Abstract
China is the largest non-metallic mineral producer in the world and one of the key consumers of four major non-metallic mineral products, including cement, refractories, plate glass and ceramics. The non-metallic mineral products industry’s rapid growth has brought about a large demand for energy. The present study provides an overview of China’s non-metallic mineral products industry in terms of production, energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. In this industry, the energy efficiency is relatively low and the level of carbon dioxide emission is much higher than developed countries’ average. This study interprets the effects of some newly issued policies and analyses the influential factors in achieving energy conservation and emission reduction goals. It also discusses the prospects for saving energy and emission reduction in the industry. Retrofitting facilities and using new production technologies is imperative. Additionally, implementing market-based policies, promoting industrial transformation and effective international cooperation would help decrease carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption.
Highlights
The non-metallic mineral products industry (NMMPI) is a key industry in China
According to the information provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [28] and Climate Change Information Center (CCIC) [29], the coefficients of electricity (COEFe) and the amount of CO2 emissions for year y (CEy) can be calculated by using Equations (2) and (3) below, respectively
Residential property investment in China tripled from 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2000 to 6% in 2011, based on figures released by the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics
Summary
The non-metallic mineral products industry (NMMPI) is a key industry in China. China is the largest non-metallic mineral producer and one of the major consumers of non-metallic mineral products. The energy consumption of the cement sector increased from 45 million mtce to 167 million mtce, with an average annual growth rate of 8%. Cement production in China emits more carbon dioxide (CO2) than any other industrial processes, accounting for nearly 4% of global carbon emissions [4,6]. With the rapid growth of energy consumption in the NMMPI, CO2 emissions have increased tremendously. Besides CO2, in 2010, the volume of industrial waste gas emitted from the NMMPI accounted for 16.8% of China’s total emissions. The rapid growth of high energy-consuming sectors brought about increases in total energy consumption in China's industry. China’s high industrial energy consumption makes the energy-intensive industries, such as the NMMPI, face severe constraints for energy and increases the difficulty of CO2 emissions.
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