Capacity Building

The success of our work in China relies heavily on cooperation with a wide range of organizations and groups, each of which bring something different to the table. Our funding support, for example, has long been a mix of US government and private foundation sources. In China, we primarily work with government offices or research centers on efficiency projects that are in turn are provided to the central government for approval and implementation. At the same time, our research and analysis directly informs US government agencies and has supported bilateral US-China energy agreements such as those implemented through DOE. Our research teams often involve experts from other departments or divisions of the lab, other laboratories, academic institutions, NGOs, and international organizations such as UNDP, GEF, and others.

A large component of our activities is training of our Chinese counterparts, and much of it happens at LBNL. In the last 9 years, we've recorded 246 person-weeks in training of 145 Chinese personnel at LBNL, not to mention the 228 person-weeks of training inside China, primarily for the motor systems optimization work. In addition to training, the time spent at LBNL has also helped us create close ties with our counterparts. It improves their understanding of the overall working of LBNL and efficiency work in the US, and opens the door to further work in China. The Group also hosts longer-term visiting scholars from Chinese universities and other institutions.

In 1993, LBNL helped China to establish a vital new organization to promote energy efficiency: the Beijing Energy Efficiency Center (BECon). BECon links China and the outside world, providing energy consulting and marketing services to businesses and others. BECon has helped initiate China's Green Lights Program - which promotes the manufacture and use of efficiency lights. It has also managed a GEF project to build a commercial energy efficiency industry in China.