Description: The People's Republic of China (PRC) has experienced successful economic growth over the last decades, but at the same time, has experienced challenges common to many upper-middle income countries (UMICs)—air pollution, urban-rural gap, and emerging cooling energy demand. This session shared how the PRC has tackled these challenges. Presentations in this session addressed ADB’s work on air pollution improvement, strategies for switching from coal to clean energy in rural areas, and deployment of climate-friendly cooling solutions. The lessons learned can be utilized in other developing countries that wish to tackle similar problems in their home countries.
Moderator: Sujata Gupta, Director of EASI, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Scene-Setter Talk: Atsumasa Sakai, Senior Energy Specialist, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Tailored Financial Services to Support Green and Sustainable Development – China National Investment and Guaranty Corporation’s Green Financing Platform
Presenter: Liu Mingbai, Executive Director of ADB Project Center, China National Investment and Guaranty Corporation
The presentation demonstrated the brief introduction of the Loan 3504-PRC project, the Air Quality Improvement in the Greater Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region—China National Investment & Guaranty Corporation’s Green Financing Platform Project and some typical cases.
Switch to Clean Energy from Coal in Rural Households: Benefits for Air Quality
Presenter: Jin Wenjing, Engineer, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences
Depending on the daily temperature change in winter, research established a relationship between ambient temperature index and daily consumption of coal with a mathematical algorithm for the first time. It provided a possible scenario to calculate air pollutant emissions from coal heating in northern China. Take PM2.5 as an example, the results illustrate that potential improvement by clean energy substitution is uneven yet discrepant geographically. However, research also described positively that the substitution of clean energy for heating reduces the PM2.5 concentrations effectively.
Building a Climate-friendly Cooling Sector through Energy Efficiency Improvement: A case study of Ningbo City
Presenter: Dr. Feng An, Founder and Executive Director, Innovation Center for Energy and Transportation (iCET)
Assist Ningbo in designing a city-scale climate-friendly, energy-efficient cooling initiative to capture multi-sectors opportunities in reducing GHG emissions and improving energy efficiency related to refrigeration and/or cooling
Panelists:
- Yun Zhou, Senior Environmental Specialist, Sustainable Infrastructure Division, East Asia Department, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
- Meng Fan, Deputy Chief Engineer, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences