China’s Ministry of Science and Technology has summoned people to save energy by developing 36 simple habits.

 

The adoption of these habits can help save energy equivalent of 77-million-ton standard coal a year, which can be used to generate 640-billion-yuan (US$84.77 billion) of gross domestic product, accounting for three percent of China's annual GDP, the ministry said on its Website yesterday.

 

The 36 habits include using baskets or knitted bags instead of plastic bags when shopping; unplugging home appliances when they are not in use; using public transport instead of private vehicles once a month; using both sides of paper when copying or printing, according to a 20-page brochure the ministry published.

 

A 40-member team under the ministry spent two months mapping out the 36 measures, which were included on thousands of questionnaires and picked from 100 habits, said Ge Quansheng, head of the team.

 

The brochure has been published on the official Website of the Administrative Center for China's Agenda 21 (http://www.acca21.org.cn/).

 

Chinese people consumed 530 million tons of standard coal in 2005 for daily life, up 9.9 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 24 percent of the country's total energy consumption. In 2006, energy consumption in daily life accounted for 34 percent of the country's total.

 

According to China's 11th Five Year Plan, the country's energy consumption for every 10,000 yuan of GDP should drop 20 percent in 2010 compared with 2005.

 

However, the figure dropped by just 1.23 percent last year, failing to meet the annual average goal of four percent.

 

(Shanghai Daily September 5, 2007)