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Maintain energy stability
2006-07-18
China Daily
Energy security is currently a massive issue as the Middle East, one of the important global oil supplies, is on the brink of disaster.
The recent rocket exchanges between Israeli and Hezbollah forces have caused oil prices to rocket.
The statement on global energy security the Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations delivered in St Petersburg on Sunday appears to be a timely response to the energy issue.
The document calls on energy producers and consumers to establish a partnership. The world's top economies acknowledged that measures should be taken to ensure the transparency, predictability and stability of the global energy market. If they are fully implemented, the methods endorsed in the statement will build a healthy global energy framework.
The quest for development is a fundamental part of human existence, and the use of energy is at the heart of this.
Halting economic growth, or telling countries such as the developing ones that they cannot pursue their legitimate aspirations to improve living standards and to enable their populations to enjoy the heat, light and mobility that energy brings is both biased and offensive.
However, the world's addiction to oil and other fossil fuels is worrisome. Surging oil prices in the international market have affected the growth of the global economy, especially developing countries.
Steady economic growth has fuelled China's demand for energy. However, its per capita consumption volume is not high, and it imports a meagre amount of crude oil from the world market.
China's sheer size has made it a major energy consumer. But it is also a major energy producer. Since the 1990s, China has always met over 90 per cent of its overall energy needs on its own. With coal being the main source of its energy, China still has huge potential rich coal reserves and hydropower resources to satisfy domestic demand.
A host of environmentally friendly projects including the manufacturing of efficient cooking stoves, solar water-heating systems and wind-powered pumping displays the changing mindset on energy. China has developed an energy strategy that gives priority to energy conservation and relies on domestic resources. It will put in place a system that supplies stable, economical and clean energy.
To find practical answers to energy challenges requires vision and efforts on the part of all members of the global village, particularly developed nations. The international community needs to find a solution that can allow people to use oil and gas traded internationally without doing damage to the environment.
The G8 summit, which ended yesterday, made a range of references to commitments on renewable energy, the importance of energy efficiency and "eradicating energy poverty."
These are laudable goals. The most critical thing is for all countries to work together to ensure the stability of the world energy market, and to fuel the sustained growth of the world economy with sufficient, safe, economical and clean energy resources.
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