Oil giant aims to tap into efficiency

Sinopec workers check a pipeline in Puyang, Henan province. Sinopec said it will invest 4 billion yuan this year to raise its enegy efficiency. Tong Jiang / For China Daily

Sinopec investing billions of yuan in new measures to save energy

China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec), Asia's largest refiner, said it will invest 4 billion yuan ($640 million) this year and another 10 billion yuan in 2015 in more than 1,000 projects as it strives to double its energy efficiency by 2025.

Chairman Fu Chengyu said during the 2014 China Summit on Caring for the Climate, held in Beijing on Thursday, that Chinese companies including Sinopec have made increasing efforts to protect the environment for sustainable development.

"The biggest resource is conservation, which means raising efficiency is the key to saving energy and cutting emissions," Fu said. "China's GDP will double if the country can raise its energy efficiency by 30 percent."

Most international oil giants consider raising their energy efficiency as a crucial part of their development.

Sinopec, a big energy consumer, can become a big energy saver if it can improve its energy efficiency.

The company said that doubling its energy efficiency would be equivalent to saving 42 million metric tons of coal or planting 940 million trees.

It will avoid 81 million tons of carbon emissions during the next 10 years through energy efficiency improvement, which will be the same as eliminating emissions for a year for 22.92 million economy-model cars.

Geng Chenghui, director of Sinopec's energy management and environmental protection department, said the company will take six measures to raise energy efficiency in various sectors including management, company structure and technology.

In particular, the company will introduce the Energy Performance Contracting system, cooperating with private companies to reach energy-saving targets, he said.

The company will eliminate energy-intensive refineries and give more attention to renewable sources.

In 2013, Sinopec announced it will invest 22.8 billion yuan in 807 projects to upgrade its current production equipment and operations for environmental protection. Fu said that as of last month, the company had invested 4 billion yuan of that total in 280 projects. The other projects will start in the coming years.

Wang Jianzhou, chairman of the China Association for Public Companies and former president of China Mobile Ltd, said Chinese companies have realized the importance of sustainable development for the longer term.

In 2012, China's A-share listed companies published 586 sustainable development reports, up 11.5 percent from the previous year, according to Wang. In 2013, the number of reports grew 12 percent to 658, Wang said.

Georg Kell, executive director of the United Nations Global Compact Office, told the summit that Chinese companies have done an impressive job in fighting global warming and climate change.

He said companies should be the major player to solve major global environmental issues.