Energy audit practices in China: National and local experiences and issues

China set an ambitious goal of reducing its energy use per unit of GDP by 20% between 2006 and 2010. Much of the country’s effort is focused on improving the energy efficiency of the industrial sector, which consumes about two-thirds of China’s primary energy. Industrial energy audits are an important part of China’s efforts to improve its energy intensity. Such audits are employed to help enterprises identify energy-efficiency improvement opportunities and serve as a means to collect critical energy-consuming information. Information about energy audit practices in China is, however, little known to the outside world. This study combines a review of China’s national policies and programs on energy auditing with information collected from surveying a variety of Chinese institutions involved in energy audits. A key goal of the study is to conduct a gap analysis to identify how current practices in China related to energy auditing differ from energy auditing practices found around the world. This article presents our findings on the study of China’s energy auditing practices at the national and provincial levels. It discusses key issues related to the energy audits conducted in China and offers policy recommendations that draw upon international best practices.