Italy Told to Comply With Efficiency Standard

The European Commission has given the Italian government until December to comply with European Union rules on the energy efficiency of buildings. According to the Commission, Italy has been out of compliance with these E.U. standards since they went into effect in 2009.

In 2002, the European Parliament issued a directive to all member states to establish a method for calculating the energy performance of buildings and set minimum efficiency standards for both new buildings and large structures undergoing significant renovation. In addition, E.U. members must ensure the certification of the energy performance of buildings and require the regular inspection of boilers and air conditioning systems.

Italian law permits many building owners to declare that they have met energy efficiency standards, a practice at odds with the European directive that energy performance certificates have to be issued by independent, qualified inspectors. Also, existing buildings have been exempted from the compulsory certification process. The Italian government has yet to put into place the legal framework to provide for regular inspection of air-conditioning systems.

Chinese Car Maker Plans Brazil Plant

A Chinese automaker, JAC Motors, said it will invest the equivalent of $500 million U.S. in its first
overseas plant, in Brazil’s northern state of Bahia.

The plant will have an annual production capacity of 100,000 cars and trucks and is scheduled to start operations in 2014. It will be in the town of Camacari.

Making vehicles in Brazil may permit JAC Motors to avoid a 30 percent import duty on foreign-made cars. The tax is intended to support automobile industries in the Common Market of the South, or Mercosur, to which Brazil belongs. It applies to foreign companies unless they can prove that at least 65 percent of their cars or car parts are produced in Mercosur countries.

EC Seeks Route to Sustainable Economy

The European Commission has issued a document it calls Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe, in which it outlines a program to strike a balance between growth and sustainability.

According to the roadmap, “Sources of minerals, metals and energy, as well as stocks of fish, timber, water, fertile soils, clean air, biomass, biodiversity are all under pressure, as is the stability of the climate system. ... If we carry on using resources at the current rate, by 2050 we will need, on aggregate, the equivalent of more than two planets to sustain us.”

The commission proposes to engage stakeholders, including businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and local and national authorities, to identify opportunities to use resources more efficiently in the economy. The plan is to reach agreement and set targets by 2013.

It also aims to form a Resource Efficiency Finance Round Table that will include representatives from banks, insurance companies, and venture capital firms, “to identify opportunities to develop adapted finance and use innovative financial instruments for resource-efficiency.”

Safety Effort Removes Railway Director

The removal of a three officials of the Beijing Railway Bureau, including a director, is being interpreted
as a sign that China’s Ministry of Railways is resolved to improve rail safety. The Xinhua News Agency reported that the director, Huang Guizhang, was removed from his post “for further assignment” three days after a train derailment in Beijing. Two officials in charge of repair and maintenance were dismissed.

The locomotive of a passenger train, traveling from Hancheng in Shaanxi province to Beijing, derailed near Shijingshan South Station on Oct 10. There were no injuries.

The derailment occurred after a two-month national railway safety drive, which was a response to a high-speed train crash in July that left 40 dead and injured 191. The Ministry of Railways pledged to maintain “absolute safety” after that accident.

Briefly Noted

The National Energy Bureau has released the interim measures for the management of wind power development and construction in China. The “measures” clearly say that wind power projects at provincial level must receive approval from the National Energy Bureau. After being approved by the National Energy Bureau, these projects will be able to enjoy electricity price subsidies from the national renewable energy development foundation. /// Wan Bentai, chief engineer of China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection, said that national investment in environmental protection will reach 5.4 trillion renminbi, or about $850 billion U.S., during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, 1.5 times that during the 11th Five-Year Plan period. Zhou Jian, vice minister of Environmental Protection, said the government will make drinking water, atmosphere, soil pollution, and solid waste treatment priorities. The officials addressed the Seventh Environment and Development Forum.