China should resort to modern energy-saving and new energy technologies to reduce its carbon dioxide discharge, said Jerry Melillo, chairman of international environment and science commission in Hangzhou Thursday.

Speaking at the 2005 International Conference on Circular Economy and Regional Sustainable Development in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Melillo said scientific support will be the most effective way to bar China from becoming the world largest carbon dioxide polluter.

The United States is currently the largest CO2 polluter in the world, and China is the second largest.

One of the few countries to use coal as its main energy source,China acquires about 70 percent of its energy from coal burning, the main cause of its high carbon dioxide discharge, said the expert.

But along with its rapid economic growth, the discharge will keep growing in future years. Some experts say China will take the place of the United States as the world's largest greenhouse air producer in two decades.

This requires China to alter its energy mix. Petroleum and natural gas should replace coal to be its main energy source, said Melillo.

In the face of global warming, he acknowledged, what people should do is to combine their research findings and advanced science and technology in this sphere with applications in every day production and in people's daily lives.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2005)