On November 1, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and National Energy Administration (NEA) released a notice which clarifies the definition of “energy used as raw material,” stating that this term only refers to energy used for the production of non-energy products, but does not refer to energy used as fuel and for power generation. This scope includes coal, oil, and natural gas which are used to produce non-energy products like olefins, aromatics, alkynes, alcohols, ammonia and other products. According to the NDRC’s explanation, this does not mean energy can be consumed unrestricted and inefficiently as raw materials. The energy-saving reviews and energy-saving standards will still include requirements for the energy consumption of raw materials.
The newly released “Notice on excluding energy used as raw material from total energy consumption control” thus clarifies the scope that had not yet been fully defined in previous documents, including the “Improvement of Energy Consumption Intensity and Total Control Program” and the “14th Five-Year Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Comprehensive Work Program”, both released in beginning of 2022.
