pay attention to the leverage and cost-effectiveness of the fund. In order to promote China's energy-saving industrialization and renewable energy scale Development goals. The main financing method of the fund can adopt the fund-raising method of paying electricity surcharges by electricity users. It conforms to the principle of "who pollutes and pays". It reflects its fairness. It is easy for the public to understand and accept: at the same time it breaks the tradition of relying solely on government investment the way. Easy for government adoption. The size of China's funds should be determined based on the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" for energy conservation and renewable energy development and the Vision Plan for 2020. Taking into account China's actual situation, the use model of the fund should be based on the focus of national incentive policy support and priority development of energy-saving and renewable energy projects. When establishing a fund in China, we must also fully consider the problems and disadvantages of foreign implementation of the fund in order to take appropriate and effective response measures.

(7) Strengthening the construction of energy-saving laws

For a long time, China s waste is serious. One of the very important reasons is that waste is only a violation of discipline and not a crime. Sometimes waste is not even a violation of discipline. It is necessary to use the power of the legal system to increase punishment for waste of energy resources. There are two ways to promote energy conservation:

First of all, we must strengthen the supervision and inspection of energy conservation work. Focus on checking the energy consumption of high energy-consuming enterprises and public facilities. Energy conservation assessment and review of investment projects with the same assets, prohibition of out-of-site equipment reuse, and implementation of product energy efficiency standards and labels, building energy-saving design standards, and industry design specifications . Energy-consuming products that do not meet the minimum energy efficiency standards. They must not be sold out of the factory. Buildings that are as small as building energy-saving standards are not allowed to start construction and sales. It is strictly forbidden to produce, sell and use high energy-consuming products that have been phased out by the state. We must severely crack down on illegal transactions and scrapped old motor vehicles and ships.

Second, we must improve the energy-saving laws, regulations and standards. The "Energy Conservation Law" was further improved, and a strict energy conservation management system was formulated. To study and formulate supporting industry regulations such as the "Regulations on the Management of Industrial Energy Conservation" and "Design Standards for Energy Conservation of Public Facilities". Energy efficiency standards for motor vehicles, buildings, home appliances, and energy consumption standards for public facilities. All regions should study and formulate energy consumption standards for major local energy-consuming products and large public buildings in accordance with the unified national requirements.