October 10, 2007—The US Department of Energy (DOE) and China’s National Development Reform Committee (NDRC) signed an agreement (.pdf file) recently to increase cooperation and energy efficiency in China’s industrial sector. The agreement followed discussions at the third US-China Energy Policy Dialogue, where the United States and China agreed to conduct audits to increase China’s national, regional, and local energy efficiency.
China’s industrial sector reportedly accounts for 70% of the country’s total energy demand. Under the agreement, a DOE team of industrial energy efficiency experts and an NDRC counterpart team will conduct on-site audits of plant production processes and energy systems at up to 12 facilities in China.
DOE will provide tools to conduct the plant audits, and train factory personnel on plant audit techniques. DOE will also conduct a comparison study of the Chinese enterprises and US manufacturing plants to identify differences in best practices. According to DOE, the agreement could present opportunities for US companies to export environmentally superior US-made equipment and services to China.
