Zap! Energy cops on beat

BEIJING - An "energy police" force is being set up in Beijing to crack down on excessive lighting and heating and other power waste in shopping malls and office buildings, the China Daily says.

The 20 energy-efficiency supervisors would be the front line in the capital's campaign to curb power use, echoing a national drive to improve energy efficiency to curb pollution and dependence on imported oil as the economy grows.

"We have been advocating energy saving for years but it has remained only a slogan because of a lack of a supervising system," said Beijing Vice-Mayor Zhang Hao. The "energy police", as he called them, would be authorised to fine owners of buildings that used too much power, adding teeth to city orders to improve energy efficiency.

China has struggled to generate enough power to keep up with its breakneck economic growth - about 9 per cent annually - and has faced severe energy shortages during the past two summers.

China consumes over four times more energy to generate a unit of GDP than the average Group of Seven developed country, according to the Asian Development Bank.

- REUTERS