12
L. Ma et al.
Chemical and Non-ferrous Industries Should Be New Focus of Energy
Saving and Emission Reduction in Future
Chemical product manufacturing was the second largest energy consumer, only after
steel production, and was the one with the biggest increase in the proportion of energy
use among industrial passive systems (up 3.5%). Despite the energy consumption
was relatively small, the non-ferrous metal industry created high growth in embodied
carbon emissions due to the large amount of electricity use in its production process,
and the share was up by 2.9% (carbon emission data is calculated based on energy flow
data and IPCC carbon emission factors, the same below). This was because macroeconomic development, growing urbanization and industrial transition provided a
fertile ground for chemical and non-ferrous metal sectors. Financial data of industrial
enterprises of the National Bureau of Statistics (National Bureau of Statistics 2016)
showed that in 2015, despite a fall in total profits of large industrial enterprises, chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing saw their profits increase by
7.7%, the biggest growth among all industrial sectors. The considerable profit from
the increased demand had brought huge opportunities for chemical companies.
1.3.3 The Growth of Energy Consumption for Non-metallic
Mining Slowed Significantly
On the contrary, the growth of energy use for non-metallic mining dramatically
slowed down, with its proportion down 2.1%, the fastest decline among all industrial
sectors. This was attributed to the fact that China strengthened rectification of nonmetallic mines during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, regulating the mining market,
and shutting down nearly 10,000 non-compliant enterprises (Ministry of Natural
Resources 2016).
1.3.3.1 Transportation
Road Passenger Transportation Surpassed Road Freight as the Major
Transport Energy Consumer
Road passenger transportation and freight transportation remained important energy
users in the vehicle passive system, but the ratio of these two had undergone a
reversal. The share of energy use by road freight was down from 40.5 to 30.5%,
while that of road passenger transport rose from 29.8 to 41.5% and overtook freight
to become the biggest energy consumer in transportation. This reversal was partly
due to China’s constantly improving road traffic network. During the “12th Five-Year
Plan” period, national highways had reached 99.9% of townships (towns), the length
of expressways totaled 123,500 km, and a nationwide expressway network had taken
L. Ma et al.
Chemical and Non-ferrous Industries Should Be New Focus of Energy
Saving and Emission Reduction in Future
Chemical product manufacturing was the second largest energy consumer, only after
steel production, and was the one with the biggest increase in the proportion of energy
use among industrial passive systems (up 3.5%). Despite the energy consumption
was relatively small, the non-ferrous metal industry created high growth in embodied
carbon emissions due to the large amount of electricity use in its production process,
and the share was up by 2.9% (carbon emission data is calculated based on energy flow
data and IPCC carbon emission factors, the same below). This was because macroeconomic development, growing urbanization and industrial transition provided a
fertile ground for chemical and non-ferrous metal sectors. Financial data of industrial
enterprises of the National Bureau of Statistics (National Bureau of Statistics 2016)
showed that in 2015, despite a fall in total profits of large industrial enterprises, chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing saw their profits increase by
7.7%, the biggest growth among all industrial sectors. The considerable profit from
the increased demand had brought huge opportunities for chemical companies.
1.3.3 The Growth of Energy Consumption for Non-metallic
Mining Slowed Significantly
On the contrary, the growth of energy use for non-metallic mining dramatically
slowed down, with its proportion down 2.1%, the fastest decline among all industrial
sectors. This was attributed to the fact that China strengthened rectification of nonmetallic mines during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, regulating the mining market,
and shutting down nearly 10,000 non-compliant enterprises (Ministry of Natural
Resources 2016).
1.3.3.1 Transportation
Road Passenger Transportation Surpassed Road Freight as the Major
Transport Energy Consumer
Road passenger transportation and freight transportation remained important energy
users in the vehicle passive system, but the ratio of these two had undergone a
reversal. The share of energy use by road freight was down from 40.5 to 30.5%,
while that of road passenger transport rose from 29.8 to 41.5% and overtook freight
to become the biggest energy consumer in transportation. This reversal was partly
due to China’s constantly improving road traffic network. During the “12th Five-Year
Plan” period, national highways had reached 99.9% of townships (towns), the length
of expressways totaled 123,500 km, and a nationwide expressway network had taken